Grow Older and Meet New Friends

I've found it quite interesting that, as I age, I've been introduced to quite a number of new "friends":

• No more doctor specializing in Family Practice; now I see an Internist, one specializing in Internal Medicine and all that can go wrong in there when one crosses the magical age 50 threshold. 
• A routine dentist visit every six months or so is no longer sufficient. Introducing the Periodontist: a super dentist with dozens of ways to keep those teeth healthy and attached to your jawbone...for a price at least 50% higher than a regular dentist. 
• Oh, let us not forget my personal favorite, the Gastroenterologist. You know, the one that says "drink two gallons of this delicious mixture, wait for the multiple explosions, then come see me in the morning so I can do amazing things with this ten-foot long flexible tube while watching TV". Good times!
• Being (at one time) of fair hair and skin, and since melanoma was instrumental in Mom's death, I make an annual trek to a Dermatologist. He looks me over from head to toe and pronounces me as ugly as the year before. 
• I remember my first pair of bifocal glasses and how walking down a flight of stairs was akin to stepping off the edge of the earth. I got used to it, though, just as my Optometrist insisted I eventually would. 
• I have Type 2 Diabetes to thank for my occasional visits to a Podiatrist to make sure my feet are hanging in there. Actually, I've come to believe those appointments are simply a way for a man to receive a pedicure without taking all the ribbing from his macho buddies. 
• Three years ago a little "hmm, that shouldn't be there" thing appeared near my bladder and prostate. Enter the Urologist who removed the (later to be determined malignant) growth, and threw in a Roto-Rooter procedure at minimal additional charge. Now I get to visit him each year for a "look-see" to be sure nothing else has appeared. Amazingly, he does ALL this through...well, let's just say an incision wasn't necessary.
• And finally, my Internist recommended a daily additive to morning coffee which helps me to remember above (or below) all else:  fiber is our friend. 

So, as you can see, aging has expanded my circle of friends nicely. Hey, young folks...enjoy the friends you have now. The bunch detailed above are not nearly as much fun.