The times they are a-changin'.
"Come gather 'round, people,
Wherever you roam.
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown.
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone."
I don't think Bob Dylan was singing about the subject of this post.
This post is about the other Late Night Creep.
The first Late Night Creep refers to a short film I wrote back in 2014.
This other Late Night Creep refers to nocturia.
Noc-what???
Nocturia is a condition in which you wake up during the night because you have to urinate. This condition becomes more common as people age and occurs in both men and women, sometimes for different reasons.
Despite me feeling like a freakin' 20-something-year-old inside, my body is indeed 50-something.
And it wants me to know that!
Over the past few months, I have been stricken with the same annoyance many folks my age endure.
Getting up late at night to take a leak!
Dang!!!!!
For so long I prided myself on being able to go to bed and remaining there 'til I wanted to awaken! I'd hear my peers complain about their late night creeps, and I'd simply listen, thinking that isn't my situation.
Well, now it is.
Now, my body is reminding me that I'm not the youngun I want to believe I am.
Truth be told, it has been reminding me of that in a number of ways.
My knees don't feel as limber as they used to. I mean, I used to be able to "drop it low" on the dance floor, then bounce right back up without trouble.
NOT anymore!
I remember when I used to be able to read with my contact lenses on without the assistance of reading glasses.
NOT anymore!
I remember when there wasn't hair erupting from my ears and nose.
Well, now it does!
All the other changes I grudgingly accept, but this nocturia is bothering me though.
And I'm not sure it's so much because of the annoyance of waking late at night,
Or because it signals that I'm truly only young in spirit.
That Mother Nature and Father Time have indeed "caught up to me."
Is my prostate enlarged?
Am I drinking too much liquid before bed?
Is my kidney doing something funky?
Does the dreaded diabetes factor in here?
Or is it simply because I'm older?
Well, at my next doctor visit, I'll tell him about this new "life change," and see what he has to say.
A couple weeks ago, I received my CT Scan test results: there's a 90% chance there's blockage in at least one of my arteries leading to my heart.
This is disconcerting, of course, because both my late parents had heart disease.
What I know for sure is that I'll remain vigilant in regard to my diet and exercise.
And I'll do whatever is in my power to keep from awaking at ungodly hours to urinate!
I tell ya, growing old(er) ain't for sissies!
You gotta be a "real man" to endure its UPS.
And DOWNS.
And late night LEAKS!
Haaaa!
