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Am I finally getting old?

FrancSevin

FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
I seem to be having trouble getting things done. This summer was a full schedule of construction, road work. Decks, excavations and remodeling projects. Few of them are any where's near what would be my normal accomplishments.

Some time ago, like 3 months or so, I seriously strained my left shoulder. The pain is intense, especially at night wherein I am awakened by it all night long. Ibuprofen, aspirin and Scotch sometimes help but I just cannot get enough sleep. Last night was the worst.

My chiropractor has been working on it to no avail. I am about to see my medical doc just to get pain meds. For me, that is abnormal.

Pain is normal and like most, I have suffered my whole life. A broken back and shattered knee joint in my teens, never kept me from doing anything.. But this one has me losing strength in my left arm. Sunday, it was all I could do to turn a screw driver with my left hand. Picking up some bricks, my left hand would not hold them.

I've had rotator cuff injuries before. This is not the same. Icepack and heat help briefly. At 74 I guess I am finally getting old.

Hate it!

My grandpa once gave me this advice, " if ya' wanna' do something tomorrow, and the rest of your life, do it today no matter how much it hurts. If you can do it today, then most likely you can do it tomorrow." I have always heeded his advice. But I think maybe there are some things I should stop planning on doing tomorrow.
 
Just based on some of the things that I've read on here, I think you overdo it sometimes. For example, I'm thinking ??? it was you who was hauling shingles up to the top of a house not very long ago.
 
I tried Aleve ( naproxen sodium) last night. I have avoided it because of Urticaria and blood pressure issues. I added 400 mgs of Benadryl to prevent the rash.

I took two tabs at 6:00 and then two more at midnight. Got a full night's sleep for a change. No doubt in small part from the Benadryl
Shoulder, arm, and hand still ache this morning but none woke me up.

I'll try this routine for a while and see if things improve.


Getting old is hell but I'm told it beats the alternative.
 
I understand the pain and frustration. I'm on a whole cocktail of meds to help with that. After being on oxys for over a year that left me buzzed but did nothing for pain then lyrica that also did nothing for the pain but caused me to gain 50lbs, I got onto medical marijuana. I take a low dose slow release pill in the morning every day. No buzz and it helps with pain for up to 10 hours.
 
I'm better today so the Naproxen is of help to the symptoms. Yesterday I was planting mums and disturbed some ground wasps. They got me good and deep three times and a few minor penetrations.

I am allergic, so I took Benadryl and an extra dose of Advair. Sat down with the EpiPen at the ready. The episode passed without need for extreme measures. Arms and face swollen and I was lethargic and confused for a while.

Only got 15 or the 18 Mums in. And could not work on any carpentry.

Up all night with nausea. This morning my hands and arms are still swollen however, my eyelids have receded to normal

They may well be God's creatures but, I really hate those buggars.
 
FrancSevin said:
I'm better today so the Naproxen is of help to the symptoms. Yesterday I was planting mums and disturbed some ground wasps. They got me good and deep three times and a few minor penetrations.

I am allergic, so I took Benadryl and an extra dose of Advair. Sat down with the EpiPen at the ready. The episode passed without need for extreme measures. Arms and face swollen and I was lethargic and confused for a while.

Only got 15 or the 18 Mums in. And could not work on any carpentry.

Up all night with nausea. This morning my hands and arms are still swollen however, my eyelids have receded to normal

They may well be God's creatures but, I really hate those buggars.
Click to expand...
I hate them as well. The drought conditions here must be detrimental as this summer I have not seen very many at all. Not much for bugs here of any kind this summer.
 
Picked up sheet of 3/4 treated plywood today. That sh!t is heavy. Two years ago I put 8 sheets on the roof to cover a new addition to the house. Back then I lifted them up 10 feet to another old guy who then carried it to the work site. Today, with my bad shoulder ,I could barely carry them 15 feet to the new deck. Fortunately, my young grand daughter came out to help.
Good God, I feel old.

Tomorrow, I have to lag in the 2X6 vertical supports for the new room addition. Four of them. Not a big deal. But then I must cut to fit, the 4'X8' panels. After which I will lay in insulation bats before screwing them down.

Each then gets a 2X6X8 on each side to form an "I" beam post for the headers.

Half of the deck gets a plywood subfloor. The other half gets TREX decking.
For now we will cover the plywood with building wrap and indoor/outdoor carpet.

Then wait for the county permit to enclose that space.

I'm betting I am toooooo old to get all that done in a few days.

Hell, I got tired just typing this post.
 
Yesterday I drove 1.5 hours to bid on a job. Walked around the site looking at it, and talking to the potential customers. Made a bunch of notes and measurements, got in the car and on the way home stopped to buy groceries. Well i got home, put the groceries away, and it was now 7 hours later from the time I left the house, and I was exhausted. 20 years ago I would have been ready to go do another 7 hours of work and still not been that tired lol.
I'm also not in the best of health though, and have MS which saps energy at an incredible rate.
 
XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq said:
I just re-did all my decks with Trex. If you have any of those 20 foot long boards of Trex they will wear you out with all the floppy weight bouncing around.
Click to expand...
Longest on this deck is 12 feet.
The 20 footer's cost $45.00 or more, each, and can break if you handle them poorly
 
Just found out the Lowe's Trex supplier cannot provide my deck lumber in 12 foot lengths. So they substituted 16 footers and no additional cost.
That's the good news. I actually could use them in Springfield.

However, I currently do not have available any of my trailers with which to haul them home.

Getting them home will not be an issue. But getting them to Springfield is.

What has this to do with getting old????

I my younger days I bent with the wind and solved the problems as they arose. Achieving success despite obstacles placed in my path was an accomplishment. A badge of honor. Overcoming the challenges made success that much more sweet.
Now,
Seems the older I get the more this kind of thing bothers me.
 
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Hauling my 15K worth of Trex home was a full load on my 18 foot trailer. I had to use my 55HP tractor and 57HP Skid steer at the same time to lift it up off the trailer. Just about tipped over my tractor in the process. The stuff is heavy and awkward.

The only good thing about being older is that I had the expensive toys to unload the trailer. The younger me would have spent 8 hours unloading that thing by hand. I could probably still have unloaded it by hand but I sure don't want to do that kind of work anymore. I hurt too much the next day (or week).
 
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