The Downside to a Lifetime of Good Health

There are lessons to be learned from overcoming health issues — and I may only be starting to learn them now.

I don’t mean to brag but I feel I have been blessed with decades of very good health — both in terms of my day to day living and in my ability to bounce back from the very few hiccups I have faced along the way.

Oh, I haven’t gone totally unscathed in life. I’ve dealt with a few health issues along the way. One or two of them have actually landed me in the hospital.

There was the time my gallbladder decided it no longer enjoyed taking up residence in my body. After a few brief, painful explosions, and a quick trip to the emergency room where I was pumped full of antibiotics, a gastroenterologist advised me that it was time my disagreeable organ and I parted company. And so, after the relatively “simple” laparoscopic procedure in that very same hospital, I returned home the day after surgery, minus my gallbladder, and returned to my desk job a mere six days later, ready to fight another day.

The only lingering after-effect was about two weeks of crazy itching in the areas where a few stitches sealed the four small holes poked into my abdomen.

And then, significantly more frightening, the diagnosis of very early stage breast cancer. Yes, I know this doesn’t sound like the health report of a person enjoying a lifetime of good health — but, really, if you let me explain you might be able to see how it is.

Caught very early, a lumpectomy (the residual dent in my breast repaired by a genius of a plastic surgeon after the fact) removed the invading cells and left me feeling like the victor in the battle of life.

Now, as I will soon approach a clean decade after that experience, I can’t help but almost feel like it was all merely a bad dream — one I awoke from and will never revisit again.

Other than these two more concerning issues, I have only dealt with the assorted sniffles and head colds that are part and parcel of everyday life.

And so, it’s not that I have never dealt with my health concerns — It’s that I have faced the demons and beat them back into submission — never to be haunted by them again.

I have always come back as good or better than before. Nothing chronic or debilitating. I had my moment in the ring, defeated the opponent, and moved on relatively unscathed.

Which brings me to my current dilemma.

The orthopedic doctor has labeled it “Osteochondritis Dissecans” in my ankle — big words, I know, for a “relatively” innocuous condition. I laughingly now refer to it as me having OCD.

For me, this means a certain level of pain in my ankle (nothing excruciating, just perpetually annoying), some amount of tenderness, a level of weakness, and an occasional joint popping.

Mostly minor inconveniences.

Aah, but here’s the kicker — every once in a while — always at the most inconvenient moment, my ankle will “catch,” causing me pain and a certain amount of lost balance — extremely hazardous when walking down stairs, hiking over uneven wooded terrain or even navigating over plush carpeting.

I don’t necessarily see it coming so I must now be ever vigilant with this annoying, potentially long term condition. I can’t just skip along merrily through my daily life.

My ortho guy is choosing the most conservative approach to this problem — at least initially.

Now, conservative approaches are generally okay with me. It’s just that, as we make our way through all of the more cautious treatments, days and weeks and months are needed to see just how well I might respond to treatment.

Right now, I am wearing a supporting brace on my ankle to immobilize the joint, doing a variety of exercises intended to strengthen my ankle and applying a topical ointment meant to alleviate the pain.

For the next two months we will test out this treatment.

If, after these two months, I have not improved enough to call myself “normal,” he will try a corticosteroid shot in my ankle — maybe paired up with some physical therapy.

Another period of waiting to see how it’s going.

If, after all of this, I am still in pain and still uber cautious about steps, trails and carpets, we may finally consider a couple of different surgical options. After that, a stretch of recovery, more physical therapy to strengthen bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons that have spent too much time being lethargic.

Ugh!

As I said, I have never had to deal with chronic issues — I’m not sure I have the patience.

For something that seems like a mere inconvenience, I am being required to dedicate a significant amount of time and energy — time and energy I have been used to spending elsewhere, on pursuits in my life that I seek out and enjoy.

And this, sad to say, is what will test my patience after a lifetime of being healthier than I probably deserved to be.

If you enjoyed this article, perhaps you would like to check out a few of my other thoughts on living and growing in a rich, full, vital life.