I'll be 55 this Monday, an official senior citizen in most venues except the US government. Since I've had my hip replaced almost 6 months ago I now feel in my 30's again. I'm back to my energetic self; stamina is great, sleeping very well, continuing my full daily workouts and my presurgical weight training exercises to keep my leg strength up; swimming twice a week and training in tai chi to prepare for my new class session at Good Sam on Sept. 17th...and of course, playing my beloved golf at least once a week. Many folks have called me to talk about their arthritis. Besides being an arthritis nurse I now have the dimension of empathy when talking with them which helps me understand what they are really going through. I am often asked, "How did you know it was time for hip replacement surgery?". Here is my answer: If pain consumes most of your day, especially getting in and out of a car; you feel very unsteady on your feet and fear falling so you walk with a cane; your quality of life is dwindling...FAST, as evidenced by giving up the things you love; in my case, bowling, golfing, traveling, dancing and working out; your sleep is interrupted, either falling to sleep or waking up in the middle of the night due to pain; you become de-conditioned due to inactivity and feeling very, very old; if you can relate to at least two of these criteria then it is definitely time to consider joint replacement surgery.
I'm very excited to start my new book club called, "Better Health by the Book" on November 3 at 7pm at Greetings & Readings in Hunt Valley. I really enjoy helping others and look forward to meeting lots of new people who like me, want to learn everything they can about being healthy and aging vibrantly. I took the first step with my surgery and am so glad I did!
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