Keep Active

[WyoDoug]

What a last few years. First my mom passed away in October last year. My brother passed away this morning and still dealing with it. That bothers me since I am the oldest sibling and he the youngest. One thing in common with both is they essentially ceased all physical activity and sat in their favorite chair a lot. When you do that, your blood pools in your legs and lower extremities and produces clots. Making me not want to have a chair to sit in now. Lesson for all of us is the importance of maintaining some level of physical activity to the very end.

The good thing is I drew my type 1 any antelope tag so looking forward to finding a speedgoat this year and hope that no new events like this spoil my hunting but it does deflate motivation big time on top of my own physical challenges with bad back and neuropathy challenges in my foot.

 

[ashersdad]

Good advice. Sorry for your loss. Hope you have a great antelope season!

 

[texwest44]

I feel where you're coming from. My dad is 75 and has two bad knees (Vietnam and 40 years of being an operating engineer took its toll), and I do everything I can to keep him up and moving around, but it is getting much more difficult. I bought us a raft to float around for fishing, but he struggles getting in and out of that, too.

Not sure what we're going to do when hunting season rolls around this year - he can't do the mile+ walks into public lands away from roads anymore, and packing out on foot seems almost impossible, but he doesn't want to give it up of course. I don't know any private landowners where I can take him to shoot a deer, and the BMA units around here are swamped with dopey sods.

It's not fun watching folks get old - we do everything we can but time is incredibly unkind.

I hope you can keep getting out whenever and wherever you can, @WyoDoug. Every outing counts.

 

[Straight Arrow]

'Sorry for your personal losses. It's not easy. albeit part of life. Prayers for grief evolving to warm, fond memories.

My Mom followed your physical activity protocol all of her 101 years. She, my Dad and three brothers are all gone now. I was a middle son ... now stuck in the middle alone, but with good memories. One is her oft spoken advice, "Move it ... or lose it!" She fast walked the Ice Breaker Road Race one mile in GF into her nineties.

 

[WyoDoug]

'Sorry for your personal losses. It's not easy. albeit part of life. Prayers for grief evolving to warm, fond memories.

My Mom followed your physical activity protocol all of her 101 years. She, my Dad and three brothers are all gone now. I was a middle son ... now stuck in the middle alone, but with good memories. One is her oft spoken advice, "Move it ... or lose it!" She fast walked the Ice Breaker Road Race one mile in GF into her nineties.

Goes along with "use it or lose it" but I aint referencing anything nefarious LOL. But serious, if you do not use your hands and arms for example, you might develop what is called frozen shoulder and not be able to move them at all.

 

[Matthew57]

What a last few years. First my mom passed away in October last year. My brother passed away this morning and still dealing with it. That bothers me since I am the oldest sibling and he the youngest. One thing in common with both is they essentially ceased all physical activity and sat in their favorite chair a lot. When you do that, your blood pools in your legs and lower extremities and produces clots. Making me not want to have a chair to sit in now. Lesson for all of us is the importance of maintaining some level of physical activity to the very end.

The good thing is I drew my type 1 any antelope tag so looking forward to finding a speedgoat this year and hope that no new events like this spoil my hunting but it does deflate motivation big time on top of my own physical challenges with bad back and neuropathy challenges in my foot.

Sorry for your loss Doug. Good advice.

 

[Gellar]

I’m sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Akcabin]

I will say a prayer for you and your family.
I'm kinda getting oller to. And I rode my body hard n put away wet. Had a family to provide for. I'll say this about getting out when you get oller. It's better than nothing. Just sitting in the woods. Really don't care about the success rates anymore. I don't have to supply meat for a whole family anymore. Just getting to spend time with family or friends is great.
I have been through a tough stretch and not been able to get out like I used to. Getting better but never the same. Folks if you have a chance to grab an ol hunter/outdoor person. Please do it. Just getting out doing something is a win for most. And keeping active is great advice. When you can, worn out body joints kinda restrict movement. And for me. It hurts, but I can still try my best. It's really up to me in a way. But having family or friends to hang with is nice
Go n have a coffee

 

[rmyoung1]

Sorry for your loss, Doug. Prayers for you and your family. Your advice about activity is spot on. As the physical therapists say, “Motion is lotion.”

 

[WNC2500]

Sorry for your loss Doug. You will be in my prayers.

 

[nrpate05]

Sorry for your loss and your advice is sound. Everyone talks about the perfect diet and other things, but I really think movement is the key to longevity. My grandmother is 92 and is overweight and has high cholesterol (for decades) and basically eats meat, cheese and bread (something most would say is very bad for you, not me!). She is still in the garden, running up and down the stairs, cleaning the house, etc. She rarely sits still and has a ton of grandchildren and a few great grandchildren that keep her motivated to stay above ground. I truly think there is something to that.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Sorry for your loss Doug. Hopefully some time in nature can help you through the grieving process.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Tough stretch to go through, Doug. You're right about moving. Getting out of bed in the morning every move hurts. By the time I've had that first cup of coffee and a little movement I'm ready to go start my chores. Sitting around is the worst.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Sorry for your loss.

I am thankful I too recognized this at a relatively young (early 20's) age. My grandma lived to be 83, she was morbidly obese, had a knee replacement and heart attack in the last 20 years of her life and spent the majority of her time in a chair as well.

My grandpa lived to be 80, was a bit heavy, had a knee replacement and other health issues and we *think* ultimately died in the bathroom of a heart attack (no autopsy performed for whatever reason IDK).

My mom (69 this week) still mows with her electric self propelled push mower and shovels snow in winter off deck but that is the extent of her physical activity. She has had a lot of back issues over the years, along with a heart attack in 2016 and smokes still.

My dad has had a knee replacement as well, is an alcoholic and has also had a heart attack.

It's crazy to me because I've asked them over the years "you ever just go for a walk" and it's like I asked if they spoke Russian.

My step dad stayed very active, with volleyball and barefoot skiing but that eventually got him with his shoulder and back and has slowed down a bit since. He just tore his achilles playing pickleball of all things. I worry about similar with my mom because mowing the grass, while yes it is exercise is likely more of a toll on her body because she isn't doing anything the other 5-6 days of the week.

I'm hoping my activities of hiking/hunting are enough to keep me healthier than they have been. The bar is pretty low so I feel pretty good.

Like that one commercial says "a body in motion stays in motion." While the motion may and will eventually change over the years due to natural aging I think the take away like you said is to do SOMETHING. People all upset about kids on phones while they've been killing themselves in chairs looking at a TV now for decades.