So sorry. I been though 2 now and feel your pain. As you all ready know these are a long painful recover but you get through best you can.
My heart goes out to you Charles. You're 100% correct about getting older and things hurting more. Over the years I've managed to break almost every bone in my body, had hundreds of stitches, and 11 surgeries due to my chosen "career" and 8 years of playing sports. I'm also 100% in agreement about slowing down and paying attention. I have major nerve damage in both feet and serious neuropathy pain. The only thing I feel in my feet is pain, nothing else. Couple that with a serious hearing loss, which wreaks havoc on a person's equilibrium, I find myself being overly cautious at work. Lose your balance while stumbling around a construction site in the dark could be tragic. I've had a lot of close calls and a lot of not-too-serious incidents the past couple years but it took time to realize that I REALLY need to slow down, hold on, and take my time. Best of luck to you my friend. I may come visit after the surgery and cook you a nice dinnerI now know that I've got to really slow down and pay closer attention to what's happening around me.
Don't we just LOVE the aging process!!???...because, as I've found out, things hurt more, more things hurt, and things hurt longer. I've mostly been out of action lately due to a fall about 10 weeks ago that I've really struggled to get beyond. My hard head and male ego wouldn't let me go to the doctor because I was hoping things would get better, but in my heart, I knew they wouldn't. Finally decided to go to the doctor so he could tell me what I felt like I already knew...torn rotator cuff, AGAIN! Surgery has been scheduled and then the fun begins, rehab. This will be the 3rd repair on my right shoulder and 4th overall. Those of you who have been through it know just how much fun rehab is and how long it takes to return to a mostly normal life which is about a year, but I should be a lot better in maybe 3 months.
As for smoking, I can't hardly pick up anything much less open the lid on my smoker. So when I'm able to, I'll be back at it.
All of my torn rotator cuffs have been from hard falls. This one was caused by Lucy who tripped me going out the door to play. I fell from the top step which is about 4' off the ground, and landed hard on my right side and shoulder on the concrete, but I guess it could've been worse.
I now know that I've got to really slow down and pay closer attention to what's happening around me. While I'm hesitant to post about my misfortunes, I'm hopeful that others may learn from this...