Learning To Be Old
A lot of the rough adjustment from being young to being old seems to be learning pain management. Some few lucky old people evade the “aches and pains” of age and injury, which in my case are grueling, grinding misery, but most of us must endure it. I groan and hobble with pain, it is a struggle to be pleasant.
After a few years of trying to just live through the pain, I tried the heavy-duty prescription drugs the doctors offered for pain but none of them worked for me. The pain prevailed. The pain medication just befuddled my brain, left me sitting in a stupor right next to and still feeling my pain, and made it even harder to enjoy what life I have. The best solution so far is a sorry solution, I use over-the-counter pain patches in moderation. A usual “dose” of pain patch only minimally helps with the pain, and that much medication makes me nauseous. So I cut the pain patches in halves or even quarters and apply the bits of them to my old, aching body, varying the location(s) according to what hurts most on any given day, my feet, my neck, or somewhere in between. This is tiresome, especially as the bits of pain patches have a tendency to curl up and peel off. I have had the embarrassment of shedding a pain patch in public, and seen the “Eww!” expression on others’ faces when they spotted it laying in a stinky little biohazard mess on the floor. (I quickly picked it up and tucked it into my pocket for home disposal.)
Off and on, as I go along, I try to meditate, “Ommm...”, through the pain. It does not help with the pain, but meditation helps me accept the pain that I can do nothing about.

Caption: Om II for pain management
by Annmarie Throckmorton 2018