tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post1799909071916770829..comments2024-03-15T22:00:36.095-07:00Comments on Dr. Kathy McCoy: Living Fully in Midlife and Beyond: Geriatric SpatsDr. Kathy McCoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02903015507894951725noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-32531852737065498122012-08-29T19:46:15.895-07:002012-08-29T19:46:15.895-07:00This is a fascinating post for me because I see so...This is a fascinating post for me because I see so much of myself in your words. Like, when I get up in the morning and realize the garage door was left open all night. Like gaining 20 pounds since Christmas -- partly from meds, partly I think, from depression and stress. Crying every day before I go to work. Am I crying for Gypsy, for my job, for my weight? Here's a fun fact that you may or may not have discovered -- it's a heck of a lot harder to exercise and get in shape when your body already hurts from carrying so much of it around! <br /><br />Sometimes I think we carry so much in our brains -- all the stress of the day, the family obligations, the sorrows, the fears of retirement and wondering if there will be enough to live on and how to change if there's not, losing your best fur friend. We carry guilt and hopes and fears for ourselves and others. Sometimes it's just hard to put it all in order, to go do the things we need to do. <br /><br />I'm certainly fighting those demons. But one of the things that gets me through every day is that I know I'm not the only one. It's not a great motivation, but it is one that works. <br /><br />I am starting to take better care of myself in some very tangible ways. I'm glad to hear that you are too. (Good luck with the audiologist and Dr. C. It will be all right.)Jeaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17482528482559445943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-2704473329743940492012-08-20T15:09:26.817-07:002012-08-20T15:09:26.817-07:00Dear Kathy, I wrote a long response to this postin...Dear Kathy, I wrote a long response to this posting, but it seems to have gotten lost in the ether net. So just let me say, quite simply, "Thank you." Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-2670440239684110482012-08-20T15:08:34.787-07:002012-08-20T15:08:34.787-07:00Dear Kathy, I'm glad to read your comment amon...Dear Kathy, I'm glad to read your comment among the other comments. Glad to learn that you are going to an audiologist and that you went to see Dr. Carter and learned that your mind is still sharp and active. Still decisive. Still curious. Still questioning the life and the journey we're on. <br /><br />Actually, I read this post and forgot about breathing because I was so with you with regard to the myriad questions that besiege my mind each day: shall I move? will I ever get an agent? will my Palestine novel ever excite an agent or editor? will the cats be okay while I'm gone? will all the appliances work for another year? do I have the money to buy another book from Amazon? on and on and on. <br /><br />And so the ending of your posting truly spoke to me. The answer lies in living this moment as fully as we can. Embracing its gift to us of being. And I so need to be reminded of that. Often. Thank you for your wisdom and your honesty. Peace.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00612299013780771262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-44127041980884826662012-08-16T20:07:11.933-07:002012-08-16T20:07:11.933-07:00Thanks for all your wonderful comments! It's r...Thanks for all your wonderful comments! It's reassuring to see that we all worry about the same things. I went to Dr. Carter today (and, yeah, she weighed me but didn't scold) and she is referring me to an audiologist for a hearing evaluation. But she says that I am definitely not losing it, not demented in the least -- just a bit anxious. Dr. Kathy McCoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02903015507894951725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-11224094492662594542012-08-16T11:20:23.809-07:002012-08-16T11:20:23.809-07:00I so enjoy your thought provoking well written blo...I so enjoy your thought provoking well written blog! I have NEVER had a good memory and being older certainly hasn't helped. I keep reminding myself I am one of the lucky ones, here, living with someone I love and enjoying so many things about life. Now if he just would.......LOL.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09606687719768606817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-37679736237547352802012-08-16T11:00:17.844-07:002012-08-16T11:00:17.844-07:00I am sure that you could not have written what I j...I am sure that you could not have written what I just read if you were losing your mind. But it is a fear that all of us elderly people have in the back of our minds. I worry about it every day. A lovely post to read, and it gives me hope for my poor old brain.Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04979547096244105508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-75239655176463426722012-08-15T19:36:14.376-07:002012-08-15T19:36:14.376-07:00Hi Kathy......when I read the title of your post.....Hi Kathy......when I read the title of your post....I thought you were going to post about some kind of old people...FOOTWEAR....LOL LOL....but obviously I was totally off the mark. Old people and fighting just seem to go together....perhaps it is because we have learned to do it so well over all the years. (O:(O:(O:<br /><br />xo JoMy Grama's Soulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10114089036939629527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-29897350808593218802012-08-15T19:04:34.300-07:002012-08-15T19:04:34.300-07:00I really can relate to your post tonight. I get so...I really can relate to your post tonight. I get so involved in thought that I can walk past someone and as we age I wonder did I do this or that. As our doctor reminded me Monday, you take every day you are given, if you want to go someplace do it. You don't know what tomorrow will bring. I appreciated your post so very much. Your Missouri Friend.Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06648865214694535566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-80507092113909971982012-08-15T18:45:03.006-07:002012-08-15T18:45:03.006-07:00Oh yes! These are the real situations we face in o...Oh yes! These are the real situations we face in our golden/rusty years. I'm making checklists before we leave the house, where to stop first, what to buy, where to eat. Yet, we get distracted easily, and worry about "losing" it.<br />Great post, Kathy.<br />Rosaria Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133147851332084180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-74841136248725834532012-08-15T18:25:02.198-07:002012-08-15T18:25:02.198-07:00I've heard some people say that they thought t...I've heard some people say that they thought they were loosing their hearing. When they went to the doctor it was as simple as they had a wax buildup and needed their ears cleaned. Their hearing was fine after that. You never know, it could be that simple with your hearing too! I also thought you were going to say that you were walking around texting on your phone like the teens do! lol Just yesterday I sent my 14 year old daughter into a store to look at the clothes while I sat on the bench with my 8 year old son whose tummy was bothering him. I watched her through the window. There she was walking around looking at that stupid phone and not even looking at the clothes! lol Fine with me if she doesn't buy any clothes! lol Also, everyone in my house forgets to do things every single day around here. Plus it's true we have to just live day to day and minute by minute otherwise we will go crazy worrying about tomorrow and next week. I hope everything is better tomorrow for you!Angelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15240864960032938754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-5464543782477381912012-08-15T17:38:31.064-07:002012-08-15T17:38:31.064-07:00Your philosophy is perfect. We can't change an...Your philosophy is perfect. We can't change anything like that by stressing about it or arguing about it, and it shameful to let needless worries rob the joy and grace from a day. So bravo to you, my friend!Shellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04930262815304757150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7754684819908801536.post-84029544461004499002012-08-15T16:21:23.054-07:002012-08-15T16:21:23.054-07:00Do you live in my head and in my house?????? Just...Do you live in my head and in my house?????? Just saying, you either read my mind, or overheard the remarks of my children and husband to have been able to write this! <br /><br />I did think my husband was either having dementia problems or I was crazy after conversation after conversation where all lost to him as if they never happened. The more he remembered nothing I said, the more anxious he became and we both were nearly paralyzed by fear and anxiety. Then, he got the hearing test and hearing aids. I had my husband back. He had a mind and a memory, and he admitted he had not heard a thing I had said for a very long time and was suck in denial. Get the hearing test!<br /><br />I hear you loud and clear on this, Kathy. You summed it all up well. I made the same decision some time ago: live day by day, moment by moment. <br /><br />You write to well for someone losing her mind, but then what do I know??? For this moment, I feel quite sane and in the present. Who knows how I will be in an hour. Now, I remember I said I would start dinner, so I mustn't forget or there will be that talk again. Or, maybe, I will purposefully forget to fix dinner and see if I get banned from turning on the stove because I am too forgetful. Wouldn't that be a shame?Sally Wesselyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06470453773515491625noreply@blogger.com