So why am I writing a book on aging?
To begin with, I recently passed my eighth decade, something most of you will do. if you take reasonable care of yourself. The only problem I have is that I was totally unprepared for the changes that take place in your life at this stage.
I recently was talking with an old friend, “what’s his name,” and he was telling me about his difficulty in remembering names and places. How silly, I told my old friend, how can you forget someone you have known for many years?
My old friend finally left, after hugging me and wishing me well and then finally my spouse came by and I was able to ask her who this old guy was. It turned out that he was a retired doctor and friend that I had been going to for many years. (Sorry, Dr. Halegua.)
It is not just names that you have difficulty remembering, it is the date and other dates of importance that simply do not come to mind when you need them. Be prepared! I have been driving automobiles ever since I was 16 years old and have loved every minute of it, but recently when going to visit the many doctors that an octogenarian is required to see, I found myself getting lost on the way to their various offices and didn’t mind telling them so when I arrived. My advice on this is don’t do it!
The result for me was that the doctors suggested to my spouse on my next visit that perhaps Ernie should give up his driving privileges and have you chauffer him around. Of course, my spouse was as thrilled with this idea as I was of having been deprived of one of the few things that I could still do.
I had always considered myself a real macho handyman and could maintain most of the things that might go wrong in our home. This no longer was the case when I had to do complex things like change a lightbulb, clean a pool or air conditioning filter, or any other minor household chore for which I might be responsible. Each time I would attempt to do one of these acts, either my spouse, one of my children, or a neighbor would come over, see me standing on a ladder or a box and tell me how either their uncle, father, brother, etc., had fallen and broken an arm, ankle, leg, back, or whatever, and therefore I shouldn’t be doing this. Of course, they are right but try telling that to a macho self-made handyman. It doesn’t work. Be prepared fellow octogenarians.
This book as you peruse it will give you many other examples, some duplicative, of things from my other book, When I Was Your Age, that you will encounter as you age and were not prepared to deal with. I hope you enjoy it and pass these messages on to your old friends, if you can remember their names.
Unfortunately for me, I had no one guiding me through this stage of my life and had to deal with each obstacle as I encountered it — for example the many types of health insurance that you must deal with to survive. We all know of course about Medicare but I challenge you to try and figure it out without some professional help.
You will be bombarded by offers from various health plans which on the surface look awfully good but could end up costing you a fortune because many will not allow you to go to your own doctor or hospital and require that you stay within “the plan.” In some cases this may be good; in many cases it is not so good, so please be careful.
You will see many ads in the newspapers and magazines for cures for just about anything, but take a look at the very bottom line of the ad and you will note that the statements made above may or may not be true or honest, etc. I have asked my doctor’s advice on most of these and been told “forget it!” I still feel the temptation to at least try some of the memory pills, pain pills, etc., and I guess I could waste a lot of money if I wanted to, but as yet I haven’t.
Then there are the tests we are constantly being asked to submit to. Tests that are then sent to various laboratories for analysis and eventually come back suggesting that you take even more tests. This is fine to fill up your otherwise boring days but the results are generally minimal. Of course, the big scare is cancer and many of the tests promise to check for this. The choice is up to you, but be careful. And the latest trend, DNA scans. Watch out for these also,
As bad as it is now, can you imagine 50 years from now with all the new technology that will come along and how many more tests you will be able to take? Good luck!
