When I fell off the back porch of my vacation rental in Bermaggie, the crack of my ankle was so loud that everyone’s head slammed into me.
I saw them circling towards me as if in slow motion, and I remember hovering above the agony of that moment, the generator pumping emergency water to the house. They could hear the noise of the fire trucks, the fire engines roaring past, and the wildfires rushing toward us, surprised that we could do it despite the dark wind blowing ahead. I got it that?
It was early morning on New Year’s Eve 2019, and the sun wasn’t in the sky yet. It took me quite some time to realize that I had indeed fully ascended. The sky was so thick with black smoke that it looked like midnight.
With all of our friends and children, we had to make tough choices. Follow the warning and head as far east as you can, go down to the beach and wait by the water, or head into town and camp together. Other evacuees at footy oval.
The Cobargo fire was only 15 minutes outside of town and our decision was critical, but group discussions didn’t help me. As I sat with my feet up in a real and present emergency, I got lost in my own fear.
All I was thinking was that in that moment of fall, I had passed from the land of the strong, reliable, and able-bodied to the land of the weak and depleted.
Did you break a bone on a short trip in your late 50s? Now my old and frail life begins.
Aging is universal – if you’re lucky
Just before Christmas I was diagnosed with being on the brink of osteopenia. This is the final step before formal diagnosis of age- and hormone-related bone fragility, osteoporosis. And like anyone with an exaggerated sense of their own immortality, I was horrified.
Poor bone density? myself? Who among us climbs two flights of stairs, brings home 20 kilograms of food from the market every week, and walks miles without leaving the car at home? I couldn’t believe it. You may have asked the technician to test it again. (Are you serious?) It was a sobering lesson in the universal experience of age. Yes, you too.
It was also time for me to confess that I’ve never participated in group sports and certainly never been to the gym. I’ve done it once, In another experience I share with my fellow mortalsI signed up and got the program, but never set foot in that place again after that.
I’ve always been busy, over-scheduled, and in a rush, but it turns out it’s not the kind of activity that saves my bones. Maybe my awful 7th grade gym teacher was right when she wrote in my report, “Virginia believes that running and sweating is a violation of her own dignity.”
That awful morning, Bermagui was saved by a change in wind direction straight out of a story from Greek mythology, and we drove home. I made a kind of deathbed bargain with the almighty force out there, knowing that the sounds everyone heard were sinews, not bones. “I’ll start weight training and strength training right away. Please protect my bones.”
The first few weeks with Harley, my new exercise physiologist, were terrible. Every part of me hated every second of it, and I truly hated him. My arms, legs, glutes, thighs, and chest are all in pain.I whined like a child: I can’t walk the plank Also?
But Hurley is one truly talented clinician. He’s upbeat and positive, full of humor and his words of wisdom about the benefits of dancing, Pink the singer, and Pho for lunch. He made me feel like I could lift heavy weights and allayed my fear of hurting my lower back deadlifting. He can now handle 60 kg at a time.
We’re not talking about Rocky Balboa, but every time you pull your weight, it puts stress on your muscle fibers and bones, causing micro-tears and trauma. That trauma recruits satellite cells to regenerate damaged tissue, and the last time I had my bone density checked, I reversed the loss of bone density with the help of diet and medication.
Fractures due to osteoporosis are a turning point in the life of an elderly person and often begin the following: Irreversible decline: often followed by infection, lack of mobility or independence. To make matters worse, the life of dependence we always swore we would never own is often the inevitable outcome.
A friend of mine recently broke his shoulder in a really catastrophic way just by picking the wrong wave and bodysurfing at the beach he’d been swimming at all his adult life. Now, as she recovers with pins and screws and a smooth steel capsule securing her arm to her torso, she suffers considerable pain and even quieter grief. This was her first time off due to osteoporosis, but will this be her last?
I remember it very well
This weekend, learn from our experience and get the strength training you need to protect your bones. Once that’s done, sit back and watch Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel break into directing.
Have a safe and happy weekend — 6 more sleeps and you’re done. taylor swift new album.
And I don’t know why, Swift’s epic masterpieces in 2012 and 2021, it’s back to high revs again for me. If you liked the cynicism of “You’re So Vain,” if you ever echoed the diatribes of “Like a Rolling Stone,” this glorious evisceration of the man who broke her heart is for you. (Damn it It’s Jake Gyllenhaal. )
This is a masterclass in revenge and songwriting and I’m really looking forward to new stuff. Good luck.
Virginia Trioli’s new show Virginia Trioli’s Creative Type. Stream episode 1 featuring author Trent Dalton on his ABC iview. A new episode featuring Sydney Dance Company’s Rafael Bonacela will air on his ABCTV this Tuesday night at 9pm.
