My Health "Crisis" Downgraded to "Condition"

Feeling that I was hurtling head-on into a major personal health crisis, complete with the prospects for major surgery, a slow recovery, and extreme limitations on my lifestyle thereafter, I left my consultation with the University of Florida Shands Hospital specialist/physician/surgeon in "my" area this past Tuesday in a completely different state of mind: my affliction was most likely a natural, life-long product of a condition that I was born with. And with my current age (55), it was normal for signs to begin to surface during routine medical examinations. Well, the prognosis is that I am free to continue living just as I have been (just avoid lifting very heavy objects, not something I wanted to do anyway), albeit with the newly established mandate to monitor my "condition" with prescribed testing every few months. This explicitly means that I am completely free to resume my distance running; so Wednesday, the day after seeing that doctor, I did just that, going out for a leisurely, pleasant 6.26 mile run around my neighborhood. The following day I followed it up with a 5 mile run, and have been running daily since. All with the good doctor's blessings. I am also once again considering running in some upcoming half-marathon races, although my intention is to run at my own pace and simply enjoy the "parade"...

As I get older, I'm sure that as I undergo other routine medical exams, other items will come up and I'll have to integrate whatever treatment is recommended into my life. There is the possibility with my current state of affairs that surgery will still be needed in a few years, but that isn't certain. But even if I do need to undergo an operation, I still face good prospects for a quick recovery and a resumption of my lifestyle (including running, if I'm still interested). As of now, though, the treatment for my condition is...nothing: no medicines, no lifestyle changes. I think I can live with that, thank you...