Grow old?

Not sure it is about growing old any more. I have heard of more healthy young athletes dying from heart attacks & know of people in their 50's having strokes that was unheard of in my younger days.....& so many are having blood clot issues really young that was also unheard of....& this is just in the small town I live in vs the 54 years I lived in Los Angeles. Something is sure different even with the medical advances. Seems there are medical emergencies hitting out of the blue that medical advances can't help because it is many times too late by the time they get to them.

I have seen people sicker after taking meds that are supposed to help them than for those of us who choose a natural way to deal with the issues.

Based on the people I work with I do think if you take care of yourself you can largely avoid growing "infirm" for most of your life. There are a ton of sickly people out there but often if you dig into them you can tell they were not taking care of themselves if they knew it or not. I just see more and more very healthy and sharp people who shock me with their age. In real life and in the media. My old boss, a jerk, is 82 morbidly obese, and still is working. I watch every day waiting for him to pass.

And now that Canada allows for Euthanasia... I wonder if we might be on a better track for when you know the end is coming you can go peacefully.

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Part of my plan is to avoid drugs as long as I can. My mom I think died of a drug and as part of my HA I did look into it and a lot of drugs have serious side effects that are not discussed or taken seriously. I would not at ll be surprised to find out that drugs really cause more problems than they solve.

Even though this thread, like many others, will fall probably into obscurity after a few replies, I still feel compelled to write this.

There are people who do the right things, with diet and exercise yet come down with some serious illness or have an accident. Then there's people who gobble burgers and fries, smoke like a chimney and live to be in their 90's. I think it's random in some ways.

And I had nightmares about this. Part of it was about a woman I saw on a TV show, who did the right things but caught a serious (but not fatal) illness. One of her cows had this disease, so that's how she got it. She got it in spite of her healthy diet not eating meat. She and her family ate that one because it was ill.



Glad I got that out of my system. My point is again that $hit happens, even when one eats right, exercises, etc. And with the climate the way it is, I don't want to live to be a 100. I don't want a serious illness but this world isn't one that's going to be easy to live in----no matter what your age.

There’s definitely a random element imo, I’ve volunteered for years with people who have dementia, it’s such a huge variation of different lifestyles who’ve developed that condition. I’ve seen former athletes, dancers, sometimes even professionals.

It seems like a mix of genetic and lifestyle issues that impact upon how we age.

When I was younger and even sometimes now, I feared the "crud happens"... and of course that is true. But the longer I live, the more I know people, the more of a rarity it does seem to be. I have health anxiety so I often really look into it. And often times, when I had one of those "stuff happens" story, I would find out there was something I didn't know. Like they drank a lot or they had failed to go to the doctor ever or took a drug that has a nasty side effect or had uncontrolled diabetes / insulin resistance. They just don't tell you and sometimes - they just don't know. I do think if you want to live longer you just can't take standard medical advice. You have to look further and do more. And really investigate. I think it is a shame that there is no explanation on why people died in obituaries. I think we need to know and it might go a long way toward raising awareness.

At the same time some of the people I know who have cancer are surviving longer than ever. My friend's mom had a relapse of ovarian cancer and we all thought she would be dead in a year. 7 years later.... she is still around (and she is 80). Even in my own family, people who did have diabetes or serious health issues... lasted longer than you would ever imagine. Some of my relatives lasted into their 90s in good shape when they had smoked, had heart attacks in their past. I have a blood issue that could lead to a blood cancer and the survival rates have dramatically increased in the last 5 years with the discovery of immunotherapy.

In fact, heart disease has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years and cancer is going down as well (not by a lot) but it has peaked.

I want to live as long as I can in the best shape I can.

It also depends on your environment, such as living near a chemical plant. Horrible example but a random example.

There's nothing wrong with taking care of one self. But that doesn't mean things will turn out right. Or that they won't either.

The thing that scares me the most is how time passes by so quickly. In being older, time seems to go by faster. Meaning that death, or having to suffer with something before death, is coming closer to me. There's a line in a song that says, "as far as my eyes can see, there are shadows approaching me" *.

I agree with what Nonightowl had to say about - no matter how well you take care of yourself, something can still happen.

* "Old And Wise" by The Alan Parsons Project from the Eye In The Sky album. Sung by Colin Blunstone, who was a former lead singer for The Zombies.

I don't want to become too much of a burden on anyone. that's my main concern. getting to the point where all I can do is dribble or moan in pain and I need everything done for me. I really don't want that, and hopefully it won't get to that, but I suppose only time will tell

I agree. I know time is not literally going faster because it's not possible, but it sure feels like it. How can it be the middle of 2023 when it seems like recently we were masked and in lockdown?

I like that song and that artist. You're near my age so no wonder.

Thanks for putting my name in boldface and color too! I'm feeling pretty invisible and unappreciated today, so that helped that you thought enough of me to do that.

What I'm really afraid of is getting older ALONE. With our weak safety nets for people period (no matter the age), it's scaring me $hitless. No family, no friends, no neighbors to check on me. My building has such an insanely high turnover and no neighborly "vibe".

I've posted that in one of your threads about being older and alone.

And it doesn't help that our elevator has been broken for 6 months and is finally getting repaired. Although I'm in decent shape, it's still been exhausting carrying my groceries or laundry up the stairs. And the chore of those tasks takes so much longer as a result.

I can still do my own shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. but it's getting more exhausting all the time. I worry about the day I can't do it but can't afford help either. I don't qualify for what little help we have for people.

After having bronchitis 3 times in 6 months I am finally healthy again. Glad it hit mostly in winter....but I get the stairs & laundry. My laundry is in my basement.....my bedroom is on the 2nd story. I seriously was out of breath just climbing one flight of stairs to my bedroom.....so laundry piled up for months.

So I am well now (went to a naturalpath Dr because I had a horrible reaction to the antibiotics & couldn't finish taking them).....our church has a wonderful exercise class 2 times a week so I am going to that for cardio & stretching.....besides all the work I am doing around my farm.

I coughed so hard with the bronchitis my pulse & BP went sky high.....but it is ok when I am healthy....the MD wanted to give me BP meds & I was like NO!!!! Get me well & see where it is then.....i am well & it is fine....irritates me that the first thing the medical community wants to do is throw meds at you that cause worse side effects before they truly know the cause. I am so much healthier & in better shape without meds than the people I know who have been trapped into taking them my age

I don't know what kind of attitude or philosophy to take growing older. I watch others get old and how they handle it and I think "Should I think like that?". I watch Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen get old and how they handle it. Seems like nothing stands in their way. I'm 59 now.

I'm 52 now. I don't think I've ever been scared of aging, but am certainly amazed how years seem to fly by faster, the older I get. So far, I don't think I "look" that old, other than having some gray hair that needs covering with dye, and one solitary deepening vertical wrinkle between my eyebrows, which I hide with bangs. As for feeling old, I do have less energy than in my youth, but am fortunately otherwise fine. I'm a little chunky, but there was a time when I was chunkier at age 39. I lost a lot of weight after that, and only slowly "inched" upwards over the years.

What is truly horrible, in my view, is gradually losing loved ones. All of my grandparents, my god mother, my mother and father, a beloved nephew, my brother, and all but two estranged blood uncles are gone. My husband's parents and grandparents are also no longer with us. There is a fear of the future losses. That's the sad reality in life! A fear one rarely thinks about in early youth. As my husband is nearly 13 years older, he may pass before me in the future. But you never know. I can see that as the biggest trauma. For that reason, I occasionally try to visualize/plan what I would do to ensure my safety, and a positive continuance. That's a dreadful assignment, but I think a helpful one. I'm generally a realistic type, with my feet firmly on the ground.

Mum passed a week before her 95th birthday. That was the hard part for her. Losing so many of her loved ones. It was especially hard on her losing her younger sister and brother. Her world definitely got smaller not just because of losing her hearing, but because her circle of acquaintances and friends died off. Near the end she had her books and then she had trouble with her eyes, that really took the fight out of her.

That’s something I fear too, haveing eye trouble.

Even though younger people can certainly lose people, as we age we're more aware of our mortality and how much time has passed. I look back and think of how much things have changed and the people I've lost.

And I wonder what they'd think of this world TODAY, especially my aunt who studied and taught sociology. What would she think of our society today?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelinglady As the saying goes, getting old is better than its alternative. I'm in my late 60's and have a number of health problems, but I'm enjoying life!

Trav, I can be a wise arse. When people say getting old beats the alternative I usually say "as opposed to getting younger!"