Age and Honesty

I was trying to find a topic to write about this week. The usual macro topics seemed overplayed by others. How much can you write about inflation? 

Then it occurred to me that there are topics that I think about all the time. They relate to my situation on this planet. Mostly that means that the topics are age/health related. I don't have to read piles of WSJs to write about health and aging. The facts are right there within me. 

For those of you who are under 50, I apologize for today's post. But it seems to me that most of you reading this blog are more my age. That means you are old. It also means you see yourself on the way out of here. Seems to me that we oldies have a lot in common and a lot to talk about that has nothing to do with inflation or GDP. 

Maybe I shouldn't write about health and aging. Maybe it is too personal. Maybe too depressing. Maybe. But it is also true that a lot of us are facing our toughest challenges ever and yet we don't have sufficient outlets to discuss or even vent. 

We all have some health concerns. And I won't try to discuss all of them. I am taking a purely personal approach today. But that doesn't mean that you can't widen the topic with the blog Q&A that follows my words. 

I don't have cancer. My heart seems to be ok as are most of my organs. I may be somewhat pre-diabetic. 

But my real challenge is short-term memory. Wow. My memory reminds me of the flight pattern of a drunk butterfly. I can forget a word or a thought in less than three seconds. Its right there one second and then wham, its outa here. 

Unlike a broken leg or even a serious heart problem -- a short-term memory issue is hard to hide but the embarrassment of it makes me want to try. You can tell your friend that you can't eat a giant fatty ribeye but it is another thing to tell that same friend that you can't remember the words they said to you just 10 seconds ago. So you just won't bring up that topic -- even though you'd like to keep talking about it -- whatever it was. 

I know several people who are my age and who suffer to some degree from memory issues. It is natural to have memory issues as you age. But there are memory issues and there are memory issues. And some old people don't suffer at all -- and they seem to flaunt their ability to remember just about everything that has ever happened to them, including what they ate for lunch. Damn!

Having short-term memory issues is one thing. No fun. But even worse are the solutions. To understand what is causing memory issues the doctor has to look inside your head. While Frankenstein used a hand drill for brain access, now they seem to use a modern thing called an MRI. To obtain the images inside your brain you have to go see a neurologist and he will ask you to lie down on a machine that will look inside your skull. 

That doesn't sound so bad until you realize that you have claustrophobia and you don't want to lie down with your hands tightly clapped to your sides inside an area that reminds you of the casing of submarine's missile. A small missile at that. 

Once you submit to the MRI you are in the hands of the medical community. Of course, that sounds good. It sounds good as soon as you realize that they might have a cure for your problem. But then, the possibility is that (1) they don't have a cure or (2) the cure is worse than the disease. 

Maybe you were wondering what is on my mind these days. Now you know. I hope I didn't totally spoil what otherwise might have been a fun day. My MRI is scheduled for September 26. Wish me luck.