When I turned fifty I wasn't doing badly I thought. I remember riding my mountain bike up the big hill behind my house. In my thirties I could power my way to the top (with my 10-speed!). On my fiftieth birthday, I attempted to recapture that feeling, and I almost succeeded. I made it to the top of the hill and realized in that moment that 'over the hill' was no longer an abstract reference.
My fifty-first birthday would find me still recovering from surgery related to my cancer, and my bike-riding was limited. In time I would return to riding, and during those brief journey's I could dreams of being younger and full of energy once again. Winter quiesced my activities, those dark and cold nights disheartened me more than the cancer ever did. I would finish my chemo cycle in January of 2011, and recuperate. That spring would see me return to work, ostensibly one-hundred percent. I rode my bike to work that first day, I was "me" again. Time goes so fast when you work, summer turns into the Fall. My favourite time of the year. October in particular with the transformation of colours fading into dark November's bleak days of wan sunlight and chill wet weather. October remains my favourite month aside from the seasons' change because it is the month of my birth. I turned 52 in 2011.
Fifty Two means I've celebrated two birthdays since the diagnosis of my cancer. Fifty Two and who knows how many more, but you can't count what you don't have. And I refuse to be counted out just yet. So to celebrate my birthday I scheduled my annual physical. Usually a physical is some poking and prodding by the doctor, the obligatory urine sample and the fasting requirement for bloodwork. At the suggestions of friends and medical staff, I also asked for a Vitamin D study. Apparently we in the modern western world simply do not get enough natural Vitamin D through sunlight. The northern climes also tend to minimize our intake during the winter. Of course during the summer some of us are slathered in SPF 60+ sun block ("SPF COTTON" in my case) making the absorption of Vitamin D moot. Blood work and fasting are the easy parts, remember, I'm a male over the age of fifty, so that means....
.... Prostate Exam Time! Latex gloves! Lubricating Gels! Lying on your side, knees up to your chest in the fetal position. If i was recounting this to my male friends I would now pause for dramatic effect and say something like "...when I regained conciousness..". But truth is it's only mildly uncomfortable and does not last very long. I have no obvious prostate issue. (The subsequent PSA test would also put that concern at ease). It is however, part of the yearly physical.
Since I'm getting a full physical, I'm also getting a chest X ray and blood work. The chest X ray requires no preparation other than waiting to have your name called. You don't even need to say "cheese" when they take your picture. Bloodwork however is a time-related process directly tied to fasting.
Now skipping meals is not a new process for me. Fasting for blood work is not a problem usually. I just get so darn thirsty. I neither drink nor eat for the proscribed 14 hours. With careful planning I usually arrange to get my tests done the following morning, usually a Saturday, then follow that up with an incredibly satisfying breakfast. For some reason however it seemed that most of the city decided that they too would like to have their medical tests done the same time as me. I arrived at 9am, took ticket number 70. "fifty three" however was the next patient to register. No problem, 15 minutes away is another medical testing lab. Off I go, only to discover it's not open on Saturdays. No choice but to return. Here's what makes you just shake your head at the Canadian Medical system: I was gone for about 1/2 hour and my ticket which I still had with me was yet to be called. I had effectively kept my place in line. True it was an exceptionally busy day, but it was lunch I was having by the time I was processed. Now all I had to do was wait for the results.
That wait ended when my voice mail had a terse message from my doctor's office to see them regarding the results. My last physical was two years ago and when I went in to review the findings I ended up getting surgery and chemo for cancer treatment. Gee, now what else could they possible find? Blood sugar? Hypertension? Rabies?
Turns out it was mundane: My Vitamin D was low, not horribly so, but I now take a 1000IU supplement pill every day. My PSA is fine (yay). My cholesterol was high though but at 4.6 I hope to manage it by diet and exercise and trying to avoid taking more meds. I was advised to try the Dash diet as it was suitable for hypertension and overall reduction of cholesterol. Less meat, more veggies, fruit and fibre. Yup, more fibre, every colon cancer patient probably wishes they had eaten a lot more fibre in their earlier years.
Still I am aging, and I have some interesting things to look forward too: I have a kidney stone in my right kidney. Thinking about that process brings me into a panic and cold sweat, I did ONE KS and I Never Want To Experience Pain Like That EVER! But no cancer, the CT that I had done several weeks before showed only that pesky stone, but nothing worse. I can live with that.
I guess that's the real comment about my fifty second birthday: I can live.
