Category Archives: Health

Health

Aches & Pains

By Marilyn Hay

Some bodies weather age better than others. In my case, arthritis has invaded my whole spine and all major joints, so my mobility has diminished quite significantly over a relatively short period of time. While I was never much of an athlete, I was always on the go, with energy to burn, traveling pretty much constantly in my job and for pleasure … And then, because of the unbearable pain and attendant exhaustion, I just had to stop. I couldn’t do my job any longer.

I
scarcely remember the first two months of this change of lifestyle as I
spent most of the time sleeping. When I woke up enough to really look
around, I realized I was no longer the person I had been.

And that’s a hard awakening.

There are so many aspects to this kind of sudden and significant life change.

I
had to deal with feelings of grief over the loss of what was, guilt
about no longer being able to do my job (and the relief I felt, as
well, that I didn’t

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Health

Letting the Body Speak

By Shae Hadden
Bio

My very first job was as a nursing assistant in a chronic care hospital. At the tender age of 14, I donned my starched nurse’s cap and white uniform to spend several hours each day tending to those who could not care for themselves. Natural processes critical to the body’s survival—eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, moving, breathing—had become a moment-by-moment challenge for many of the people we cared for. Most had lived in this state for innumerable years—there were few new faces in the wards and even fewer visitors during the two summers I worked there.

The
thing that struck me most about the patients’ lives was the silence—the
absence of any sounds of life emanating from them. The few exceptions
were the ‘babblers’. The music teacher who sang a music only she could
hear and who conducted the world with her hands permanently wrapped in
bandages to protect them from the damage she inflicted on them. The
50-year-old man confined to bed and paralyzed from the waist down with
a libido

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Health

Staying Young

There was a show on public TV today about 20 tips to staying young.
It is the theme in a zillion magazine articles at the grocery checkout
that are, not surprisingly, targetted to the graying celebrities and
Baby Boomers. The problem I have is I don’t like the phrase ‘staying
young’. It reveals the context in which we all live—a context in which
growing older is a negative part of our lives, a phase to be accepted
but put off as long as possible. This

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Health

Avoiding Decline

I bumped into an old friend and financial planner/insurance salesman
at a party last night. Bemoaning that more than 60% of the Boomers
don’t have a ‘plan’ for their retirement years, he was suggesting we’re
not being responsible for the inevitable downward spiral that awaits
us. He was proud (and a little smug) that he was still ‘very fit’ and
runs marathons. His commitment to health and financial planning are
admirable, and yet it was obvious that

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Health

Too Tired

By Shae Hadden
Bio

It’s the battle cry of couch potatoes everywhere: “I’m too tired to do anything but watch TV.”

The secret language of couples that says so much more: “Not now, honey, I’m too tired…”

Parent’s pat excuse for eating fast food: “Let’s order take-out tonight. I’m too tired to cook…”

Employees incessant murmur: “I wish I could retire…I am so tired of this bullshit….”

With all this

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