Well, the moment has nearly arrived. There are things that I have been putting off in my life for many years now. My time has run out and now I must deal with these things. I was first alerted to the need for one of these things about 30 years ago. I was in my second semester of college majoring in Religious Education. The first semester had been a breeze and I had made the Dean's List. The second semester offered one caveat. The administration was requiring all students to take a phys ed class. I was pretty athletic; had been all my life, but I was not eager to take this class since the purpose of my being there was a religious education. Still, I took the class and was having no problems until one day when we were playing basketball. It was just for fun. On this day and in this game, I had the ball and drove the lane for an uncontested lay-up. It wasn't painful, but I felt it anyway and it concerned me, so I walked over the bench after making the shot and sat down to consider what was the strange feeling I'd experienced and heard. It seemed to be fine, so I continued to play.Two days later I was on crutches and had to drop out of school for lack of being able to attend classes. I had seen an orthopedic surgeon who told me I had the knees of a seventy eight year old man. I was twenty six at the time. I had arthroscopic surgery on the damaged knee to repair a torn ligament. He warned me that probably sooner than later I would have to replace these knees or learn to use a wheelchair. I was 26 and athletic, that couldn't happen to me! So, in the interim years between then and now, I played basketball pick-up games like it was going out of style, I played tennis at a competitive level for hours into the night, I taught aerobics at a major health club for 10 years and I rode my bike for hours every other day just to push myself.Then it all changed. Ten years ago I had knee replacement surgery on that first knee. My life slowed down considerably. Now, I am on my last leg, so to speak, and the other knee has to go to make room for a new one. So, that is what I will be doing this Friday morning. Afterwards I will be heavily involved in rehab and learning to walk and use the bathroom again. Then, after full recovery, I plan on playing a lot of golf.So that's on Friday this week, but before I get to have all that fun, On Wednesday, all my lower teeth will be pulled and in their place will be dentures. Yes I am now that old. My dad had them at a younger age than me, so I kind of have some knowledge of what to expect, but at least I will be able to chew food without pain. I would get implants but they are ridiculously too expensive. I wonder how this will change the way I speak or even it it will. Maybe I'll be able to speak in my Scottish accent on a regular basis instead of just when I want to.So, if you'll be wondering what I.m up to in the coming weeks, I'll be learning to walk, use the potty and speak all over again. I'll be updating this blog on days that the pain MEDs aren't in control. What a way to end the summer, huh?
