Getting old

First of all, in case I haven’t told some of you, my urology appointment that was scheduled for yesterday got canceled because my doctor’s office sent her referral to the wrong place. We are trying to get that straightened out so I can set up another appointment.

Another health issue my doctor is concerned about is that a bone density scan that was done last year showed that I was in osteopenia on the verge of being in osteoporosis. She has me on Fosamax and she also wants me to start doing some weight-bearing exercises. I hate doing exercises just for the sake of doing them. I’d rather walk or hike or ride my bicycle. At least then I’d be going somewhere and could look at the scenery while I am at it.

Nevertheless, this morning, Mark and I visited LA Fitness and sat down with a man named Larry who has been working in gyms for twenty years or so. He knows a lot about body repair. When I told him about my bone density scan, he sat up and paid attention. He took me over to a scale, and on their scale, I weighed 114 pounds. I have been running lower than that on our bathroom scale, but obviously, his is more accurate. Then he had me hold something out in front of me for a bit and that told him what my body mass index is. He looked at it and said, “You’re underweight!” (Not that the mirror shows it, but OK.) He says I need to gain ten pounds of muscle. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, so even if I gain some weight, it will be good weight. He said that our muscles are supposed to hold our body up. When we lose muscle, our skeletal structure has to hold us up and it wasn’t made for that. That’s why we begin losing bone if we lose muscle.

We told him that we move around a lot and don’t always have easy access to a gym, so he told me he can show me some exercises I can do at home with bands. I said that I am a sedentary person; the only reason I went there was because my doctor told me to go. He said he gets a lot of people in there who are motivated by their doctors. I signed up for the next couple of months.

Mark has been wanting to build back some strength he’s lost as he has aged. This year, we switched him to Medicare Advantage. I’ve heard they have a program where people on Medicare Advantage can go to a gym for free. The program is Silver Sneakers. Fortunately, LA Fitness is one of those gyms that takes the Silver Sneakers insurance, so Mark is signing up with them too. I know that the only way I will be able to stick with this is if he comes along. We will go back after I get off work tomorrow night and Larry will show us what exercises we need to do to achieve our goals. I have to admit that I’m kind of looking forward to it!

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