Reflections on the First Week of Fall
Aging challenges us to adapt to one new malady after another. This past week, the cats and I worked on arthritis. Emma walked with a hobble-march. Because George couldn't jump, he scratched overhanging people-parts for a lift up onto the sofa. Both basked, or mostly basked, in the sun. They slept off pain rather than took medicine. When I sprinkled cat glucosamine on their food, they'd wait for the other to eat. Hungry, Emma nosed covered crunchies aside to find untainted morsels underneath. Not me. I called the nurse practitioner for more medication–alternate ibuprofen with Tylenol arthritis formula for twelve rather than six pills a day. The children at Learning Center were content to read with me strapped to a heating pad. I played computer solitaire left handed to rest the painful right. And, I asked my son, a thirty year pain veteran, how he coped. He alternated exercise with rest, put events early in the day, and listed chores without deadlines. My new task list included reading and watching DVDs. I also coped by creating descriptions for 1–5 pain levels: squirming;strapping on the heating pad; grouching and swearing; reliving child birth; signing euthanasia papers.
