It has been a medically intensive week here. Monday was the neurologist. I have a small tremor in my hands and, just to make sure I don’t have something unpleasant growing in my head or some nasty brain-wasting disease, I went in to have it checked. Having had some experience with downside medical surprises years ago, now when in doubt, I get it checked out. I get along great with medical people and strangely really enjoy meeting them and try to learn, learn, learn. Brain docs are especially interesting, and although I really like mine, there was not much helpful information other than: I have a bit of a shake caused by some minor malfunction in a part of the brain called a basal ganglia. Solution? Beta blocking meds, which don’t really fit with my Action Jackson lifestyle, or try acupuncture. Doc says it is about 50% effective, and they have no idea how it may work, and who it works best on, but no downsides as long as I am ok with getting poked with a dozen needles. Weirdly, there is a rumor that low dose psilocybin may also work, but you didn’t hear that here.
Tuesday was my yearly audiologist check-up. Am I going deaf? Not yet. Fun fact: hearing loss is one of the most impactful factors that one can actually do something about when it comes to dementia. It seems that if one’s hearing starts to go, so does one’s brain unless one takes some action on the hearing-aid front. Fun fact #2: It seems that younger people feel little to no stigma about hearing aids, vs us stubborn older people who still carry some shame around them. My particular check showed some hearing loss in my left ear at around 4000hz; stunning considering I was a regular at CBGBs with put-the-amp-at-11 bands like the Ramones, but otherwise “remarkably good for someone [my] age.” Not sure how I feel about the “your age” part.
Then today, which makes this 3 docs in 3 days, I went to find out what was happening with my suddenly low-functioning cardiovascular system and the goop I have been coughing up. The chest X-ray says I have some fluid in my lungs. Ah, that would explain my panting from a minor workout. Solution: the very collaborative doc asked about my feelings on antibiotics, to which I replied: “What do you have that will nuke the little baddies?” I don’t have a spleen and am semi-immune compromised, so with any infection I go for the biggest hammer available. I also happen to be enamored of vaccines; call me a super vaxxer. Having once spent a year in a hospital, I don’t mess around with this stuff.
There are hypochondriacs, and there are medical phobes. My situation would be one of enthusiastic curiosity about all things to do with my body, and so I do really take pleasure in my docs, who like nothing more than to explain in great detail what may or may not be happening with me. Not that I make a recreational habit out of these interactions, but I find them oddly fun. Note my SuperAge type is an Owl, which should be obvious by now. Did you know a few thousand people have already taken the SuperAge Quiz? Maybe check it out.
Onward and upward,
David
