Most of the ailments I am beginning to experience have to do with the aging process, and a lot of them have to do with bodily functions. There's the stinky pee caper and the stopped up bowel saga. There's occasional aches and pains in my bones and joints. I get sore quicker and in many different places for several days. And before I started eating better, losing an extra 15 pounds, and exercising smarter, I used to tire quickly, and prefer to lay on the couch after work.
Some things, however, have been part of my life for a long time. One thing that comes to mind is my battles with my right testicle. I had my first surgery at 18--to remove a Nubin--and then subsequent chipping away at the organ over several years were capped off with a vasectomy and an epidymectomy (we're REALLY done with having kids...go ahead, look it up). I still have chronic pain down there which makes me sometimes feel like I was just kicked in the stomach.
I went to see the opthamologist today. I go there once a year and have been for many. This is the same office that Cyndi has been going to since she was one. When I started going there, it was because I cut my right eye with my gas permeable contact. If it sounds painful, well, it is. Possibly one of the most painful experiences in my life. It's like getting a paper cut, only in your eye. The eye is not a fun thing to cut. After it happened, it felt like my contact was still in my socket, so I got an immediate appointment with the office and rushed over from work. The only doctor who could see me was a man by the name of Dr. Badawi. My visit to him was in conjunction with his first day on the job. I was like his 2nd or 3rd patient. Dr. Badawi and I are about the same age, so when we established our common ground, he immediately made a connection with me.
Dr. Badawi was able to get me through the healing process and has treated me with kindness and a familiarity that is not always offered in medicine. He remembers who I am, knows Cyndi and the kids, and always talks about his first day on the job with me.
Today he told me something I never heard about my eyes. He said I had a Vossius' ring which is when blunt trauma occurs to the eye and the iris pigment epithelial cells are compressed against the anterior lens capsule with great force, a ring of cells may be left. This is a direct result of when I was hit in the left eye with a clump of dirt during the first and only neighborhood game of "Dirtball." I've always had problems with my eye ever since the accident, but no one--including Dr. Badawi--gave the exact definition of my issue. The vision in my eye has always been compromised. I cannot see as well out of it as I do with my right. When I take an eye exam, the letters on the wall float when I try to make them out. Dr. Badawi has even gone so far as to encourage me not to wear contacts again because he said if I ever injure my good eye, I could have problems the rest of my life. He feels the safest thing for me to do is to protect my eyes behind glasses. Vanity makes this a hard decision to live with, but I've managed to keep my eyes protected as suggested.
Not all ailments that I am beginning to face are directly related to the aging process. Having a Voccius' ring was the result of childhood stupidity. I'm sure I'll find other stupid things to complain or brag about when I turn 40.
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