maximios

Poor sleep is a problem that increases as we age. I experience this myself. My fitness watch tells me I am getting an average of five to six hours a night. Research from the National Sleep Foundation shows that adults need between 7–9 hours of solid sleep every night, yet 30% of adults aged 45+ are sleeping only six hours or less most nights. And the numbers are less for seniors over 65 and 75. Plus, many of us complain that the sleep we’re getting isn’t as deep or restorative as it once was.

The statistics show that for some reasons, sleep has become more elusive over the years. In 1942 most adults averaged 7.9 hours per night. By 2013, that number was about 6.8 hours per night, and a 2020 study found that American adults were getting less than six hours of sleep per night. We can blame TV, or electronic devices and social media, but that doesn’t help. I’ve got a new remedy to suggest, and it isn’t a pill.

Don’t Risk Taking Pills for Poor Sleep

Since Americans tend to be in a “take a pill for that,” mindset, it should come as no surprise that at least nine million Americans routinely take some type of sleeping pill, either over-the-counter, or prescribed. That number goes up significantly for older adults, with about one in three over the age of 65 habitually taking sleep medications.

Unfortunately, seniors risk more by taking medications for poor sleep because they are significantly more likely to fall than those who do not. And, according to Consumer Reports, a full 40 percent of all adults who take sleeping medications report feeling groggy or drowsy the next day.

Try This: Massage with Foam Rollers

Fitness experts are exploring the benefits of  optimal relaxation before bed in order to achieve deep, quality sleep. While this is not a new technique for those experienced in yoga and meditation, the key is use deep tissue work to relax. You can do this by yourself using a foam roller. In just ten minutes lying over a Styrofoam roller, you can experience self-massage using your own body weight. No masseuse necessary.

Foam rolling before bed is a kind of movement meditation in the same way practicing yoga can be. You focus on your physical being and the sensation of tension/relaxation in the large muscles as you roll up and down your body. Connecting in this way to your body before bed is a powerful way to increase relaxation to bring about a deeper quality of sleep. Breathe into the sensations while relaxing.

It would be difficult for me to explain the actual techniques of foam rolling, but I’m sure you can find plenty of videos on YouTube.  With traditional foam rolling, you spend 30 seconds to one minute rolling over each part of your body. Warning, however, the first time you lie on one side and roll on it will be painful. That’s because of muscle tension and stiffness. Start slowly, and don’t over do it to begin with. You can roll on your back, over your legs, shoulders, arms. Don’t forget the sides of your legs.

If you find sleep getting to be more elusive with age, practice good sleep preparedness. Turn off electronic devices. Allow your breathing to become slow and deep. Perhaps listen to calming music or a meditation app. Try rolling your tense muscles on a foam roller to get rid of tension.

With greater physical relaxation, you’ll realize with mental calmness and let go of stressful thoughts.

What is your least favorite exercise? For me it is stretching and balancing. I think it’s because both require holding a pose over time. It’s static. It requires patience. I want to move when I exercise, get my heart pumping, and challenge myself with repetitions and weights.

Just standing there on one foot or lifting a leg up on a bar seems so passive. I get bored. I’m not alone among seniors. Many of us hardly ever devote workout time to stretching and balancing. And yet, it’s a fact that if we don’t develop flexibility our joints suffer and we are more prone to injury.

Why Stretching and Balancing Is Crucial

An important element in aging well is being active. Not just in the gym and in sports, but so many social outlets involve being able to move freely. You can’t drive or move around with back, hip, knees or leg injuries.

Falls are a serious mortality risk for seniors, because being immobile leads to other degeneration. The statistics are dreadful. In the United States, falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults. In fact, one out of three people aged 65 and over will have a serious fall.

Once a person has had a fall, they are more likely to fall again. Falls often cause injuries. Some of the injuries, such as a broken hip, can be serious. Older people are more likely to break bones in falls because many older people have porous, fragile bones (osteoporosis).

When a senior is injured, they are less likely to return to activities such as exercise. That leads to a downward spiral in health. Some reports show that up to 50% of patients with hip fracture die within six months and many of those who survive do not recover their baseline independence and function. In recent decades the increase in life expectancy after 60 years of age has led to an exponential growth in hip fractures.

For me, that’s good enough reason to increase stretching and balancing exercises, especially to strengthen legs and hips. As active as I am between sports, gym workouts and biking, I’ve fallen several times in the last five years. I’ve fallen on the tennis courts, pickleball courts, and walking down the street! Fortunately, I’ve never broken a bone or sprained a joint (yet). I attribute that to my workout routines. Exercise strengthens bones and stretching allows muscles, tendons, and ligaments the ability to catch yourself to avoid serious injury when falling. Of course, I’m knocking on wood as I say these things, because nothing is forever.

Stretching and Balancing: Bare Minimum Workouts

Here are the key areas to stretch. If you add these into your daily routine, you can kill two birds with one stone. Just do 30 seconds of stretching on each body part as a warm up for your dynamic exercises.

1. Neck
2. Shoulders
3. Back
4. Hips
5. Legs

Proper static stretching doesn’t involve movement, so no bouncing. If you bounce and try to stretch muscles when they are cold you risk pulling something. So don’t do these straight out of bed. After a hot shower is better.

If you want a good guide with illustrations of stretching and balancing exercises, I recommend the book Stretching for Beginners,

Are there little known secrets of exercise that seniors can use to stay fit despite chronic conditions? I’m trying to get an effective cardio workout through movements that can’t injure the body.

Everybody praises walking because it’s so easy to do, always available, and fairly safe. However, I don’t get my heart rate sufficiently invigorated. Maybe because there aren’t many hills where we live in flat Arizona.

I turn to books by exercise physiologists and experts when I want answers. What I found on Kindle surprised me because it’s been around for several decades.

A Simple Idea Fallen By the Wayside

The book Strength Endurance: Reflections on the Legacy of Dr. Leonard Schwartz is helpful. It summarizes the work of a reformed sedentary psychiatrist who developed exercise involving both upper and lower body movements at the same time. This combined form packs two times the benefits of a single movement, even when using very light weights. For example, one would walk while lifting two pound weights overhead. The aerobic values are doubled, benefiting both heart and muscles.

According to author Chuck Huckaby,

Simply swinging one’s arms with light weights overhead could turn a fairly gentle walk (gentle in that it didn’t pound the knees and joints too badly) into a great cardio workout with the impact of a brisk run.

Dr. Schwartz investigated the exercise research of that time and found that cross country skiers who used their arms and their legs to exercise processed more oxygen and had greater aerobic capacity than any runner. Yet at the time everyone touted the benefits of jogging and running.

Many seniors avoid running because of injury risk. That’s when it occurred to me this combo idea might be an improvement to plain walking. The most aerobic benefit with the lowest level of perceived exertion comes when as much muscle mass is harnessed as possible. The arms and upper body effectively drive the cardio vascular system as much as the legs.

How Seniors Stay Fit

I know many seniors who struggle with avoiding injuries. Sure, they’d love to go out for a brisk run. But is it worth it? It seems to me that exercise physiologists know what benefits the body most. It’s up to us to figure out a way to stay fit given our limitations.

What does this mean for seniors who don’t want to stress to joints and back? Walking while repeatedly raising light weights can multiply the aerobic effect of a slow walk. You are doubling the benefits because you are engaging four limbs instead of two.

This little known secret of exercise isn’t really a secret. It’s just been pushed to the wayside by new machines and fads. But the basics of wisely using movements are still around. It’s up to us to find the professionals who are informed.

I remember two and three years ago when I worked out with Rio, my personal trainer in Mexico. She had me doing walking lunges with light weights. I did squats with upper body movements. In fact, she almost always combined lower body movements with upper body action. (One particularly tricky one: I had to do pushups with alternating clicking my heels together!)

Such simultaneous exercises are particularly beneficial for shorter workouts. (See post on High Intensity Impact Training.)

Combo Exercise for Combo Benefits

There is another fitness element that improves with these combo exercises: balance. Because you are doing different movements simultaneously, it requires some mental concentration and equilibrium. It’s much more challenging than walking and chewing gum at the same time.

Straight walking with weights is simple, but when you get to lunges and other combo exercises, it can be more challenging. Of course, you have to start small because it’s not easy. It’s surprising how little weight you need at first.

Like all exercise, the benefits come with incrementally increasing the intensity. This is where many seniors fail, because they assume they can do what they used to do at a younger age. Start small, start light and slowly improve. Avoid injuries. Stay in the game for the long term.

The Secret Exercise Challenge: Walk With Weights

But you know that, don’t you! Why not try taking some one or two pound weights with you on your next walk? If you have shoulder issues it may not be wise to raise them overhead. Do what you can. I can’t always keep up the pace when I get shoulder level with weights, but I’m slowly getting better. In any case, it’s making my walks more interesting. And effective.

Recommended Reading:

You’d think that age and wisdom would help us find good daily routines for senior fitness. Instead, I keep going back to workouts I did in my 40s and 50s, expecting to create the obsessive habits of younger years. Not only do I not have the time for 45 minutes of cardio and the same for weights, I end up so sore and exhausted, I don’t go back for a week.

When I was younger, I thought, “If I didn’t have to work, I’d exercise and play tennis all day.” Reality? “If it weren’t for my …(knee, shoulder, back, etc.)… I’d be exercising every morning, but…”

Those of us familiar with gym workouts and daily tennis or golf often struggle to “get back” to a senior fitness daily routine.

Back Benches Are Full of Senior Fitness Drop Outs

Especially when we’re on the back benches for hip, knee or shoulder replacements, it becomes a fight to regain previous levels of fitness. “No pain, no gain” is no longer wise. It’s more like, “Slowly, slowly, catchee monkey.”

It’s just damn hard. My mind is still 40, and I believe I’m getting better and stronger, instead of weaker and stiffer. That’s human nature, mixed with a dash of optimism and a whole lot of ego. “I can do this, just gotta get up and do it; but first, I better sit here with the heating pad, and then ice it.”

Two years ago I was 74 and fitter than at 54 or 64. I had lowered my body fat from 29 to 25. My BMI was 18. I was 5′ 7″ and 114 lbs. I worked-out twice a week with Rio who had me doing a tough series of squats, lunges and push-ups. Today I’m 5’4″, 117 lbs. and lucky to get in two training sessions a week and a few Pickleball matches. I feel disjointed because there is no regularity to my exercise, it’s hit or miss.

Are Bare Minimum Exercises Key to Senior Fitness Daily Routines?

If I set up a series of daily movements, I can get back into a suitable fitness solution. Inspired by research on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), I believe that workouts of shorter duration but with progressively more intensity can be the solution to senior fitness daily routines.

As I mentioned last week, fewer reps means less opportunity for injury to aging muscles and joints. As long as there is incremental increase in intensity, either through changing the speed of action or by increasing weights to make the movements more challenging, one can build muscle. This doesn’t require more time in the gym or on the courts, quite the opposite.

What are you doing to preserve your senior fitness with a daily routine? Are you paying attention to progressive intensity?

What would you do if you only had a few minutes and wanted bare minimum exercises to do right away? Can you get healthy by exercising less? When you’re in a hurry, you may have a book of excuses to use, mostly valid like sore joints, injuries, and lack of time. Even retired seniors get so busy it’s hard to get to the gym.

What if I told you that the latest research into exercise supports the notion that less is better? What if you could tone up those loose arms, tummy, and butt in 10 minutes instead of 45 to 60 minutes?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Works

The idea of compressing essential movements into a short time frame is well-validated by exercise physiologists. This isn’t new, but it’s not being used by most people. If it were, you wouldn’t see people jogging or walking or on a treadmill for hours.

The official name for this method of gaining strength is High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. When applied to cardio activities, for example, you would go at a moderate pace for a time span then switch to a fast speed for a short burst. Alternating regular and fast speeds is a method that yields health benefits in a much shorter time period.

In my opinion, this intensity/interval type of exercise is ideal for seniors. There is less repetitive impact on joints, therefore less chance for injuries. But the additional benefit is that it takes away the excuse of not having enough time to workout.

Can Six Minutes of Bare Minimum Work Get Results?

Applying HIIT to senior exercise can bring results in as little as six minutes, according to physical therapist Dr. Jonathan Su in his book 6-Minute Fitness at 60+. In fact, Dr. Su’s fitness program shaves off time by including only three essential movements to start with. He suggests doing these basic exercises in six minutes twice a day. Every two weeks, you include different movements.

What are his suggestions for seniors? Not surprising, he recommends starting with strengthening legs and hips. Having stronger legs and hips protects seniors from falls and fractures that can be debilitating, sometimes even fatal.

The key to effective workouts is to challenge the muscle a little bit more each time. That’s the “intensity” part of the equation. You can raise intensity by adding number of repetitions, ankle weights, and even slowing down a movement to place greater tension on the muscle.

Finally, a bare minimum exercise program that honors the needs of seniors, no matter how healthy or out of shape they are. Everyone who is aging needs to make up for bone and muscle loss as we grow older.

My Picks for Best Bare Minimum Exercises

What would I recommend as a set of bare minimum exercises that can be done in a few minutes? I’ve worked out with many personal trainers and physical therapists over the years. I’m not a trained fitness expert by any means, so follow the advice of a professional if you want movements suitable for your individual needs. I suggest the following exercises can be performed every day, as a start-of-day routine.

These three movements are designed to be simple, easy to execute and require no equipment, or at most a chair or floor mat. No spandex required, they can be done in your bedroom or hotel room. They work out legs, and hips. I’m not going to describe much of the details of each exercise, so I suggest you look them up on the internet for precise instructions and details.

A starting bare minimum exercise program for six minutes includes three movements for two weeks, making increases in intensity every two or three days. This is my comprehensive list of ten essential movements, but you would start with just the first three, squats, lunges, and hip raises. Those three work the front of the leg, the backs, and the hips and back.

A. Lower Body: Legs, Hips, Back

1. Squats: this simulates the movement of sitting down in a chair, but I do them by pretending to sit, and as soon as my butt touches the chair or bench, I raise my body up to a standing position. Then I repeat several times. To increase intensity, remove the chair and make a full squat going as low as your legs will support. You can do them with a back pack or holding dumbbells for added intensity.
2. Lunges: Take a long step forward and then bend down with your knee directly above your foot, keeping your weight on the front heel, while the back leg is used for balance. Take the next step with the back foot, shifting your weight and bending the other knee.
3. Hip raises: Lying flat on floor with hands by sides, slowly raise hips as high as you can. If the weight on the neck is uncomfortable, place a towel underneath.
4. Straight leg raises: Lying flat on floor or a bench or mat, raise one leg straight up while the other leg is relaxed and bent. Repeat. Intensity: go really slow, add ankle weight.
5. Side leg raises: Lying on one side, support your upper body on one bent arm. Raise the upper leg straight and lower it, slowly. Use ankle weights to increase intensity. Switch sides.
6. Abdominal crunches on a balance ball: Lie on your back across a large inflated ball with your butt slightly off the center of the ball. Lodge your toes under a heavy piece of furniture to stabilize the ball. Place your hands behind your head and neck, keeping your elbows back and lift your upper body up. This is not a complete motion like a sit-up, it’s more like a crunch.  If it’s too difficult, bend your elbows in to assist the weight of your head.

B. Upper Body: Shoulders, Arms, Back

1. I’s, Y’s, and T’s: Stand with good posture and extend your arms straight over your head close to your ears. Each arm forms a letter, the first one is “I”. Raise arms straight in front of you and lower them and repeat. Do not bend at elbows. Then make “Y’s” with your arms straight out and up at an angle, then arms back down against your body. Repeat. Finally, form a T with your two arms straight out to the sides and repeat.
2. Biceps curl: Elbows bent and close to waist, use either your empty fists, a water bottle, or dumbbell weights and bring hands up and toward your shoulders, keeping elbows at your waist. You should be able to feel and see a bulge on upper front of your arms. The thumbs on your hands should be facing outwards.
3. Triceps extension: Use an elastic band attached to a door knob. Hold the elastic in front of you and then bring it down beside or behind your body with a straight arm. Feel the tightening muscle of your triceps, the back part of your upper arm.
4. Pushups, using a chair, table, or bench: Use a table, counter top or chair to support the weight of your body at an angle leaning in. Place your feet away from the table so that you can lower your straight body by bending your arms. If you can’t support all of your weight until you reach the table, do what you can, or find a table or chair that is taller.
5. One arm bent row: Bending over a low table or a bench, position your head and back at a 45 degree angle to the bench. put one knee on the bench, the other on floor. Take a weight (water bottle, can, or dumbbell) in the outside arm and extend straight down towards the floor. Slowly raise it towards your arm pit and lower it again for one repetition. Repeat then change sides, facing the other way, using the outer arm on the other side of the body. This strengthens the upper back along with the arm.

These are basic movements that can be varied many ways. The idea is to only do three each day, twice a day, then increase the intensity and repeat the next day. It’s designed to be quick and simple to remember so that you get into a routine. You wouldn’t leave the house without brushing your teeth, so why not add a series of three bare minimum exercises?

The ability to do these quickly and/or slowly brings benefits such as raising your heart rate and challenging the muscle fibers to grow. Get into a daily habit of just three exercises in six minutes means you’ll never have to feel guilty again about not having time to go to the gym for a full workout.

Try it, and let me know how it goes. Also, please let me know what your favorite bare minimum exercises are. Maybe some of the ones I never think about?

When Rob and I started writing the War on Aging, about how to age well and achieve senior fitness for life, we never knew how important exercise and diet would become as we approached our 80″s. Life tends to teach us what we need to learn, right? Here’s what we’ve learned about how to age well through illness, and how he’s planning on going from sick to fit again.

We’re not yet into March, the third month of 2021 and already so much has happened to us health-wise. What can possibly be next? At the end of 2020, my husband Rob, a strong and athletic 80-year-old, had abnormal calcium levels on a routine lab test, and ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. A week later he contracted COVID-19 there, but luckily had no symptoms.

But that good news was squelched by a bone marrow biopsy that showed he had a rare blood cancer, multiple myeloma. After a grueling and lonely 2 1/2 weeks of tests he was released home with a treatment plan that included weekly chemotherapy and three days a week of 3-hour dialysis sessions.

Asymptomatic COVID-19: Beware of the Aftermath

Before we had time to adjust to these diagnoses, he came down with long-COVID. He began having severe breathing problems and muscle weakness which lasted a month. Evidently, even after having had COVID-19, people can succumb to the aftereffects of COVID-19 and it can be much worse than the actual virus itself. In his case, his lungs had been badly scarred and they are only now healing. He’s starting to walk without assistance, slowly recuperating previous strength.

Bad health can strike anyone anytime, and is certainly more common during a pandemic. Age complicates everything when it does. But if there’s one thing we are grateful for is that even at 80, Rob’s life-long attention to exercise and diet may be a big factor in achieving successful remission of cancer. There is also a possibility his kidneys will start to function again.

From Sick to Fit Again

Like most people undergoing cancer treatment there are good days and bad ones. Today he walked into Ironwood Cancer Center without a walker, fully upright. One of the nurses remarked he must be feeling better. He looked so different from the last two weeks when he was hunched over and taking shaky baby steps. Not to say he’s cured by any means. Next week might be very different.

But my point is that Rob has reserves. He has muscles and good bones. And in spite of the presence of myeloma cancer cells in his bones, he has no osteoporosis and few cancer lesions. He should be able to strengthen the muscle fibers that have been weakened from lack of use over two months.

To Age Well Is to Prepare Now

If you want to age well through illness, start now with consistent exercise and diet habits. It is far easier for seniors to regain fitness if they’ve engaged in a healthy routine of exercise and diet for a long time. The lesson here is to get as much healthy habits in now before you get sick. It will make recovery shorter and easier.

Throughout all this, we’ve discovered much to feel grateful for. Yet there are times we are both angry. This shouldn’t happen to us, we’re too young and healthy. We’ve dealt with heart failure and various sore muscles and joints and surgeries.

Life happens just when you were busy making plans, right? The one thing they can’t take away from us is our will to fight and our ability to hope. Sometimes everything stinks but we don’t dwell on it. We will take the step forward no matter what.

Keep in touch with the people you love. Let them know you better. Seize the day.

Fortunately it is now easier to get a COVID test. Unfortunately, many people are positive for the virus but without fevers or other symptoms. People with asymptomatic-COVID-19 don’t go in for testing and can unknowingly infect others. I could have been one of those people had I not voluntarily requested the test.

After my husband Rob tested virus free, I went in for testing and found out I had contracted it. I would have never known because I had no symptoms. And two weeks later, I was still asymptomatic. But I was a carrier for at least a week, probably more like two weeks. If I hadn’t asked for testing because of my exposure, I wouldn’t have known and I might have infected someone else.

The CDC used to require two negative tests before stopping your quarantine. But more recently, the CDC says no test is required. That is, you are deemed negative by virtue of having asymptomatically passed the 10th day from your first positive COVID test. It used to be 14 days, but they’ve shortened it to 10. I hope they know what they are doing.

A Third of Infected People Have Asymptomatic COVID-19

The COVID-19 virus affects people in widely diverse ways. There are many infected people who have no symptoms at all. They look. talk, and act normal. Unfortunately, those with no symptoms can easily spread it to others.

A South Korean researchers study, published in Journal of the American Medical Society Internal Medicine, indicates these asymptomatic people carry as much virus in their nose, throat and lungs as people exhibiting symptoms. They also carry, and spread it, for almost as long. The South Korean estimate of 30 percent is slightly different than the figure offered by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He said roughly 40 percent of Americans with COVID-19 are asymptomatic.

This is what is dangerous about the virus and its contagiousness. The new research extended the length of time people are considered contagious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a 10- to 14-day quarantine period for anyone testing positive for the virus. The research from South Korea, however, found that asymptomatic people were contagious for about 17 days and those with symptoms were contagious for up to 20 days.

As difficult and annoying as it is to keep the safeguards against infection, apparently it’s better to err on the side of caution. With 30-40 percent of infected people showing no signs at all, we need to wear masks and keep our distances even when it seems unnecessary.

The Vaccine Is No Guarantee

This is why it is so important to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Even then, with new virus strains evolving, we need to continue to take precautions. For example, with the Pfizer and some other injections, they take 10 days to reach 50 percent effectiveness on the first shot, and another 10 days after the second shot to reach 95 percent effectiveness. There is as yet no data on vaccine effectiveness for the new strains of Covid-19 viruses.

Asymptomatic COVID-19 was a blessing to me, and I’ve met many others who were as lucky. Experts don’t know why this happens, except a healthy person who exercises and diets is more likely to have a strong immune system. But this is no cause to celebrate. As I’ve seen with my husband Rob, the worse of the infection can come 10 days after testing negative. He had very few symptoms while he was virus-positive.

The Dangers of Long-COVID

The aftermath of asymptomatic COVID can come days, weeks, or months later. Rob has had shortness of breath and other symptoms for three weeks now in what doctors are calling Long COVID. A recent chest ultrasound shows scarring on his lungs. There is little they can do since it’s not an infection per se. There are no medications he can take. We are waiting for it to heal and go away.

Not a good condition with which to start chemotherapy, nevertheless, that is what he is doing this week. For Rob, the War on Aging has escalated. No, it’s not for sissies that’s for sure. If you are interested in learning more about our journey with aging well, check out our book on Amazon.

We were saying how lucky we’ve been to have had the COVID-19 virus without any symptoms. But we spoke too soon. We’ve been introduced to the mysteries of “long-COVID.”

Two weeks after testing negative for COVID-19, my husband felt like he couldn’t get any air into his lungs. Whenever he tried to stand up, he felt a tremendous chest pressure. We thought it was his heart. It turns out that the COVID-19 aftermath, called “long-COVID,” can be worse than the actual viral infection.

It got so bad I drove him to the ER fearing the worst. They scanned his heart and lungs and told us it was an upper respiratory infection called “long-covid.” I protested to the nurse: ”But he’s had three negative COVID-19 tests, he doesn’t have COVID-19 anymore!”

Patiently, she explained that even with recovered, symptom-free COVID-19 patients, and after testing negative, people are showing up seriously affected in lungs and other organs. This happens weeks and months afterwards. Incredibly, this occurs in 30% of recovered people.

Here’s a report on the COVID-19 aftermath and long-COVID from science journalist Shin Jie Yong at Medium.com:

Regrettably, for patients with COVID-19, being released from the hospital or testing negative SARS-CoV-2 does not always mean a full recovery. It’s estimated that 10–30% of cases will turn into long-Covid, where symptoms such as dyspnea (shortness of breath), fatigue, cognitive problems, joint pain, myalgia, and gastrointestinal and cardiac issues persist for a month or more. But in my own research review posted as pre-print, the actual prevalence of long-Covid may be higher than the estimated 10–30%.

Long-COVID and Co-morbidity in Seniors

For my husband Rob, this was a crucial affliction because he has other chronic conditions which could be disastrous (heart disease, kidney failure and a recent diagnosis of multiple myeloma cancer). The treatment? Apparently antibiotics aren’t used, only a medication for his cough and for his heart. It is virus-caused, the virus being COVID-19 which is (supposedly) no longer active in the body.

We are on “wait and see” mode again. His treatment for multiple myeloma has been delayed because the harsh chemotherapy medications could be detrimental. Furthermore, he has to delay a diagnostic PET scan to find out how far and where cancer has spread in his organs. The reason? He needs to be in the machine for scanning for up to two hours and he can’t breathe while lying on his back.

COVID-19 and Long-COVID Effects

If you’ve had COVID-19 and think you’re out of the woods, pay attention. Recently recovered from the virus infection, we’ve been introduced to the mysteries of long-COVID. The damage from the virus is long lasting in a third of recovered patients. I was lucky to not get any symptoms while I tested positive. I tested negative only nine days later. So far, so good. But every time I wake up with drippy sinuses or a cough, I’m paranoid.

Get Vaccinated, but Stay Protected Anyway

Fortunately perhaps, I got my first vaccination two days before contracting the virus. Perhaps (no one knows for sure) the vaccine helped me from ever getting sick. And now I’ve gotten my 2nd shot. I had no reaction from the first one, but boy did I ache a day after the second shot. I felt as if I’d run a marathon and lifted heavy weights, and had night sweats. My knee joints hurt to walk. Today my physical therapist (for my recent shoulder replacement surgery) told me many people who felt nothing after their first vaccine shot, are feeling the effects of the second vaccination shot. But all in all, they were mild and didn’t affect my functioning. Well worth the tranquility of mind it will bring ten days later.

I’m fine today, and looking forward to next week when hopefully I will have 95% immunity to COVID-19 viruses. But like many things we read from the CDC and other experts, things change as rapidly as viruses do. New viruses have evolved and the hope is they will remain vulnerable to the current vaccines; nobody knows just yet.

I’m continuing to keep distances and am following suggestions to wear double masks just in case. What’s been your experience?

This is a strange week for us, as I tested positive for the COVID-19 virus eight days ago. I’ve rewritten this post so many times. COVID-19 can kill people. It’s particularly dangerous because many people are symptom free, don’t even know they’ve been infected, and are passing it on to others.

What I’ve been dreading for over a year already happened to my husband but he’s fully recovered. Fortunately he had no symptoms. Somehow his immune system fought off a deadly virus all while dealing with cancer and kidney failure.

How is that even possible? Yet the COVID-19 virus was in his body according to several tests. I most likely caught it from him two days after of his return home from the hospital. Like Rob, I have no symptoms at all. At eight days, I still have none, no fever, or cold or flu signs. (Ojalá, as they say in Spanish!)

Lest We Forget: COVID-19 Can Kill

I continue to follow quarantine and mask prevention steps for the benefit of other people. I avoid going outside except to walk the dog. This infection has made me more aware of how easy it would be to pass on COVID to others. If I were to ignore the “rules” because I don’t feel sick, I’d put others at risk.

I have to remind myself: I’m positive for COVID-19. It’s tempting to continue my usual activities, like playing pickleball, working out in the gym, grocery shopping, pharmacy runs, etc. I’ve had to cancel physical therapy for my shoulder replacement rehab, and several doctor’s appointments. I was even scheduled for a back pain treatment that I was really looking forward to!

Instead, I view myself as a zombie, one of the “walking dead,” who can cause death and destruction at a mere touch or a sneeze. It’s like being in the middle of a war where the enemy looks just like everyone else. The stakes are high.

What You Can Do

As my Buddhist friends would say, “It is what it is.” For me, it is critical to safeguard my mental health as well. I can’t allow myself to become paranoid. Seniors can be at risk for anxiety and depression. Some internet posts warn us that more dangerous viruses are coming. All we can do is guard against this one one step at a time. Get vaccinated as soon as you can. Do it for your family and others if you don’t like it, but do it.

Get tested, even with limited symptoms. Chances are, this latest surge means you have been exposed to some one who also has no symptoms. Then, if you are positive, stay home, stay masked, and help stop this devastating virus that can kill.

As well, make sure your diet includes plenty of vegetables and fruit, rich in antioxidants. Boost your immune system with a healthy diet and exercise. Both Rob and I were infected with COVID-19, but escaped the ravages that endanger many seniors. It baffles me, but perhaps our diet and exercise routines helps our body cope and recuperate. It really has made us grateful. Never again will I complain I don’t feel like going to the gym. It may be what has saved our hides.

Please, do what you can. Exercise, eat right, enjoy the company of others without risk of spreading the virus. COVID-19 can kill. Be healthy, stay safe.

PS: I felt a lot of warmth and gratitude from readers of this blog and Facebook who responded with well wishes; I thank you so much! Abrazos!

December 29, 2020 my husband was hospitalized with kidney malfunction. Even though he wasn’t on the same floor as the COVID patients, he got infected with the virus. Now they’ve sent him home and I’m learning how to care for a COVID spouse at home.

It was six days from his admission to the hospital that he tested positive for the COVID virus. He wasn’t infected when he went in, because that week I tested negative. This week they released him home even though he still tests positive for COVID.

I don’t know how to take care of a COVID spouse at home and I certainly can’t be sure how to protect myself from getting infected.

It didn’t take me long to get scared and angry. He got the virus at their hospital and now they’re exposing me to it? The sad truth is that here in Arizona, they need the beds for sicker patients with more severe symptoms.

Caring for a COVID Spouse at Home

I am told to “isolate the patient,” but try enforcing that to someone in his own home. We set up separate bedrooms, baths, and offices. We keep the windows and fans open. We wear masks. But the kitchen and TV rooms are shared… And yes, you have to take off the mask to eat. He coughs, then grabs his mask. We’re trying, but there is no way to truly “isolate” in a family.

My story is one of bad news piling on top of bad news. It was horrible to learn my husband’s kidney symptoms were attributed to a rare blood cancer, multiple myeloma. We are still shell-shocked about that. Treatment gets complicated with a COVID-19 virus infection.

He can’t have a PET scan until he tests negative for the virus. So we won’t learn how bad the cancer is until he’s virus-negative. He has to have dialysis three times a week, and there are only a few clinics who take an infected patient.

If you’ve read our book the War on Aging, you know that Rob has been an athlete most his life. He is an example of a fit senior, who still does most of what he’s been doing for the last 65 years. Just weeks ago, Rob was lifting weights every day in the gym. He’s been fighting off the effects of a bad heart attack fifteen years ago by keeping healthy and fit.  The last thing we expected was a cancer diagnosis.

Heart Failure, Kidney Disease, Myeloma, and COVID: What’s Next?

Like everything in life, this ugly surprise has it’s glimmers of hope. At 80, he is escaping the ravages of COVID with only a cough, no fever. His damaged heart held up. There is still hope his kidneys will work again once he gets treatment for the myeloma.

I am worried sick that if I get sick with the COVID virus, I might not be so lucky. I am his only caretaker and he needs me. We need each other.

These are truly difficult times for everyone. My story is mild compared to many. You do what you can and hope for good luck. Monday the state of Arizona opened up vaccination to people over 75; it may be the first time I am glad to be so old.

COVID Vaccination Round One

I am now vaccinated, at least a bit. The vaccine will kick in 10 days later, and I will be 50% protected from COVID on January 21st. Then on February 1st, I’ll get my second vaccination shot. That should be 95% effective.

Next week, January 20th, my husband becomes officially non-contagious. They say he will have antibodies against the virus for the following three months.

So on January 21st, we will be able to touch, hold, hug and kiss each other for the first time since this nightmare began on December 29, 2020. That’s the day I dropped him off at the emergency clinic.

Lessons for Taking Care of a COVID Spouse at Home

Our lessons? Wear a mask, keep your distance, and be aware that a lot of people don’t have symptoms but are contagious. That’s the most dangerous thing about the virus. Perfectly healthy (and usually younger) people can be contagious because they have no symptoms. Wearing masks may seem totally unnecessary.

Pay attention, but try to keep from becoming paranoid. No one wants to get sick. Some of us are more cautious than others. Always look for the positive things that will keep you sane and functioning. For me, I try to focus on the fact that at least he’s home, not cooped up in an isolated room. At least the virus has safe periods and contagious periods. Count the days carefully and don’t expose anyone even if you think you are virus-free. If you can, get tested whenever you have doubts. It’s better than living with fear.

And, as soon as you can, get vaccinated. This isn’t about personal freedoms or political beliefs. It’s about saving humanity from an ugly death alone. You may not care about your health but most of us do. You may be invulnerable, good for you. At least let others be safe.

Do your part. My hope is for sanity to prevail even when health doesn’t. Thanks for reading, it means a lot to be able to share my challenges with you. If I can be helpful, let me know.