When the "itis" Boys Arrive

Getting old is only fun when you consider the alternative.

I'm not complaining, as I've been fortunate to have avoided doctors for most of my life. However as age creeps up...well, things begin falling apart.

Four years ago it was my 2nd bout with kidney stones. That problem was resolved with a slick machine that uses sonic waves to blast kidney stones into small pieces that pass without a problem. After I woke up from that procedure, I felt perfectly normal and except for some bruising, I wouldn't have known I had been in severe pain only an hour earlier. Science can be wonderful!

Since then, save for some uncomfortable arthritis in my hands, I've been feeling pretty good. However, a couple of weeks ago I developed a case of bursitis in my elbow. Though the elbow wasn't sore, it looked like someone had inserted a golf ball under the skin. Apparently my body was telling me I shouldn't have shoveled nearly thirty yards of dirt and bark this spring. Who would have thought that could be a problem?

Anyway, I finally had to visit the doctor to have the dang thing drained, but the morning after the treatment, it was swollen almost to the original size. Today, it was a second visit to drain it again and this time he injected a steroid.I hope it works, because he said that sometimes surgery is required to resolve the issue. With all the work I have to do this summer, I'd hate to be nursing a bum arm for several weeks.

I'd been bragging that Medicare couldn't complain because I had only hit them up for two flu shots since I reached 65, but I suppose the doctor will submit a couple of inflated bills for these visits. I hope they haven't run out of money yet...but I guess they can just print some more.