Old Lad

This week I have reached another milestone in the journey as an Old Lad. I am writing a new will. My current Will is over 30 years old so I decided it was time for a refresh. It’s not a complicated Will – I have 3 children so what earthly possessions I have will be split three ways and I also want to make some charitable bequests. I know you can do DIY wills on line but I thought involving a solicitor was safer. The interesting thing about solicitors is that they conjure up all sorts of “what ifs” largely involving my three children falling out ( improbable). Or dying before me. But it’s been fairly straightforward. The biggest issue though is it’s a point in your life where you are forced to contemplate a future without you. This is difficult to get your head around but not something to dwell on too much. A solicitor I knew once advised that although everybody should write a will it should be then put in a drawer and forgotten about. After all you won’t need it!

A second milestone in the Old Lad journey occurred two weeks ago when I had my annual MOT at the GP surgery. At the moment I am blessed with what I think is reasonable good health apart from mild hypertension for which I am taking “the tablets”. Also the fact that I am over 75 entitles me to a check up. So a nice health care assistant weighed me, measured me, took my blood pressure and asked me about exercise ( mainly walking and gardening) and how much I drank ( I fibbed a bit!). Various blood tests were done and the good news is that all the important bits seem to be working ok. My blood count is ok and tests for liver, kidney, thyroid function were all normal and I am not pre diabetic. So that was encouraging seeing as I am now in what is termed “snipers alley” – watching friends and acquaintances being picked off by the Grim Reaper and dodging the bullets! The disadvantage of being a medic of course is that we know too much and occasionally I find myself thinking of the myriad diseases that could swoop..

So what do I do to defend myself against premature mortality. There’s certainly no shortage of advice out there in the media and on social networks like Facebook. The algorithms used by Facebook are very ageist. I get daily suggestions for walking aids, things to help me put my socks on, exercises to do in a chair (!) and regular advice about a thing called Pure Cremation as well as discreet posts about incontinence products! Basically I have a simple regime. A boiled egg each day for breakfast, an omega3 fish oil capsule and a vitamin D pill. Recently I’ve added in beetroot extract because there is some evidence that it can boost circulation. I home monitor my blood pressure, eat sensibly and walk at least 6000 steps a day. And I have a wee dram before bedtime. And that’s it.

Oh and aim to have a laugh every day. It’s all in the lap of the gods really. But at least I have a will and my MOT test allows me a licence to go on for another year!