Over recent months, I have been finding that I get decidedly out of breath when I climb the stairs or, indeed, any incline. We have an old town house on three levels, so I am frequently going up the stairs.
(We should have downsized long ago, but that’s another story, no pun intended.)
Moreover, I live in a hilly part of London, so it is hard to avoid walking up (or down) a slope. Even when I just go out of my house and head up the road to the shops or to public transport, it’s a small hill. I do that most days for one reason or another.
But I am 83. So, what’s new? We all know that older people have problems climbing the stairs and hills. It is a natural part of ageing.
I wasn’t bothered. It was a nuisance, but it was nothing to worry about.
But my husband was worried. He’s always concerned about my health. “Please go see a doctor and get yourself checked,” he urged.
So, being an obedient wife, I did.
Visit to the Doctor
During my appointment explained the situation to a kindly woman doctor. “I get out of breath climbing the stairs,” I told her. “I think it is just part of growing older, but my husband is worried that something might be wrong.”
“Oh yes, he is right,” she said, “always worth getting things checked. There might be something we could do.”
So, she duly sent me for tests of my heart and my lungs.
Over a period of weeks, I had a blood test, an x-ray, an ECG, an echocardiogram and possibly something else, I can’t quite remember. Lots of those little checks they can give you concerning the heart and lungs.
One by one, the test results came back. All fine.
So, I was then asked to see the lung specialist, who had a student doctor in attendance. He asked me to blow into various plastic tubes. They reminded me of watching my then small son do similar puffs 40 years ago when he was being diagnosed with asthma.
The doctor had several different gadgets, evidently checking different metrics. They could even measure the volume of my lungs.
“Take a deep breath and blow as hard as you can,” he said.
I did. I blew for England.
The Diagnosis
The doctor pored over the information gained from all that puffing. There was a brief pause while we waited for his diagnosis.
“Well, Mrs Richardson, I can tell you that your lungs have 15% better capacity than those of other people your age. Nothing wrong with them at all.”
I wasn’t altogether surprised that my lungs were healthy. I have sung in a choir for 30 years, with weekly rehearsals. That’s a lot of lung exercise.
Not to mention my weekly yoga, which I have been doing for even longer. That gets to all the parts that other exercises don’t reach, including the lungs. Some readers will know that I can stand on my head. (You can see me do so here, three years ago, age 80: https://arichardson.substack.com/p/why-does-anyone-stand-on-their-head.)
“Well, doctor,” I asked, “what is wrong with me, then? Why do I huff and puff when I go uphill?”
He smiled. He looked at the student doctor watching the process with just a little embarrassment.
“I think it is just old age,” he said.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Do you find yourself deteriorating in small ways? Do you put them down to age or do you get them checked out?
