Framing the Sound

Category: health

  • Pluses Outrank Minuses

    It’s considered morbid (I reckon) to think about death and when your check-out ticket might get stamped. And I don’t want this blog post to sound morbid, but I recently completed my 70th trip around the sun with relatively uneventful health issues.

    Until now.

    In my last blog post, I wrote about an unexpected companion. Since then, I’ve been analyzed inside a small tube that, once I was slid into it, reminded me of the rack I slept in aboard a submarine during my Navy days. They call what happens inside that contraption magnetic resonance imaging.

    Suffice it to say, the images produced by all that magnetism showed there’s some “stuff goin’ on” within the confines of my flesh — mainly along the spinal column and discs. I won’t go into greater detail because, truthfully, I can’t explain all the medical mumbo jumbo anyway.

    Turns out, 70 years of living comes with bonuses… and drawbacks.

    Those drawbacks are ones I never really considered until now. I was informed that I’m more or less a case study because I have two conditions not commonly seen together. One involves my discs, and the other is known as lumbar spinal stenosis — which sounds terrifying until your chiropractor explains it in terms a regular ol’ Kentucky boy can understand.

    The good news is this: it’s something I can learn to tolerate and manage with proper exercise and, perhaps most importantly, mindset.

    Having the right attitude when facing the dilemmas life throws at ya is paramount. A positive mindset helps block the negativity that can sneak in and convince us to stop facing what we cannot immediately fix.

    Now, I’m no psychoanalyst, but I don’t think you have to know much about the differences between positive and negative to understand that pluses outrank minuses by a pretty wide margin.

    At least that’s what this 70-year-old fella intends to keep believing.

    North American Male Bluebird

  • The Unexpected Companion

    Learning to live in a way you’ve never lived before—especially at my age—is a lesson in humility. All 69 of my years have been lived as if I could do just about anything I wanted. And truth be told, I’ve done most of it.

    To start with, I’ve got a woman who’s put up with me for half of those 69 years. She’s never complained about my shortcomings as a husband. I don’t cook, I don’t clean… I could go on, but you get the idea.

    I’ve also raised four children—two with my present wife, and two from a previous marriage back in Kentucky. I wish I could’ve done more for the two in Kentucky, but life doesn’t always unfold the way we hope it will.

    I’ve tried to provide for both families the best I could over the years. Some would say we’ve done a pretty good job as parents. I’d like to think so too.

    But age has a way of introducing the unexpected.

    And lately, the unexpected has taken up residence as I approach my 70th trip around the sun. Let me introduce you to my new companion: degenerative disc disease.

    Now that this uninvited guest has made itself at home in my aging body, it looks like we’ll be traveling together from here on out, wherever the road leads. And you know what? I accept that.

    I’m grateful for whatever time I have left. And don’t worry—I’m not looking to cash in my ticket early. There’s still too much to see… and if I’ve learned anything by now, it’s that there’s always more of the unexpected waiting just around the bend.

    It’s not what you expect, and that’s a part of life

  • Where Have I Been?

    I haven’t been anywhere lately—but I’ve been doing some top-tier traveling between the couch, the kitchen, and back again. Five stars, would recommend.

    I’m hoping to venture somewhere a little more exciting soon… just as soon as my body agrees to come along.

    My chiropractor tells me this will heal—just not to be in any big rush. Apparently, my back and I are no longer on the same schedule.

    I’ll know more after the MRI and another follow-up visit.

    Aging has its benefits… I’m just still waiting for the brochure.

    I’m waiting for you and your camera!

  • I’m a Degenerate!

    And I’m using that as my excuse for the long gap between blog posts. Let me explain…

    Back in January of this year, after a wedding shoot, I started noticing some lower back pain. Nothing severe—just an annoyance. I brushed it off as a pulled muscle from bending, twisting, and hustling around with heavy camera gear.

    But the pain didn’t go away. It got worse.

    By the end of February, I figured it was time to see my VA doctor. X-rays were scheduled, and about a week later I got the news: I’m a degenerate.

    Well—not me exactly… but the discs in my back.

    Degenerative disc disease.

    Once it was explained to me, it all started to make sense. The worsening pain, the discomfort that wouldn’t quit—it’s those worn-down discs putting pressure where they shouldn’t be, triggering sciatic nerve pain.

    So now, I’m learning.

    Learning to move differently.

    Learning to slow down.

    Learning to be intentional.

    Things I love—gardening, playing guitar, tapping out rhythms on my slap-top cajon, mowing three acres of lawn, even getting down low for macro shots of bugs—all of it now requires a bit more thought, a bit more strategy. The goal is simple: don’t make things worse.

    It’s an adjustment, no doubt about it.

    But if there’s one thing I’m realizing, it’s this: adapting isn’t quitting—it’s continuing, just a little wiser than before.

    Still… I stand by this truth:

    Aging is not for the young at heart!

  • Neglect

    It has such a negative connotation to it doesn’t it? I never think a positive thought when thinking about neglect. From where I stand, as an artist, the word is truly a bit discombobulating. So, I asked Nova (that’s ChatGPT, but I got his [its/their] permission and approval to call him Nova, he likes it) to offer a definition of “neglect” from an artists’ perspective. This is what Nova had to say.

    “From an artist’s point of view, neglect is the quiet abandonment of potential—a canvas left untouched, a vision unpursued, or a creative voice silenced by distraction or doubt. It’s not always intentional, but its effects are corrosive, allowing inspiration to fade and expression to wither. In this light, neglect isn’t just passive; it’s a slow erosion of what could have been art.”

    And yet, my neglect on blog updates can be justified using only one word:

    CANCER

    Not me, but my 43-year old daughter.

    I’ll quote my dear friend from across the Big Pond, he explains the “fight” much better than I.

    “I hate calling it a fight or a battle as that suggests there’s a loser. Nobody loses and nobody wins. You either survive or you don’t. And not surviving isn’t failing or losing. It just happens sometimes.”

  • Need vs. Want

    I’ve asked myself that question many times and it’s a tough one to answer. You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

    • Physiological needs – water, food, shelter, etc.
    • Safety needs – personal security, employment, health.
    • Love and Belonging – family, friends, intimacy.
    • Esteem – respect, self-esteem, status.
    • Self-actualization – the desire to be all you can be.

    It’s quite interesting that Maslow narrowed it down to five crucial needs, but when you look at each separately there’re many facets of what a need truly is. And each of us have many different kinds of needs that are individually important.

    I might need a new pair of shoes, but my old ones still fit regardless of the fact that one has a hole in the sole. You could say this isn’t really a need, it’s a want because no one can see the hole. The shoe still fits perfectly and if I avoid walking where there might be glass or other sharp objects, the shoe still does what a shoe does.

    Wants are far more subjective than needs which makes them harder to identify because they’re more personal to how we want to live and what living comfortably means. A new pair of shoes would make me feel better about myself because, well, they’re new and maybe more noticeable and folks might think I’m pretty hip because I’m wearing the latest style.

    On the other hand, my need for a new pair becomes a lot more relevant than wearing the latest style if I’m sitting at a restaurant, with my leg on top of my knee and the shoe with the hole in the sole is visible. I’m sure folks who notice would think to themselves “that fella needs a new pair of shoes.”

    I was discussing this need/want topic with my wife recently who’s thinking about purchasing a want. We’re both retired, and unfortunately haven’t met the “$1,000,000” figure often mentioned (as a need for retirement) by financial planners. I look for reasons to justify a want purchase by looking at our needs. Have all five been met?

    If you can answer yes, then I say go ahead with the want purchase. If you’re like us, you’ll have a common sense discussion and come to a mutual agreement. Or not. (I just thought I needed to add that little negaitve aspect whether I wanted to or not.)

    My new pair of barefoot shoes by Hike that I’ve wanted for some time but didn’t need.

  • Being told you have high cholesterol…

    I’m certain there are worse things you could be told by your doctor and it’s not my intent to minimalize serious health conditions. My intent here then, is to cry in my beer!

    I love donut holes, I get mine, well, used to get mine at the local Walmart. They’re bite size and you can choose glazed, plain, blueberry, and on occasion I’ve seen them with powdered sugar. I’ve not counted but there’s probably around 20 or 30 of the delicious little holes per package.

    I trashed the last few that was left after I got home from seeing my doctor. I gave serious consideration to have just one more but decided against it.

    There are other things that can contribute to high cholesterol, take my blood pressure medication…yes, they can make it worse. But I’m not going to stop taking my bp medicine. I have a plan that I know will help lower my high cholesterol.

    Get off my ass and get out in nature! Exercise more! But unfortunately it’ll have to wait till warm weather returns. I can’t function outside during winter. So, I’m hoping the disappearance of donut holes will lower my cholesterol a little until I can tackle it with better armor this spring!

    Red Bellied Woodpecker looking like it has high cholesterol.