Until 75 I felt immune from its depredations. Felt hardly a change from a decade before. But interestingly, almost as soon as I hit 75, I had this little heart problem, though it didn't feel like a big thing. Fast, somewhat irregular heartbeat. I went to the ER to get it checked and they freaked at my blood pressure: 245/120.
Said they were going to keep me for a night or two. Wasn't too keen on that as I hate hospitals. Well, the next afternoon my heart started racing like a freight train (166 beats per minute), I coded, and suddenly 9 or 10 medical people were in my room. I was rolling around and groaning as I was in great discomfort. The doc hit me with some morphine, and I was quickly feeling better. He told me, "If you were going to have something like this, you were in the right place to have it. But don't worry, we're gonna put a pacemaker in, and you'll be fine." So, they did, and they put me on BP meds, and soon I was home with a blood pressure of 148/78.
Since then, though (a month ago), I've had fatigue I never had before and I, someone who hasn't much weight to lose, have lost 10 pounds. At 150 pounds (I'm 5′7″), I'm just 6 pounds over my high school weight now. But the fatigue is annoying. At my request they did adjust the pacemaker, but I still feel fatigue I didn't have before I went in. Strange. I'm less robust and food is less appealing now. For the first time in my life, I'm starting to feel on the old side. I'm hoping the fatigue improves with time.
Addendum: Feeling much better now several days after I wrote this. One kind commenter suggested the fatigue could just be the BP med and have nothing to do with the pacemaker. She was right. I was too hung up on the pacemaker to see beyond it. I'm back in the game now, feeling strong as ever. Thanks!
The following is a very old saying, but it does hit home. Youth is wasted on the young.
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Ron