Ailments of the old fieldguy

Whine on while you can. I guess that's all us old farts can do about it.

Other than wimpin' outa the killer heat, the hard ground this year killed my wrists. Slamming the sharp-shooter or grubbin' hoe into this brick hard clay makes my wrists ache and throb. Trompin' around on uneven rough ground is a killer on my ankles. When I get up outa bed in the morning I sound like a '49 Buick backing out of a steep driveway.

I'm glad everything justs hurts, but still works. I hate to think what the next 'level' is going to bring...

Pills. They have pills for all those things now. You may rattle when you walk, but, just add pills and you'll be fine. Be sure to take one of those big ol' happy pills daily. Then you won't really care how you feel.

I always heard the old folks at church say that "old age isn't for sissies". I am beginning to realize more every day, that they were much tougher than I thought I was.

my fingers, my whole right arm especially my elbow and shoulder, not to mention my knees, and my right foot has planter faciatis, a sorry joke for a surveyor...

Between the thin skin and daily baby aspirins, sometimes my arms look like a leopard's.

Between the Plavix and daily baby aspirins, sometimes I bruise in a stiff breeze

Ailments of the old solo surveyor

2003 was a bad year for this solo surveyor. Hernia in March, broken foot in November. About went belly up, financially. Only positive in that one was I got the hell out of Michigan and it's friggin snowconomy.

Eight years later, still at it and hopefully a bit wiser for the wear. Now it's dodging snakes instead of swattin 'skeeters. And I don't even know where my ice scraper is, let alone my snow shovel.

Life's pretty good when you approach it right.....

At the end of a long day the old surveyor walked into the ice cream parlor and slowly, painfully, hoisted himself up onto a stool at the counter and ordered a banana split.

"Crushed nuts", asked the waitress?

"No, arthritis" answered the surveyor.

Last couple of years I've been gettin creaky. Hips, shoulders etc, etc. Just gettin old I guess.

The other day I was watching a TV program when someone mentioned "Polymyalgia Rheumatica". I looked it up and what do you know? All of the symptons fit me exactly.
A few steriods and I will be good as new! Now I can repeat the last 40 years of abuse.

Lets see 60+40 = I think I will be too old for this line of work.:-)

that there was funny....

Stiff sore hands... chronic shoulder pain... bad knees...torn tendon in right ankle that acts up now and then...

scars...

Beats being dead, I reckon.

We've adopted an old adage from the hardrock miners around Kellogg, Idaho: "Any day above ground is a good day".

Last Sunday morning I couldn't tell which was creaking the most, me or the stairs but I creaked my way out to the kitchen, with a groan nuzzled my wife's neck and whispered, "your stallion is here". Now, a chuckle would have been rewarding but the hearty laugh was not.

The Baby Aspirin Thing

My doc told me years ago -- 10? 15? -- to take a daily baby aspirin, so I did. For years. Then about 5 years ago I had a mole (which turned out to be benign) removed from my back. Following instructions, I discontinued the baby aspirin 2 weeks prior to surgery.

The mole was pretty deep, and the surgeon had to lay in some subcutaneous stitches in addition to surface stitches. Nevertheless, as he was sewing me up and cauterizing vessels, I heard him mutter "Jesus Christ!," so I asked what was going on. He said, "You're bleeding like a stuck pig; have you been taking blood thinners?" I told him about the aspirin, and he said, "You'd better think about stopping that for good. If you were to get in a major accident, you'd bleed to death before the EMTs could get to you."

I told my GP about it, and he advised me to keep taking the aspirin. I have no heart, BP or cholesterol problems, so I decided not to follow that advice. I figure I'm more at risk of an accident in the field than I am of heart trouble.

That is so funny and could be so true also.

The Baby Aspirin Thing

>... I have no heart, BP or cholesterol problems, so I decided not to follow that advice. I figure I'm more at risk of an accident in the field than I am of heart trouble.
Funny you should mention this toady after this article was released just yesterday.

First margarine, now aspirin. What next?

The Baby Aspirin Thing

I am an aspirin taker, when needed. Never got into the acetaminophen thing.

Was at a social function in my teens that a few guys insisted that aspirin in their RC Cola was "spanish fly."l

When I went to be evaluated for lens replacement, the docs had a fit about my using aspirin all together. That whole clinic frowned on aspirin use. They felt it led to slower healing and reddening eyes.

I stare at computer, tv, phone and data collector screens all day. My eyes are always red.

My family doc has no problem with the therapy of aspirin use for as needed situations like headaches, fever and most any pain.

After all, aspirin is an acid and a blood thinner and too much use can cause ulcers/open sores in the stomach.

All medicine is per patient use as prescribed or needed.

I remember the party chief that would try to give the crew "speed" sometime thru the day when he wanted more from them so they could last till the sun went down. He was declared broken down and totally disabled in his mid 40s.

There is no fix it pill, only pills to medicate and treat the problem.

:coffee:

The "Thin Blood" Thing

>If you were to get in a major accident, you'd bleed to death before the EMTs could get to you."

Back in September on the way to a DC Association of Land Surveyors meeting I grabbed a chicken salad wrap at the grocery store to eat something before the boozing began (like I said, surveyors meeting) since I had skipped lunch. The stale, hard end got stuck pretty good on the way down and it took about half a bottle of water to force it down. Didn't think anything else of it.

I couple of hours later I started feeling like I was coming down with the flu, feverish, nauseous, light headed, etc. and left early to go back to the hotel I was staying in so I didn't have to drive al the way home after the boozing (like I said, surveyors meeting). I was feeling so bad by the time I got to the subway stop by the hotel that I was basically stumbling the last 100 yards to my room.

Spent the night in bed shivering and even passed out once around 4:00 AM on the way back from the bathroom. Called my wife to come pick me up since there was no way I was driving home. Then I threw up what looked like a little congealed blood and decided a trip in the back of an ambulance to the hospital was more in order.

Spent the day in the Emergency Room after a CAT scan (from the passing out) and stomach x-rays (the whole blood vomiting thing) came back negative...but they decided to keep me overnight and take a look with an endoscope in the morning since there had to be some reason for the symptoms.

Around 3:00 PM I started throwing up blood again. Congealed and fresh. Lots of it. By the pint. When they got me into surgery around 7:00 (after the transfusions) they found a Mallory-Weiss tear, probably caused by esophagus spasms trying to get the stuck food down, that had been bleeding for over 24 hours. After a little surgery to fix the bugger and four days of observation in an uncomfortable hospital bed I headed home as good as new. Then I started thinking - if the timing had been different and I couldn't have got to a hospital quickly once I had passed out, I could have easily bled to death.

The moral of the story: If you take blood thinners or anti-coagulants listen to your mom and chew your food.

The "Thin Blood" Thing

So are you still taking baby aspirin?

The "Thin Blood" Thing

> So are you still taking baby aspirin?

No, but I do still take Plavix.