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Re leaving a mess, in the initial months of covid, long before the vaccine, I put all the documents in order, and decided not to seek hospitalization if I get very ill with covid (still stand by that decision). Since I live by myself, I thought if I really got unwell, I would put an inflatable mattress and bed linens into the bathtub, and sleep in the tub - that way, the stinky fluids that drip out of a bloated corpse (I have seen my share of bloated corpses at some point during medical training, several days old) would not drip down the bedsheets & ruin the nice hardwood floor. Admit that this image made your day, particularly if you are checking out the Forum while eating lunch!
Actually this is exactly the type of information I was looking for.... I am also worried about my hardwood floors... I heard they could even have to replace subfloors if you're there too long...
I'm on my last two cats (also because I don't want to not be there for them or have a more complicated situation when I croak). I've watched some of the YouTube videos that show days/ weeks old corpses and various scenarios... So, you haven't completely shocked me.
Since I do have Follicular Lymphoma and it is one of the cancers whereby you will die from the actual cancer itself I am wondering if I would be in hospice or something anyways. I am Catholic or else I would consider Euthanasia at a certain point. My eldest brother went from prostate cancer and he felt really unwell and went to the hospital and didn't wake up the next day (and I thought that was rather efficient).
At large, I don't want to be "drooling," a "babbling idiot," or anything along those lines.
On a personal level, I have no idea what to expect. My mom's side of the family is fairly short lived. I look more like my mom's relatives and her father. In the face, I'm basically a muscled up version of her dad with a beer belly. My maternal grandmother is 85, and has outlived all other ten siblings.
My father's side of the family, both sides, does "everything wrong," yet live well into their 80s. Physically, I'm built more like those people.
I can control some things. I'm not going to worry about things I have no control over.
It is not a matter of wanting a long life, but of what happens biologically. Some people WILL live very long, and those are generally in reasonably good health til shortly before death. People who drool and c**p in diapers rarely get to do that for very many years.
To clarify my question, I was interested in hearing what people intend to do if they remain alive, reasonably healthy and functional, well beyond their average life expectancy.
Drooling and wearing diapers is a separate issue of "long term care" - but that is actually not an issue of longevity, since the average nursing home stay is generally about 2 years (dropped to 1 year during past two years, for obvious reasons), the median nursing home stay (which corrects for a relatively fewer longer-living outliers) is actually only 5 months, and the median survival from the diagnosis of dementia is 5 years. Presumably, for outliers who manage to live substantially longer, the end will be some form of private chronic care, or Medicaid facility if they exhaust their funds. But this thread is NOT about that.
The thread is about whether anyone gave a thought to the possibility that at 55 they might be literally only middle-aged, ie, may live & remain with it til 110 (or longer). What would they do in their super-old age?
I make a point of trying to live in the present and not worry about future hypotheticals that will probably never come to pass. Both of my parents lived to become 90, so genetics would seem to indicate that I will be making that exit in about 20 years. I find it very difficult to concern myself about what I might be doing in thirty years when I'm trying to figure out what's the best thing I need to do for today or at most, next week. My goal is to be around for my two fur babies - two kittens that I adopted in November. Cats can live to be around 20, so if I exit stage right at age 90, that would fit purrrr-fectly! If I were to live beyond that, I guess I'd look around for an older cat or dog to grow senile with.
My goal is to be around for my two fur babies - two kittens that I adopted in November. Cats can live to be around 20, so if I exit stage right at age 90, that would fit purrrr-fectly! If I were to live beyond that, I guess I'd look around for an older cat or dog to grow senile with.
I was reading this and thinking 'did I write this?'
I make a point of trying to live in the present and not worry about future hypotheticals that will probably never come to pass... If I were to live beyond that, I guess I'd look around for an older cat or dog to grow senile with.
I've been adopting senior dogs for years now. I have a clear plan for any dogs I might have if something happened to me suddenly and am leaving my estate to the shelter if I were to have time to plan. No intentions of getting senile, either. Just happy to have calm little critters around all the time. Old pets are the best!
Sometimes it's not that cut and dried. My mother lived to 91. My maternal grandmother, the oldest of 7, lived to be 94. My grandmother's brother, the youngest of those 7, died last year at 96. THEIR mother died of a stroke at 40 in the eighth month of her eighth pregnancy.
However, we know now of the genetic kidney disease that runs in the family on that side. The key indicator is high blood pressure. Likely my great-grandmother had the disease, which was not known to the family in 1927, and that's why she had her stroke. My grandmother had the disease but retained enough kidney function all her life. My mother was on dialysis the last four years of hers.
My paternal grandmother died of a heart attack in his 50s before I was born, as did most of his brothers except for one who lived into his 70s and most of my father's male cousins on that side. My father also lived to be 78 before his heart attack killed him. But my brother, at 51, began to retain fluid in his legs and landed in the hospital, where it was found that he had a genetic heart muscle defect--which is probably what killed my father's uncles and cousins. My brother takes medication to strengthen the muscle, something that wasn't available in earlier decades. He just turned 55 and still works six days a week doing physical labor.
So, genetics are one thing, modern medicine is another, and one might be able to overcome the other.
When I first replied to the way the word "genes" was used in a sentence I didn't realize it would get so complicated. My main objection is way the word is casually used on message boards to explain everything and anything that might go wrong.
In the new science of epigenetics, scientists now say there's no such thing as good and bad genes, and the following article explains it.
When I first replied to the way the word "genes" was used in a sentence I didn't realize it would get so complicated. My main objection is way the word is casually used on message boards to explain everything and anything that might go wrong.
In the new science of epigenetics, scientists now say there's no such thing as good and bad genes, and the following article explains it.
You'll find the most important part of the article if you scroll down to where it says, "What Does This Mean For You And Me".
"New science no longer supports the idea of 'genes as destiny'...."
I also have a book by Bruce Lipton, PhD, a biology professor who has said, "Genes are not our destiny".
Other books as well if anyone is interested.
Essentially,I believe the idea is that WE control our genes by our daily activities, things we do, think, and say.
I don't disagree. We have what we are born with, but what we do with it matters more.
One of my sisters inherited our mother's/grandmother's/etc. genetic kidney disease, but she watches what she eats, doesn't smoke or drink and exercises to stave off possible future dialysis, and just keeps living her life in spite of it.
My mom and dad (76 and 78) are both still working. Be it part time...
My grandmother on my dads side lived to 95... my grandfather on my moms side was 86...
Not a guarantee but i like my chances of hitting 80... with that in mind, i hope to retire early in my mid 60s and live the good life.. what ever that means!
I say that in my "family," you're either nice and Jewish and get cancer, or Christian and crazy and live a long time.
So far, I'm atheist and in excellent health at 68.
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