I’ve noticed that as each year passes the aches and pains of daily living increase. I’m not complaining, but it’s a matter of fact for those diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. When I raise my arms above my head that my shoulders are now cracking. Two days ago after I finished hammering and drilling above my head, I could hardly lift my arms afterwards. So is the life for the 1 in 5,000 individuals who have Marfan’s.
It’s incredible looking back on my life at what has all transpired and happened in my 37 short years of living. On Saturday I was cleaning out the garage in order for our van to be parked inside once the snow comes and I pulled out our old filing box. I took it inside and started to go through old papers: pay stubs, surgeon reports, pictures. I found old medical forms from my first open heart surgery that was on 01/10/97 being discharged on the 15th. (The post-op form was typed using a typewriter. I guess I am getting old?)
I also found the paperwork for the first genetic doctors visit after I was married. It was dated 9/12/01, the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The information on this form staggered me. You can probably read that it has me standing at 82” or 6’10” tall and weighing only 180lbs. My BMI was almost at the lowest it could be to still be considered normal weight. Fourteen years ago I was 50 lbs lighter and apparently 1” shorter! (my current BMI is just a hair below overweight, but still on the normal weight rage)
I think that I’ve aged well apart from not bending in the middle as easily as I had in year’s past. I do carry a small spare tire. :)
But what about the aches and pains that will continue to come? It’s a daily battle. Lower back pain that can’t be taken care of because I’m not allowed to go to a chiropractor. When walking up stairs my knees crack a half a dozen times with the sound of cartilage against bone. When getting out of the car on Monday my ribs got stuck on my left side. I don’t know if this is because I had a rib removed for one of my surgeries, but it sticks and I can’t breathe. I then bend toward my left side and the ribs come lose and I gasp for air. When it happens around the kids and I can’t breathe and the pain is so intense they just watch until I bend it out. “My ribs got stuck,” I tell them. “Okay,” the kids reply, and then they go about whatever they were doing. It’s just a part of life.
A few stuck ribs, cracking knees, weak shoulders, and occasional major surgeries . . . if that’s all the more I have to go through in this aging process I am definitely blessed. I have a great wife and five terrific kids. I have been able to watch them grow and learn and become the individuals whom God wants them to be.
Your perspective on life has a lot to do with how you will age. My body continually aches but I wholeheartedly believe that the prime of my life is upon me and yet to come. I’ve never been so motivated and passionate about people having hope in their lives regardless of their scars than today. Hope can still be found in the midst of personal pain, you just have to be willing to seek. If you seek you will find.
We all have uncontrollables in our life and they will continue until the day we die. You can still age well by choosing to live with purpose and hope and I have found that in my faith . . .my relationship with Jesus. Regardless of the aches and pains I look forward to aging well with my wife and kids by my side.
It’s incredible looking back on my life at what has all transpired and happened in my 37 short years of living. On Saturday I was cleaning out the garage in order for our van to be parked inside once the snow comes and I pulled out our old filing box. I took it inside and started to go through old papers: pay stubs, surgeon reports, pictures. I found old medical forms from my first open heart surgery that was on 01/10/97 being discharged on the 15th. (The post-op form was typed using a typewriter. I guess I am getting old?)
I also found the paperwork for the first genetic doctors visit after I was married. It was dated 9/12/01, the day after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The information on this form staggered me. You can probably read that it has me standing at 82” or 6’10” tall and weighing only 180lbs. My BMI was almost at the lowest it could be to still be considered normal weight. Fourteen years ago I was 50 lbs lighter and apparently 1” shorter! (my current BMI is just a hair below overweight, but still on the normal weight rage)
I think that I’ve aged well apart from not bending in the middle as easily as I had in year’s past. I do carry a small spare tire. :)
But what about the aches and pains that will continue to come? It’s a daily battle. Lower back pain that can’t be taken care of because I’m not allowed to go to a chiropractor. When walking up stairs my knees crack a half a dozen times with the sound of cartilage against bone. When getting out of the car on Monday my ribs got stuck on my left side. I don’t know if this is because I had a rib removed for one of my surgeries, but it sticks and I can’t breathe. I then bend toward my left side and the ribs come lose and I gasp for air. When it happens around the kids and I can’t breathe and the pain is so intense they just watch until I bend it out. “My ribs got stuck,” I tell them. “Okay,” the kids reply, and then they go about whatever they were doing. It’s just a part of life.
A few stuck ribs, cracking knees, weak shoulders, and occasional major surgeries . . . if that’s all the more I have to go through in this aging process I am definitely blessed. I have a great wife and five terrific kids. I have been able to watch them grow and learn and become the individuals whom God wants them to be.
Your perspective on life has a lot to do with how you will age. My body continually aches but I wholeheartedly believe that the prime of my life is upon me and yet to come. I’ve never been so motivated and passionate about people having hope in their lives regardless of their scars than today. Hope can still be found in the midst of personal pain, you just have to be willing to seek. If you seek you will find.
We all have uncontrollables in our life and they will continue until the day we die. You can still age well by choosing to live with purpose and hope and I have found that in my faith . . .my relationship with Jesus. Regardless of the aches and pains I look forward to aging well with my wife and kids by my side.
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