Keep Moving!

This is a story of a man who was not very active – in fact, he seldom moved. And now in his 70s, his movement is more restricted.  I will call him “Don”.

I have known Don since he was born.  He had three sisters and he was the only boy in the family.  I suspect his childhood was very lonely as the girls shared a bedroom and he was alone in his room, and the girls just enjoyed each other’s company.

The girls were very outgoing, and the two older girls went on to have great academic careers, and the youngest girl also had a great career but was not academic and outgoing as her sisters.  The family had a quality tennis court in the back yard, but he was never interested.  I don’t recall ever seeing him even on the court.

Don was not interested in higher education, or sport, and spent most of his time alone.  As an adult he went to live in another state, working as a tradie in the building sector for his working years.

He never married, and it is believed that he never had any relationships with women or men.  He was always a loner.

When he retired he returned to his home state, where he bought a unit and yes, again lived alone.  He did not join any organisations, and kept to himself, watching television all day and barely doing any exercise.

In his later life, he did attend rare family events, but really did nothing much more than attend.  It was hard to instigate any conversation with him.  If you asked a question his response was usually a one or two-word answer.  He never instigated any conversation with others and would join family activities and sit and watch everything that was going on.

His sisters and other family members tried to get him to be more active and join groups, but he was not interested.  Perhaps he never learned any good relationship skills  – and by his 70’s it was too late to re-educate him. At least he wasn’t interested.

His youngest sisters kept in touch with him, but like everyone he knew there was frustration for he never wanted to get involved or do anything.  I don’t recall that he has ever travelled – he was just a stay-at-home watch tv man.

In his 70’s he started to have circulation problems with his lower limbs. And things got progressively worse. I am not aware of the details of his medical treatment, and I’d think he never followed any directions to exercise more.  Eventually, though, circulation in his left resulted in a diagnosis of gangrene, and he had his lower leg amputated.

His mobility is now reduced even further.  He needs daily care, and can’t move without crutches or a wheelchair.

My recommendation is that everyone try and keep their mobility going.  The recommendation that 70-year-olds should walk 5000 to 10000 steps each day.  Mmmm.  I aim for 5000 each day, but don’t always reach it.

Message to me??  Walk more.

So, get up and move and if you need any further information, go to Google and/or speak with your doctor.

Any comments?