The past couple of years I've been given a true wake-up call and realize that what I thought were "OLD PEOPLE" diseases or conditions really aren't.
I've had knee problems for years that I contributed to multiple falls. Yes, I was a klutz and very accident prone. My mom use to laugh that I was the only person she knew that could fall UP stairs. After one of my falls they said I had an old knee fracture. After that I fell numerous times and always on the same knee so it was no shock when I was having pain and swelling in that knee that would last for weeks. A few years later I twisted the other knee and after surgery the orthopedic surgeon said I had severe arthritis and Grade 3 & 4 Chondromalacia. Looking it up that's a fancy name for runners knee and it causes severe debilitating pain and can also go along with Rheumatoid Arthritis. After I'd heard the word arthritis I was embarrassed. That's a disease or condition OLD people get. When I'd be limping due to stiffness or pain I'd tell people I twisted my knee or banged it. I didn't want to say "it's arthritis" out loud. Well, last year after complaining to my doc that my hands would swell and I couldn't open doors or hold anything and I'd get lumps on my wrists I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. As devastating as that diagnosis was it's not something I associate only with old age, after all there is Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis so it also affects people younger than I am plus I have a couple of cousins with RA and one of them was diagnosed years ago.
This past July I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My mom had that and was diagnosed in her late 50's so again that's a disease that I associated with the elderly. Yes, there's Type 1 which a lot of kids have but that's different. There's also Gestational Diabetes but I'm not pregnant so I didn't have that excuse. After doing my research I found people on message boards that are younger than I am with Type 2 Diabetes.
A little over a month ago my doc sent me to a Retina Specialist for an exam after the diabetes diagnosis. Those exams are vital to keeping your vision when you have diabetes since it affect your eyes and rob you of your vision. The retina guy saw something abnormal in my optic nerves and referred me to a Glaucoma Specialist. Did you know ophthalmologists have specialties? I didn't. After 2 exams a month apart the retina specialist said he felt I have early glaucoma. WAIT A MINUTE. That's 3 diseases or conditions in 2 years that I've always associated with the elderly. After all a friends Grandmother had glaucoma, I remember her laying down in the evening putting drops in her eyes. I'm too young for glaucoma. Again, back to the internet and message boards. You'd be amazed with the amount of young people with glaucoma.
Today I had a Trabeculoplasty on my right eye, the left was done last week. That's a procedure done with a laser to open the channel in the eye for the fluid to drain better, lowering the pressures and hopefully preventing any permanent vision loss.
Now for the educational part of this long post:
The diseases haven't changed but our thinking and prejudices about them needs to. I'm living proof that diseases and conditions reserved for Old People can happen when you're younger. But again, I'm not as young as I use to be.
I've had knee problems for years that I contributed to multiple falls. Yes, I was a klutz and very accident prone. My mom use to laugh that I was the only person she knew that could fall UP stairs. After one of my falls they said I had an old knee fracture. After that I fell numerous times and always on the same knee so it was no shock when I was having pain and swelling in that knee that would last for weeks. A few years later I twisted the other knee and after surgery the orthopedic surgeon said I had severe arthritis and Grade 3 & 4 Chondromalacia. Looking it up that's a fancy name for runners knee and it causes severe debilitating pain and can also go along with Rheumatoid Arthritis. After I'd heard the word arthritis I was embarrassed. That's a disease or condition OLD people get. When I'd be limping due to stiffness or pain I'd tell people I twisted my knee or banged it. I didn't want to say "it's arthritis" out loud. Well, last year after complaining to my doc that my hands would swell and I couldn't open doors or hold anything and I'd get lumps on my wrists I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. As devastating as that diagnosis was it's not something I associate only with old age, after all there is Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis so it also affects people younger than I am plus I have a couple of cousins with RA and one of them was diagnosed years ago.
This past July I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My mom had that and was diagnosed in her late 50's so again that's a disease that I associated with the elderly. Yes, there's Type 1 which a lot of kids have but that's different. There's also Gestational Diabetes but I'm not pregnant so I didn't have that excuse. After doing my research I found people on message boards that are younger than I am with Type 2 Diabetes.
A little over a month ago my doc sent me to a Retina Specialist for an exam after the diabetes diagnosis. Those exams are vital to keeping your vision when you have diabetes since it affect your eyes and rob you of your vision. The retina guy saw something abnormal in my optic nerves and referred me to a Glaucoma Specialist. Did you know ophthalmologists have specialties? I didn't. After 2 exams a month apart the retina specialist said he felt I have early glaucoma. WAIT A MINUTE. That's 3 diseases or conditions in 2 years that I've always associated with the elderly. After all a friends Grandmother had glaucoma, I remember her laying down in the evening putting drops in her eyes. I'm too young for glaucoma. Again, back to the internet and message boards. You'd be amazed with the amount of young people with glaucoma.
Today I had a Trabeculoplasty on my right eye, the left was done last week. That's a procedure done with a laser to open the channel in the eye for the fluid to drain better, lowering the pressures and hopefully preventing any permanent vision loss.
Now for the educational part of this long post:
- When you go for an eye exam and they want to check the pressures in your eyes, don't complain, just let them do it. Those pressures are important and tell them something. If they ask if you want them to take photos of your eyes, even if insurance won't cover them, say yes. I tried to find photos of my eyes from the doc I went to in Chicago and they don't keep them past 7 years. I was last there 8 years ago. The last guy I went to didn't take pictures. The doc I'm seeing now really wanted to see what my optic nerves looked like in the past to see how much they've changed.
- Don't feel you're too old for a certain diagnosis. I've seen babies born with cataracts and that's really an old people's condition, right? Wrong. Nothing is limited to the elderly. It may be more common as you get older but NEVER, I mean NEVER say "I'm too young to worry about that." The lifestyles we lead now can be making our bodies age faster than it did 40-50 years ago. They're coming out with new diagnostic tests that's catching these conditions earlier, before symptoms can begin. They're changing guidelines for certain conditions which again leads to an earlier diagnosis.
The diseases haven't changed but our thinking and prejudices about them needs to. I'm living proof that diseases and conditions reserved for Old People can happen when you're younger. But again, I'm not as young as I use to be.
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