Posted by emmanuel98 on August 22, 2011, at 21:51:58
In reply to Re: aging issues in and out of therapy » lucielu2, posted by pegasus on August 22, 2011, at 9:50:37
I feel very lucky about a few things. My husband, who is three years older than me, has many more physical issues than I do. We are both in good shape and exercise, but he has stage 4 arthritis in one knee, a bulging cervical disk for which he needs physical therapy and a rotator cuff problem which never seems to resolve completely. He is also always nursing his lower back with ice and such. So I feel, in comparison, in great shape. No aches or pains. His BP is high, mine is normal. His cholesterol is high and he takes crestor. Mine is normal. He even takes fosamax because his bone density came in low, while my bone density, on the last test I took, was equivalent to a 20 year old.
So he feels himself to be aging and deteriorating (though he fights this, he is an exercise nut) while I do not, though I am 56 and usually women in menopause experience a lot of these problems that he is having.
Also, our sex life is good. I was afraid menopause would dry me out, but it turns out not to be an either/or thing, but a gradual thing and right now, I am still okay.
But one of the things that makes me feel young is having a lot of friends of different ages. My best friends are 50 and 46. I have three friends around 65 who I really love to talk to. Being in AA, I also spend time with younger women. I get together every Monday with a 32 and 34 year old woman for coffee before a meeting. I realize they have their own set of issues and I can help them with some perspective and experience.
Also, I teach college, so I am endlessly mentoring and working with young people. I teach at a public urban college, so my students tend to be in their mid-20s to mid-30s.
Despite my depression, which came on just as I was about to enter menopause and my daughter was about to graduate high school, I haven't felt obsessed about growing old. I feel physically good and have a lot of good things that make me feel, if not young, at least engaged by life.
My hero is my p-doc who is 72 and, mentally, seems so young and vital and engaged, that I can't really imagine him being old.
poster:emmanuel98
thread:994306
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20110706/msgs/994601.html