The Woman in the mirror

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can remember when I was little that "The Aunts" would gather on the porch a few afternoons each week to discuss their "ailments". There was lumbago, rheumatiz, (I know it's misspelled...that's how they said it) gout, "woman problems" and the all famous "noxious gas". Of course that last one was mostly when they were discussing the Uncles. The Aunts Florence (there were two of them ) Aunt Della, Aunt Edith and of course my grandmother, Nancy Douglas would gather on the porch, bushels of beans at their feet, big aluminum pans in their laps. Funnily enough Nancy, my grandmother, never complained about her "miseries", she just announced in a rather matter of fact way that, now she was a woman of a certain age, nothing worked right anymore. That was it. No long drawn out complaints, just a simple statement of fact. Otherwise, she would sit with the bean pan in her lap, nod solemnly as the Aunts continued their litany of ailments, and shell and snap beans for dinner or the freezer.

I have discovered that as we get older (I hate the word old, so we'll go with older) we have more and more in common with our fore mothers. It will be up to us to decide into whom we actually morph. Do we become one of the Aunts decrying the fact that your body is busy deserting your spirit, or become like my grandmother who just took things in stride. I frankly enjoyed listening to the Aunts as they grumbled and groused, but I'm sure those who had to hear it on a daily basis soon tired of the tirade. I know we all remember my "what a big girl I am" stance when I refused the gently offered suggestion of a colonoscopy from my beloved Doc Moyd. Uh huh, I stood my ground and said "no no no". I was channeling my inner brat. Then a few weeks later...not months mind you, mere weeks, I ran headlong into my own mortality and landed in hospital for two weeks. The dreaded colonoscopy would have saved me that bit of a near death experience.

So, to add to the list of complaints showing just how low we can go...my arthritic foot...that constant source of pain and betrayal, sent me to the ER a couple of weeks ago. While they were taking x-rays, yet again, they did a little blood work. My hemoglobin was 9.9. Normal is between 12 and 14 and mine had been 13.5 in January. So, getting the call from Doc Moyd, in I go to do a double check. His main concern was just where my blood was going. I took a deep breath and sighed loudly when he asked if I had scheduled the colonoscopy with Dr Dameron. "We do that on Tuesday, " I told him. He then explained that Dr. Dameron would most likely want to do an Endoscopy on my sorry self, too. I nodded at him, all the time in my mind saying "no way, no way no way in hell!"

On Tuesday I found out that my Doc Moyd had been a busy little beaver before I actually got into see Doc Dameron. They had been on the phone with each other and the wagons were circled. I surrendered gracefully. BOTH procedures are scheduled for July 8th. Wish me luck.
And call me Nancy.

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