Aging Bodies and Doctors (snd Dentists)

Good news 
celebration

We made it through seven weeks in South Bend without needing medical assistance.  During the last week there, Jim sadly felt a crown getting loose in his mouth.  In the middle of one night, he dreamt it came off.   It did, but at least not during that night.  He didn't swallow it and put it in a baggie in his briefcase.  So that was our one emergency.

He called Dr. Brummell, our dentist, on Friday on our way home from South Bend and got an appointment that next Monday--after the wedding party.  Unfortunately, there was more to be done that just gluing the crown back on.  So he has seen an oral surgeon for a consultation and will have work done next week. Then back to our dentist for a bridge because there are too many problems for any other treatment.  We are outliving our teeth.

Between the two of us, I counted twelve medical or dental appointments between the time we came home and before we leave for San Antonio in late November for Jim's annual convention.  They are all grouped in a short time because of our being gone for those two months.   I need to be thankful for doctors and dentists but I dread each appointment lest we find more problems and need more referrals.  Some of them are routine--a mammogram, six month dental cleanings, an eye exam (which is never routine for Jim), bone density xray for Jim (because of his RA which is in remission however).  

Others are routine but don't feel routine, like Jim's six month follow up for prostate cancer which meant another PSA test this week.  That always makes me so anxious.  Jim is optimistic and I try to be but find myself preparing for the worst.   The results never seem to show up when we expect them.  Again this time, the doctor said they would be there on the portal the next day.  Three days later, Jim finally called the office and they gave him the good news that the numbers were low.  So it will be another six months before he has another "routine" appointment and the anxiety that means.  

It is time to fill my weekly pill container which I do on Sunday mornings.  I tell myself to be thankful for those little pills that help to control blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol.  I am thankful but I also find it an exercise in humility and acceptance of aging.  A while back one of our pastors mentioned the idea of "anticipatory grief" maybe in connection with Covid.  Before I get out of bed, I say "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be grateful for it."  I remind myself to be thankful for each day we are alive and reasonably well instead of worrying about the inevitable time in which we are not.  

So this is not a very upbeat posting but it certainly is a part of our lives right now.  I was home alone this morning because of a bout of stomach flu yesterday.  Jim went to church where he was teaching the adult church school for the first time here in Princeton.   I felt a need to open the Bible and see what the good word for me might be.  That can be risky but if one opens to the Psalms, it will probably be helpful.  I opened the Bible in the middle and there was Psalm 71 which read:   

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. ...So even to old age and grey hairs, do not forsake me.

So that was God's good word for me today. Even the Psalmist thousands of years ago was anxious enough to ask God for help as I do daily.