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It is something of a coincidence that both Mary and I have undergone orthopaedic surgery on one of our legs within days of each other. Thankfully, we have both come out smiling post-operation and are looking forward to a full recovery with new ‘bits’ added to our bodies which will make moving around less painful and enable us to continue our active and busy lives that we enjoy so much. Mary explains her situation later and I am sure you will be as fascinated as I was to hear how science has progressed in recent years.
Thankfully, we both have a very positive mental attitude and are grateful that we are fit enough to be able to undertake such procedures. However, there is one thing that really shocked me about myself.
When I had a similar foot op on my other foot in 2019, I was only 72. I had been ice skating regularly, teaching aerobics in my classes and I look back now and realise how fit I must have been. Then the pandemic hit and we were all in lockdown for months, more than once, over the next couple of years. Life – and even the world – changed.
Working practices altered as more people continued to work from home, even after the world was ‘back to normal’ if it is appropriate to say that? Consequently, we don’t see our colleagues every day and that has its downsides. For instance, Peter, my PA, still primarily works from his home.
By the time we were back to what we could call ‘normal’ it took a while for me to realise that my body had changed during that period. I had lost 1½ ins in height for a start, presumably caused by the changes in lifestyle. Just not rushing around in my normal busy life meant that my body was living ‘differently’ with the result that I now realise that my muscles had become weaker and I had lost the confidence to continue to ice skate.
So here I am, five years on from that first operation on my right foot and having to face the reality that my whole-body strength, despite my best efforts at keeping fit, has definitely declined quite significantly. Climbing up the stairs on my backside is harder this time. Scooting myself around on a typist chair has had to be swapped for using a wheelchair - although I still refuse to be pushed. (I am self-propelling using my two arms and one good foot!)
I acknowledge that I am probably being a bit hard on myself as admittedly, over the last eight months or so, it hadn’t helped that I had a very painful left foot which restricted me hugely from being as active as I would have liked to have been in my sessions at the gym, teaching my classes and in doing my weekly ballet session. Everything had to be modified and tuned to minimise the pain.
The conclusion I have drawn from this is very clear. Every bit of activity, exercise, keep-fit, movement, walking or even standing up that we do, is really important to our strength. Mary has written about this many times before, explaining that part of the ageing process involves our muscles reducing in size and strength. Even if we work at our fitness and stay active, almost inevitably, we will become weaker. And that’s why we emphasise to you all and to ourselves, the importance of doing our strength exercises at least three times a week. This way we can minimise that deterioration. I can’t wait to get back to normal!
So, if you are fit and able, please try your absolute best to maximise your efforts today, as today is the youngest you will ever be! While you are able to go for a one-hour walk, please do it. While you are able to play tennis, badminton, golf, dance… whatever, please do it. While you are able to tend your own garden and mow the lawn or trim the hedge, please do it. We must make the effort while we can – and that applies to losing our excess pounds too. Yes, let’s do it!
 It was somewhat ironic that last week I had the honour of officially opening the new Occupational Health and Wellness Centre at Leicestershire Police Headquarters. The centre is all about supporting and assisting both officers and police staff to maintain, improve or regain their fitness. That includes checking the medical fitness of new recruits, helping injured officers get back to work and looking after the mental health and wellbeing of all staff. The fact that I turned up in a wheelchair and had to lean on the counter as I stood on one leg to pull the ceremonial curtain open was a joke not lost on Chief Constable Rob Nixon!
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And the reason so many modern medical and surgical terms stem from the Greek language? Well, that's all down to Hippocrates, (c. 460 – c. 370 BC), a Greek physician and philosopher who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referred to as the "Father of Medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field, such as the use of prognosis and clinical observation and the systematic categorisation of diseases. 
