At age 57 I was put on life support…pills.
Most of my friends were too.
Up until then, I got up everyday and went about my business
without a thought for my health. OK, to be honest I did
think about it a little, but only in terms of eating more fruits and
vegetables and looking more buff from my weekly gym sessions.
Folly perhaps, but at least I thought about it.
My health plan was following the philosophy that worked for most
everything else in my life, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Then it broke. I had a TIA. Scary as a stroke, but not as severe.
That’s when the doctor put me on life support – in a bottle. I expect you,
The doctor says, “take one aspirin everyday…for the rest of your life…or die!”
I added that last “or die” part. He never said those words, but I heard them.
Up until then I had lived my life drug-free.
Now I’m up to 3 prescribed drugs per day, and 3 supplements I take just to hedge my bet.
It occurred to me this morning on my way to work…I’m on life support and the doctor has left me in charge of the plug as well. If I stop taking the drugs they
At least that’s the way I feel. Or, they’ve made me feel with their words.
But in the far reaches of my forgetful mind, I wonder. Is it just propaganda?
Prop-a-gan-da: information of a biased nature used to promote
a cause or point of view.
I’m sure the doctors here believe they are doing what’s best. I don’t
mistrust them or think they are just out for the money, but I wonder if there isn’t a better solution.
Here’s why… every time I travel I see people doing things a different way
and still getting the job done spectacularly.
You have to marvel when you see workmen hundreds of feet up in the air
perched on nothing but bamboo sticks tied together with string. OSHA would have a stroke if they saw that here.
But in China, great buildings are and always have been constructed this way.
The work gets done but in a different way. Acupuncture is a preferred healing art there. Cuba is recognized worldwide for healthcare that is focused on prevention not cure. Doctors actually come to you before you get sick to see if you are living in a healthy environment. They come to help keep you from getting sick rather than the much costlier U.S. approach of fixing you once you break.
I just don’t know. We think we are the best at everything here in America, smug bastards that we are, but I’m not always so sure.
Take Marijuana for instance. It’s never been shown to be addictive like nicotine cigarettes, no one has ever OD’ed on it, it contains CBD a chemical which has been shown to medically be helpful to people, yet our own government had made it illegal to possess for decades. While the corner store sells addictive, cancer-causing cigarettes over-the-counter to minors!
Now, the FDA is slowly in the process of changing its mind. A little. CBD, the
What’s the point of all this rambling today?
Elder’s in a mood today. And Bob hates to be told he has to do anything.
Yet here we are again at our morning pill popper convention. Hating every minute of it.
I’m reminded of the familiar rant from my favorite TV rebel, Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe from Frasier. “This sucks! This is total BS!”
Doctor Simon says, “do this”. And like the good game players we were taught to be, we do it.
I just wish there was more definitive information, that’s all.
You’d think something called the World Health Organization, (WHO?)
would collect information about the best treatments and cures across the world and make that info available to doctors and everyone. Let’s all have access to the best. Sadly, it’s just not so. But they publish a lot of reports and papers though. Reports that don’t directly impact my care, or yours sadly.
Remember how cool we all thought it would be to have “Communicators” as they did in the first Star Trek movie. And now we’re all three generations beyond the flip phone?
Why the hell wasn’t someone working on that electronic device Dr. McCoy, “Bones” used to cure people? Osteogenetic Stimulator I think was the one to heal broken bones with just a quick scan.
Maybe that’s the point I’m trying to make after all. We got the cell phone thing covered. The “communicators” work like a champ.
Who will step up now to start working on a healing wand techie device so I can stop all this pill popping?
Seriously, Doc’s trusting me with the life-support pill plug here, and I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. I forget things sometimes. Well, Elder does.
What’s your take on the medical side of life after 50?
What’s got your panties in a bunch today?
“Bene Vivere!”
ElderBob Schwarztrauber
