On Feeling Old

I had a audiology exam last week. I hadn't had one in a while, and with the spousal unit retiring in a few months, we've been trying to make sure we have everything poked, prodded, tested and taken care of before the big change from active duty Tricare to the unknown of retiree medicine. One of the things that needed taking care of was new hearing aids for me.

Yes, I am a 41yo who wears hearing aids. I've worn them since I was 25. I can get by without them, but I sometimes misunderstand what people say, or I ask "what?" more than is socially acceptable. Most people don't know I have a hearing problem unless I tell them because I cover pretty well, but my hearing loss, which is officially in the "mild to moderate" range, is at its worst smack dab at normal speaking tone frequencies. If there is any sort of background noise going on, or if the person to whom I am speaking doesn't enunciate, I'm completely sunk.

I have an appointment at 10:30 to be fitted for the new aids. I'm looking forward to seeing what advances have been made since my last pair, which were made in 1998. I'm seriously overdue!

I had to have more blood work done on Monday. My doctor called back within hours. That's never a good sign. It turns out my thyroid function is off again, even though I take medication for it - and have for 10 years. I take a prescription Vitamin D supplement, too. I got another call this afternoon letting me know that my supplement isn't enough and I need to go back on the super-mega-doses. Well, okay. I can do that.

There are definitely days when I feel old. I have fibromyalgia and 2 degenerating discs. On bad days, I walk with a cane. Heck, there are some days when I can barely walk at all. But you know what? It could be worse. It could be a lot worse.

I just watched Jennifer Grey win Dancing With the Stars. She danced with a torn ligament in her knee and, during her last 2 dances, a ruptured disc. What? Mind-boggling. She inspired me to make this card, using stamps from the Unity/Melody Ross kit Brave Girl Boots.Oh, and for those of you who have seen this post over on the Spellbinders blog? Can we say "bouncing off the walls"? I'll be posting some blog candy here soon. I don't know exactly what will be in it, there will be some Unity and probably {ippity}. I'm pretty sure there will be a couple other stamp companies represented too. I can definitely guarantee that it's going be the biggest blog candy I've ever offered. Oh, and yeah, I'm gonna make you work for it.