I have just read this thread in its entirety as I am just now discovering it. This thread has made me laugh more so than any other thread on Surly. Reality is better than fiction!
I will be 55 this summer and I am in fairly decent shape for my age. I have only missed 2 days of work in 32 years due to illness. Strep throat once and a viral infection that the docs could not land on that gave me night sweats and temperature at night and an overall tiredness. It eventually went away.
I am very active as I do a lot of hiking and I try to play full-court basketball 3 days a week. Most of the guys I play with are 15 years or more younger than me and some are the age of my kids (25 and 28). I try to play softball still but my vision screws with me. I can still hit OK but trying to judge a pop-up is difficult while playing with or without glasses. Contacts are out with me because I have a phobia about touching my eyeball. It gives me the hibbee-jibbees.
I do take meds for high blood pressure and cholesterol (both hereditary).
A couple of years ago I was in Peru about to visit a mine-site at 14,000 feet plus in altitude and I was required to do a physical. So there I am in a "clinic" in Lima having an EKG performed. The doc did not like the result so they insisted that I do a stress test there on the spot. I did an extended version of the test to ensure that I was OK. Between my broken Spanish and his broken English it was determined that I had "blockage" in my heart but he still gave me clearance to go up to elevation and visit the mine. Naturally I was a bit worried. So I declined on visiting the mine. I get the medical records from the clinic and bring them home with me. I visit my GP and he does an EKG as well and gets the same result. Now on to a cardiologist. His first words were "hmmmm and ooooh". Not what you want to hear. Major concern for me now. So I ask. He said that if it were a plumbing issue (blockage) then I would not have been successfully able to do the stress test to the extent that I did, He said that I have an electrical issue. One side of my heart fires just before the other side does. The delay in the firing appears as a blockage. He said that he could reset the timing but that I was probably born that way. Not too much to worry about. I did tell him that my heart races sometimes on its own. He said that they would have to catch that when it is doing it to determine the real cause. He speculated what it was but was not overly concerned. Come to find out I have SVT but that is more scary than harmful. Of course with me knowing what it is does not bother me anymore. I control it with meds and when my heart does race I know how to bring it back down to a normal rate. My cardiologist has suggested an ablation but with the frequency that I have an episode I have elected not to do that.
It does suck getting old as I do have a knee that clicks. Have a big toe that hurts like a mother when the weather changes (an old high school football injury). I do a lot more planning when I get ready to do something!
And yes, stretching is key. Since Covid has disrupted basketball some and I find myself working from home more, I go for walks throughout the day, do several reps of pushups throughout the day, climb the stairwell in the house just sitting and using my arms to press, lift and propel myself upwards. I go up the flight of stair just using my arms in about 30 to 35 seconds. I also try to do planks and stretch throughout the day.
What bothers me the most is the acid reflux I get if I do not watch what I eat. It burns like crazy but I usually just pop a Tums and I am Ok.