Arthritis, Old Age, and Large Trains!

Did I mention my knees are basically shot but are stable, and so far I am able to walk with a cane. When I go to the grocery store, I do NOT use a motorized scooter, but instead use a grocery cart as a walker, and walk around the perimeter of the store several times for exercise.

Getting older isn’t for wussies.   Keep going and do what you can.  God bless.  

Art, You seem to have described me in 14 years.  I have all those issues to a lesser, and a couple to a greater degree.  I look to your attitude as to something to aspire to.  Keep doing as much as you can for as long as you can.

Art; the solution is a simple one.  Bring home one of those young ladies in the Peloton commercials and have them lift your trains for you.  Surely Mrs. Tinplate wouldn’t object.  😉

Curt

My wife of 48 years is 9 years younger than me and is very helpful. She has lifted and carried that 408E on a few occasions. My single largest LGB loco, an 0-6-6-0 2085D mallet, is manageable by me as is the next heaviest 2045 electric loco, so things are generally OK. I have an operable Z-4000 for my 400E and 408E sets and an unused spare still in its box. Hopefully, I will not have to swap them out anytime soon, as they are also a BEAR to move! 😐

Even my state cars weigh an average of about six and one-half pounds each. I am really NOT complaining as these large heavy trains give me great joy and pleasure. The reality is that due to my physical limitations, I have had to adapt and modify my behavior accordingly, and so far it is working. ☺

Basically the trick, as it were, is to NOT give up easily, and put forth the effort to maintain one's independance despite the obstacles!

It’s all about the love of our trains Art. Keep going where there’s a will there’s a way! 👍

I'm recalling a cartoon of a kindly old stork slinging a diaper about, but so much experience just you know he'll suffer before a package does  

I committed my older dark towels to hammock duty 😉  When I got back in, I couldn't lift my postwar 2037 with one hand (needed two) and needed channel locks just to assemble 0-27 track(some old as you 😜). About the only thing fun I could manage (to even reach)  was the train in the closet, so they have been a part of my "daily workout"(any time I'm upright). (I can lift them now, but still not more than a few inches from my body. No 90° lifts, more like 25°l & 35°r)

I did get a good blast of CT or Arthritis when the weather swung last month. In the fingers&forearm.... It's no joke; I couldn't pour a coffee normal or grip the big mug enough. (just leaned the Corningware percolator with my train grabber, a vintage heavy duty grocery can/item compound grip grabber{holds an old O GG-1 or Hudson no-problem}, a coffee bullseye 🎯... in both cups. The big mug sat on the stove for a week 🙄)

Keep trying and doing!  

Peter

In addition to the arthritis, I will have been on renal hemodialysis 15 years this March 22, and I now have seven coronary artery stents, (4-LAD + 3-RCA) the last placement resulting in a retro-peritoneal hematoma caused by an internal femoral bleed! Think extreme morphine-level pain followed by emergency vascular surgery with three units of blood and 4 days in ICU, all back in November. WHEW! Fortunately, my nephrologist, cardiologist and vascular surgeon were all huddled over my two CT's and sonogram and directed my successful treatment! I am really grateful to modern medical skills and modalities! One of my fellow dialysis patients jokingly calls me "Ironman"!  😁

Ya gotta laugh or you will cry!  😁

What is this, the old farts competition? 

Okay, I'm in: age 67, arthritis, both knees replaced (smartest thing I ever did besides marrying my wife), Prinz-Metal angina, thickening of the heart muscles and calcification of the mitral valve, anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc.

And to keep this "about the trains", I collect and run Postwar (and some late Prewar) and MPC, with a little Williams, MTH and K-Line.

My Grandmother had the perfect advise..........she always told me "Don't get old!" and until now I wondered what she meant.

A wise person once stated: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" ☺

WOW!!!  I'm 76 and pretty much fit into what has been said.  Additionally I'm tethered to an oxygen concentrator and use an electric scooter to get around.  But dealing with these obstacles becomes the norm so I just get things done at a slower pace.  I love my trains and working on the layout gives me a purpose in life.  The key is breaking each project down into obtainable pieces and enjoying each little accomplishment.

I have been fortunate all my life to be in generally good health.  Working as a carpenter has helped me stay limber.  But as SWMBO always tells me, the aches and pains I do have came from abusing my body.  I know she's right, looking back at some of the things I did to get a job done.  Still, I can keep going, although a four or five hour day is enough for me now.  I'm just now, at 72, starting to get some stiffness in my fingers and if I do something stupid, which is too often, my lower back suffers.

So, "When all else fails, a pig headed stubbornness will see us through".

You younger guys have the world by the short hairs, so take care of yourselves.  

You are just a couple of years older than me so completely understand.  My Love is kit building and painting.  I can still sit down and the only projects that I keep putting off is wiring.  I enjoy that aspect of the hobby but even though I have the mechanic's crawler getting under and then back out when I forget a tool is pain literally.

Getting old is about:

-dealing with loss

-lowering your expectations