Move It or Lose It

I've been thinking a lot about aging lately. And to put a punctuation mark on this thought process, I tweaked my back yesterday. I wasn't doing anything particularly strenuous. I was playing tennis (doubles) as I do every Monday morning. One minute I'm running around the court, the next, walking kinda hurts and I desperately want to walk hunched over.

I pushed through the discomfort and made it through my day. But, honestly, I was kinda pissed. Although I'm not exactly "in shape," I feel like I exercise more than the average American. (Of course I'm fully aware of the fact that the average American is pathetic in movement goals when compared to the rest of the world.) Nevertheless, my slowly aging body betrayed me yesterday. I'll be fine, but it certainly was a warning shot over the bow of my creaking ship.

So as I was laying on the massage therapist's table today, I thought about the articles I read and videos I watched yesterday. Yesterday was the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. There was a march in which survivors gathered at the wall in the prison camp - the same wall where countless people were executed by the Nazis. They gathered at this wall and then marched, arm-in-arm, away from the camp. They did this as a remembrance of the atrocities that happened so long ago and also as a warning to all countries today - do NOT let this happen again.

Don't worry, this isn't a political post, although I will ask people not to vote for or re-elect those whose hate-filled rhetoric emboldens those that want to divide us and segregate us and drive out those that are different. Don't do that. That's not political. That's merely humane.

Nevertheless, I thought about the concentration camp survivors who are now in their 80s and 90s. They suffered so much physical and mental trauma when imprisoned by the Nazis. They were starved and beaten and tortured and yet, somehow, many were able to show up at Auschwitz and march. Honestly, I can't believe they survived this long. It's a testament to the strength of the human spirit. I'm humbled by what they've been through and how they keep going.

Then I thought about my 88 year-old Mom. Seven years ago, when we moved my parents in with us due to failing health and other circumstances, Mom was the healthier parent. Although she was legally blind, she walked unaided and moved around pretty well.

Today, Mom uses a walker and struggles to even move across her tiny apartment. She has a permanently dislocated shoulder, an unstable knee that should be replaced but can't be (because of her age) and macular degeneration. She's a shadow of herself.

I've long thought that one of the reasons that Mom stayed in relatively good shape was because she did everything for my Dad - she cooked, she did laundry, she looked after him. Once Dad passed away, she lost her purpose. Is losing your purpose a major blow to self-preservation?

But I also couldn't help but wonder if Mom's deterioration is a result of taking away her independence and virtually forcing her to rely on help for nearly every task. I know that she's in assisted living because she definitely needs help. But do these circumstances for her and so many other elderly actually hurt more than help? And how can we make sure our parents are safe, but also promote independence and continued movement and self-care?

The other day, I was at Mom's and walked down the hall past the Friday morning exercise class. On Fridays, Ron runs the class. Ron seems like a very fit man, likely in his late 60s or early 70s who wants everyone to move more, no matter their age. That's great and Mom did try Ron's class...once. At that class, a few minutes in, Ron told everyone to sit down on the floor. (Mom didn't, thank God.) Everyone looked at him and asked: "How do we get up from the floor?" Ron hadn't really thought of that. Last Friday, Ron was energetically instructing people to kick their legs diagonally across their bodies. He casually said "don't fall down" and nearly instantly, I heard a crash. Someone had fallen down. I guess the person was OK, but I kinda think Ron needs to be supervised. Mom refuses to return to his class...thank God.

In any case, I realize that I've raised more questions than I've made suggestions or supplied answers. This should not be surprising as I mostly have no idea what I'm doing.

But I do think that the old adage "Move It or Lose It" has some merit. Whatever keeps us going, we need to get up and move, especially when we don't feel like it. Sure, we might tweak our backs or our knees or some other strange malady my befall us, but I guess we're still better off taking the risk.