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Overcoming Limitations: There’s an app for that

On a recent Friday morning Urban Walk, a Villager mentioned that she can’t hula-hoop anymore. She and her friends laughed and agreed they can live just fine without ever hula hooping or cartwheeling again.

Other limitations that come with aging can’t be dismissed so easily. Many Villagers are dealing with eyesight, hearing or mobility loss, or newly-diagnosed complications stemming from heart, blood pressure or diabetes. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, chances are it probably will.

Several Villagers agreed to talk about how they overcame their limitations. While everyone’s situation is different - and certainly every person is unique - their attitudes and approaches are remarkably similar.

Nancy Pine: “I don’t want to miss out.” 

Nancy has been hearing impaired most of her adult life. About 20 years ago, she had surgery on one ear. This year, she agreed to surgery on the other ear. Surgery is scary at any age, but for Nancy, it was an easy decision. She didn’t want to miss out on anything. “And when you can’t hear, you miss out on a lot,” she explained.

“They drilled a hole in my inner ear and inserted a titanium piston. Once it starts working, it can improve hearing immensely. And, while it’s not as serious as cochlear implants, it has the same issue: The brain has to adapt to the big change in what I’m hearing,” she said. The words “The brain has to adapt” really means Nancy has to adapt. She admits it’s not easy. “It’s overcoming a lot to do this. And it takes a lot of patience.” 

Buff Gontier: “I think technology has the biggest effect on medicine.”

Buff also knows about “overcoming a lot.  She acquired Type I diabetes 25 years ago. “The doctor told me ‘I’m afraid I’m going to complicate your life,’ and that’s exactly what he did.” She went through a gradual progression of treatments, first medication, then  insulin injections. She got a meter to monitor her blood sugar and then an insulin pump.

Buff acknowledges that there’s a learning curve and sometimes she gets resentful. “Then I look around and everyone has something,” she says. “These medical advances allow me to do what I wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. So, if you accept that, and you accept the learning curve, you can go on. It’s constant vigilance.”

Where does her positive attitude come from?  “It doesn’t come naturally. I constantly talk myself into it. Self-talk. Positive attitude helps. I don’t know how or why, but a positive attitude helps.”

Karen Bagnard: “There’s a lot to be gained by staying in the present.”

Karen took a fall a few months ago. Her CT scan showed a compressed fracture. Now her daughter insists she wear a day alarm. “I hate it,” she says, “but it gives my daughter peace of mind. I do it for her.” Karen says she’d be fine wearing an Apple watch, “They’re cool; but this isn’t cool.”

What is cool is the NUDG, an app and service that uses behavioral science and technology to provide personalized, timely habit "nudges" to individuals to help them make healthy lifestyle changes, particularly for chronic conditions, a weight-loss program her cardiologist put her on. Over the past three years, she lost almost 40 pounds--weight she gained during COVID. “They stress not losing it fast. Make small changes. It’s hard. I used to be thin and now losing weight is quite a challenge. It’s not for a dress size; it’s to make me safer.”

NUDG includes a wellness coach who helps hold her accountable and a blood pressure monitor that keeps her mindful. Her coach works with her on everything: exercise, movement, stress, nutrition and more. “I’m more mindful of what I eat and when I eat,” she says.

What keeps her positive is focusing on the present. “There is nothing to be gained from regretting the past or worrying about the future, and a lot to be gained by staying in the present.”

Watch for stories about other Villagers in next month’s Voice of the Village. If you’d like to share your personal experience, contact Sue Addelson: saddelson@icloud.com.