ABSTRACT
Speaking of tethers, the aging body … Always a burden, the body now seems to act up all the time. My hair—a long time white—has begun to thin into wisps. New lines are forming on my face as I confront the mirror in the morning, blemishes on the skin, red or blue—fortunately not yet brown. Oh, there are brown spots, but they are not blotches, raised and crusty. And then there are the aches and pains while turning in bed and trying to find a comfortable position. Used to taking my body more or less for granted, I now examine it daily. I find a streak of blue bruise on my foot and notice that it is swollen. The next day the swelling is down only to swell again in the evening. A wise guy friend asks me whether it wasn’t my middle foot. The pattern continues for a week and I suspect diabetes. I’ve become a devoted reader of the Merck Manual Home Edition.
