As Long As You Have Your Health

Health, it’s the new album by the Canadian orchestral pop group The Heavy Blinkers. It’s also a topic that weighs heavily – with each passing year, to be sure, and with my husband’s recent surgery, recovery, and setback.

The lead track on the Heavy Blinkers album offers a fresh interpretation of “As long as you have your health.” As I adapt from working fulltime to retirement and to caregiving, fresh interpretations are welcome.

To quote The Heavy Blinkers, as I “walk the tracks until my time is done” and go to the drugstore or take my husband to appointments, my list of retirement activities that start with the letter P grows. Pedaling and paddling have been joined by patient advocacy, physician visits, prescription refills, and physical therapy.  

And, in the waiting rooms and at the pharmacy counters, I see other family members who are caregivers. They all seem to be more proficient and patient. Yes, I am struggling with this role. Work was easier. 

We have encountered many caring and dedicated healthcare providers. And, we've experienced some not so wonderful, to be kind. The most vivid was the intake administrator at the ER. With her rod in her neck and missing vertebrae, she said the most important thing for rehabilitation is to “Keep moving.” Now, as I encourage my husband to exercise, thanks to our musical neighbors to the north, his rehab program has a soundtrack.