Rainbows Of Health

I am a ballroom dancer, long before Dancing with the Stars was a twinkle in the eye of some producers. My husband and I started to ballroom dance in our forties. We were in Paris with a travel group and we went to a nightclub. Many seniors got up and danced. I vowed to myself that we would dance even better than them next year at our celebration party.

I had always loved to dance, and when I was twenty or so I took lessons at a franchised dance studio. I learned nothing except that they grabbed my five hundred dollars for fifty lessons. Shortly after, I had a so-called boyfriend, who was a part-time dance teacher. He tried to teach me the Rumba, but he did not know too much and he charged me per lesson. I dumped him and the lessons.

So in midlife, my husband and I took lessons together. My husband only socially danced and he never competed in dance competitions. I competed in dance competitions with my dance teachers (coaches). The teacher was the pro (professional) and I was the am (amateur). I danced in competitions in a half dozen states and I won fifty-eight trophies and medals. The student gets to keep and own the awards which reside on special shelves I had built to display them. They are a symbol of what people can start and accomplish in middle-age. The trophies and medals are in the kitchen and other parts of the house. I can view them wherever I go in the house to remind me of what anyone can attain, regardless of their now age.

At age forty, I earned a college degree, graduating with honors. I was the oldest person in the class. I went to college part-time for five years, having a husband, two children, between the ages of seven and three at that time, and a widowed mother, who I drove to places so I could be with her and to assist her in grocery shopping, hair appointments and pleasure events. It took me five years to receive my degree.

There is a saying, “A series of raindrops can become a torrential rain.” But I like to say, “A series of raindrops can become a rainbow of life.”

Now fast forward to life at seventy-nine, a senior for sure. I have not danced for almost two years due to severe Arthritis in both knees. I have tried shots, physical therapy; do my bike for three miles every day, mind/body thoughts, Aleve, a cane and Tylenol. I have been like my Dad, think today is good, tomorrow will be better and the following day will be wonderful. Nothing works well so far.Tomorrow I go back to the orthopedic doctor and I hope he gives me the second shot twelve days early which will be number two of three to four shots per year.

I yearn for tomorrow to come so I can get some relief. The first orthopedic doctor specializing in knees gave me shots and recommended knee replacement surgery. The second and new doctor does not think replacement will do it and it is a long and difficult rehab period. I do not want the surgery because there are serious side effects that can and do occur in some patients. I use heat and ice and I have become exceptionally excellent in using a cane. When you have never used one, it looks easy when you see multitudes of people young and old maneuvering with them, everywhere you go. Canes come in a variety of colors, patterns, plain black, folding and non-folding.

I have learned to use it with grace, speed and competency. It is like learning a new dance step like we often did in the dancing lesson days.

So today, I will concentrate on Aleve, the cane, ice bag, my trusty friend the bike, where I excel doing it with speed and resistance up a notch and some more readings on mind/body beliefs.

So maybe, please maybe, I will tomorrow get some relief if not only for six months and maybe, oh maybe, I will be able to dance a few dances on a Sunday at the dance hall.

If I am lucky, a series of different help ideas will become a torrential happening of easier walking and dancing days. Just like the series of raindrops become a rainbow, then a series of helpful medical ideas will become my rainbow of walking and dancing.