I spent yesterday celebrating my girlfriend's birthday. Our conversation these days focuses on body changes; ours and every other woman in her 50's we know. We intend to talk about other things, but the conversation invariably arrives at and stays stuck on everyones health issues. We hate to sound cranky and we swore we never would sound like those other "old people" complaining about their body parts, but there we go. The rant begins: our tummy is bigger, things are lower,we can't see or hear that well anymore, we don't want to have the colonoscopy because so and so just got diagnosed and we are just not ready for being next, and....
It is not as if we feel we are exempt from the aging process or should be, but rather we continually find ourselves surprised by what our body is doing or refusing to do. It does not feel as if this has been gradual. It feels as though one day we tried to get up in the morning and someone substituted our body for an older less healthy model. We clearly took our bodies for granted and now they are getting even.
Unfortunately by our age, we have now had parts of ourselves monitored, removed, or replaced. Illness and injury have become a concern and trips to the doctor seem more anxiety provoking now that we and those we love, have been treated for things.
Before I call someone, I have to stop and think what ailment I am inquiring about because I have made some mistakes in the past. No one wants to be asked about their knee when it was their torn Achilles; especially when they fear their knee is next.
Most of us understand that we are more than our afflictions, but reaching out to others and becoming more informed can help remind us of that.
For women going through menopause: a great site is menopausetheblog.com Today's post has an article on Belly fat with a great accompanying tummy photo. Another menopause site I like and have used regularly, is Dr. Susan Love. She writes about menopause and breast cancer.
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