Growing older...part 1 of many

Morning Mugs,


3 years ago I had kidney stones. They were the single most bloody painful thing I'd had aside from Gout...which is excruciating. It transpires the cause was probably the fact that most days I'd drink a cup of coffee or two each day, and maybe a pint of squash or diet fizz in the evening. Over years this led to kidney stones, simply because I didn't drink enough fluids during the day.You think they might teach you that at school huh...but then I went back in the 70s when even smoking was seen as nothing more than a minor health hazard. 

Nowadays, since the lithotripsy treatment which worked but also hurt, I now drink around 3 - 3.5 lites of fluid per day. The upside of this is that there are no further signs of stones forming. 

The downside is that at 57 years off age, I need to use the loo every bloody 30 minutes. I have to plan all journeys around toilet access, or being lucky enough to be a bloke ensuring the routes have lay-by's available - one upside of being male is we can pretty much pee anywhere. Train journeys become all about ensuring you're near the loo and you known which direction it is from your seat. If of course you're lucky enough to have a seat. Plane journeys are all about planning when to have your last drink and 'comfort break' in case you're stuck on the runway, or as far from the pleb class loo as it's possible to be. I now wear trackie bottoms to ensure theres no belt pressure pushing down on the bladder along with the seat belt. On city or countryside breaks I now ensure the app Toilet Finder is on the phone so I know where I can go in the inevitable event of needing a wee. Believe me, from Imperial Harbour station to Stamford Bridge, I know every pub and restaurant along the walking route where you can get away with using the facilities without being a drink or food. 

At school we were taught about the changes as we went into puberty. They were exciting changes. Hormones running wild and good physical changes. I firmly believe they should also add the changes the occur as middle age tightens it's grip. Tell them they will change again, and that this time...it may not necessarily be for the better. 

Later Mugs, GJ