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The first time I felt old was when I realized I was falling more frequently and without apparant cause. On analyzing it more, I realized I was having problems with my balance and also with my speech. It started in the Spring of 2003 when I was 61 1/2 years old. I had lectored at church and had no speech problems then, but I had asked to stop being a lector sometime in the Fall of 2002 just because they didn't need lectors and I was planning on retiring and moving within a year. I was starting to opt out of obligations. The speech problems I was having are hard to describe other than "tongue-tied". I had to slow my speech and I had trouble pronoucing some words; my speech became very deliberate. I find I can not speak fast enough to keep up with the congregation traditional responses or even fast enough to say the Lord's Prayer with the rest of the congregation. I was asked to read "stations of the cross" during Lent of 2003 (4/4/03) and wondered if I would be able to do it, but I decided to leave it in God's hands. Same when I was asked to lector at a "healing Mass" later in May (5/9/03).
I finally came to the conclusion that perhaps I had had a small stroke and I looked up "balance problems" on the Internet. Indeed, I found that a stroke could cause that kind of problem and exercise was recommended. I had a Jane Fonda exercise video and I tried the exercises, but I felt very clumsy and uncoordinated. I definitely couldn't keep up the pace and I couldn't coordinate arms and legs. Some of the leg movements I couldn't do at all. And one of the exercises led me to try to skip. I found I couldn't, but I trained myself to do it again. I had broken my leg the previous July (nothing to do with balance problems) and I think I was afraid of jumping on that one leg. Then I could skip again and that led me to believe I can do Jane Fonda exercises again with enough practice.
From http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3007659: "In this study, women stroke survivors who reported that they often had difficulty maintaining their balance while dressing were seven times more likely to fall than women who didn't have residual balance problems." "Interestingly, common risk factors for fall among the general population such as the use of hypnotic or sedative medications, incontinence, walking problems and a history of falls were less useful in predicting risk of falls in these stroke patients." I have had problem with balance while dressing. I always sit down now while putting on pants and shoes. Is this a residue of the leg fracture or is this something new? I'm not sure. I don't have any dizziness or light-headedness, however.
From http://www.americangeriatrics.org/education/forum/falling.shtml: "Fortunately, most causes of falls and instability can be treated successfully, with improved mobility, and fall risk reduced."
Q. How can I tell if I am at risk for falling?
A. The most important predictors of fall risk include: muscle weakness (for example, difficulty rising from a sitting position without use of hands to push off), unsteady balance (for example, needing to walk slowly or with a wide base of support to maintain balance), having had a prior fall in the past year, and taking certain medications (most importantly certain blood pressure medication as well as psychoactive medications, such as sedatives or anti-depressants).
Q. What can I do to decrease my chances of falling?
A. Ask your physician to evaluate your strength, balance, gait, entire medication list, and overall risk for falls. The chances are good that there will be a number of things that can be done to reduce fall risk, such as adjusting medications, obtaining physical therapy, starting an exercise regimen, or receiving an assistive device such as a cane or walker, to make walking safer.
Q. What can be done to improve balance?
A. Similarly, there are a number of exercises and assistive devices that can improve stability. Ask your physician what would be best for you.
I do have problems getting in and out of a car or a van. I need to use my hands to hold on or to push or pull myself. I do not have any trouble walking. In fact, I do a power walk every day that my work group does one (at most 4 days a week).
Another thing that makes me feel old is that my husband tells me I have bad breath. I am completely unaware of it, but I remember that my grandmother had bad breath at the end of her life and she didn't seem aware of it. I've asked my allergist and my dental hygenist. I have been aware of a possible decrease in my sense of smell and I have blamed that on allergies.
I had taken a fall on the deck of our cottage which left me with two black eyes for my son's wedding in Wilmington, NC, but my daughter-in-law did a good job of covering them with makeup for the wedding.
I first went to my own family doctor who ordered an MRI of my brain. That showed that I hadn't had a stroke. Every neurologist since then has looked at the MRI so it seems that test was a good place to start.
I've since been to five neurologists. The first one in Vestal, NY near home, could not see anything wrong, but I knew there had been changes so my daughter found one at Strong Memorial in Rochester. At least he acknowledged that there was something wrong and did some more tests, two thyroid, a vitamin E level, a vitamin B12 level, a Hu antibody test, and a Yo auto antibody test, all of which were negative or normal. Friends had asked if I had had a mercury test and Lyme disease test and IBM had had a spill, mainly Trichloretheline and my family doctor or the neurologist in Rochester were willing to order those tests, all of which were negative or normal. And when the neurologist in Rochester found out that I was retiring and that we were going to Raleigh, he recommended a doctor at Duke to whom I went eventually. He said that celiac disease could cause the symptoms I was having so he ordered a test to see if I had that disease and he ordered another MRI of my brain to see if there had been any changes. He also did a spinal tap. All of these tests were negative or normal.
Meanwhile our son who lives in Raleigh came up with the name of another doctor whom he wanted me to see and I went to him. He ordered a memory test while the doctor in Durham ordered a swallowing study. My memory test came out normal and swallowing study came out normal, except food was getting stuck at top of espophagus at end of test and they recommended taking sips of fluid after every bite.
The same day both the neurologist in Durham and the one in Raleigh recommended the same doctor in New York City with whom I made an appointment when we would be back in New York State. He was supposed to be the world's expert in movement disorders. Meanwhile the neurologist in Durham had diagnosed PSP (Progessive Supranuclear Palsy http://www.psp.org ). The neurologist in Raleigh called me to say he agreed with the PSP diagnosis. It is fatal within 5-10 years and has no known cause or cure. We took a bus to NYC and took a subway to the neurologist's office arriving early since we had never been there before. I beleived he was the world's expert when I heard the variety of languages spoken in his waiting room.
I felt I had lost abilities while we were in Raleigh and I can't even climb in and out of a boat by myself any more. I, who had climbed ladders to build the cottage and on the roof to shingle it, couldn't even climb on a chair any more to change a lightbulb or the battery of the smoke detector. We had sold our home in Owego in October 2003 when I retired and we had planned to spend our summers at the cottage, near where our daughter and her four children were in Rochester, and our winters in North Carolina where our two sons and two of our grandchildren were. We had dreamed of taking our boat from Buffalo to NYC on the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. Now we were thinking of selling the cottage. What a disappointment!!
We contacted a realtor. We were thinking of asking $200,000. The realtor suggested we ask $235,000. The first day it was on the market we had two offers OVER the asking price ($250,000) and we accepted one of them. Now we are trying to decide what to leave and what to take with us.