A few days ago I went to the driving range with my 82-year-old mother and hit 100 golf balls while she hit 50. She drove the ball straight, about 75 yards. I’m hopeless: 200 yards, but the ball flies east, west, north, or straight up in an homage to chaos theory. What’s remarkable is that, a few years ago, my mom couldn’t possibly have hit a golf ball. Her knee replacement surgery changed everything.
For several years before the operation she had been limping and showing some of the same grimacing pain that Tiger Woods evinced during his great U.S. Open battle against lovable underdog Rocco Mediate. I was so used to my mom’s limp-and-wince routine that I was astonished when she came to visit me in New York City a few months after the surgery: She came practically bounding down the hall at the airport. Now here she was, a few years later, whacking a golf ball. She has also taken up yoga and swims regularly.
Age may dull the mind, but it sure focuses one’s attention on the falling-apart process. I’m almost 49, and by now it’s pretty clear that the health game isn’t about how good your genes are: That’s just gravestone-cold luck, it’s pure roulette. No, the game is more like poker: You have to know and work the odds, not just for now but for the payoff down the road. You want your body to be in decent shape so it has a better chance of dealing with the bad cards you will eventually be dealt. I realized that my Mom, who was always pretty spry, would not have benefited nearly as much from her knee operation had she not been in good shape to start with. And right now I’m asking myself: If I get to 82, assuming the roulette wheel lets me get there, will I be able to hit a golf ball like my Mom? I don’t mean straight like she does—I mean at all.
By the way, I asked her last year why she thought only one knee had degenerated, not both. It wasn’t the massive torque of her golf swing (no, that possibly contributed to Tiger’s knee problem.) She attributed it to a motorcycle accident when she was a teenager. I can’t begin to tell you how many follow-up questions I had after hearing that jaw-dropper, but, sadly, her answers were vague.
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Comments (4)
knee surgery is marvelous. encourage anyone thinking about it to have the operation sooner, rather than later. make certain the patient follows thru on all the post-op rehab, too. My new knee has been in place 8 months. i can go up and down steps like i did when i was 20!
your mother is strong and has the courage to do anything dispite of her old age
hi
gtwcszt0l6eoem82
good luck
hi
gtwcszt0l6eoem82
good luck