Page 9 - Seniors Today December 2020

specific on a “use by date”. It would be
a great opportunity for bright-minded,
well-resourced physicists and doctors to
approach the subject with some added
enthusiasm.
Suppose one gets sick and the doctor
discovers that it is something serious,
that is a problem in an organ or two, your
neurological/digestive/chemical systems
have been warped and are doing things that
will leave you increasingly helpless. Your
body is then subjected to drugs, surgery,
implants, transplants, chemotherapy or
radiotherapy, after which the doctor is still
unsure as to how much time you have left.
It could be you have a few months or maybe
a few years. So you go home and take your
pain/bewilderment with you. In this state
you don’t know how quickly your illness
may progress, but whatever you do health
issues may own you and to a great extent run
your life. Yamraj has already set foot in your
door and you never know when he steps in
and wraps you up. At this point the option of
legal euthanasia might seem a big comfort.
Surviving tough times
I wish researchers would devise testing
methods that can delve into a person’s body
and determine exactly how long someone is
going to live. If you didn’t want to know your
“use by date” you wouldn’t have to ask. But
my guess is that most people in this peculiar
situation would be glad to know whether
they had no more than 3 months, 3 years,
10 years or a week. It would help in making
realistic decisions. Consider the situation
if you knew how much time you had left.
Fear would be replaced by confidence.
Furthermore, it would keep an increasingly
large proportion of society stay focused and
more confidently ticking the list of to-do
things, bucket list, inheritance planning and
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #18 | DECEMBER 2020
Covid-19 has forced us to reconsider the way we do things
maybe a spectacular farewell party.
Looking deep within I tried to discover
what gave me happiness – spouse, family,
friends and a host of happy memories and
blessings for which one is forever thankful
to God. I debated within myself whether
I was ready to die; had I finished my life’s
agenda? I realised that what is not to be is
not to be and that we don’t drive the agenda,
the agenda drives us.
It is in surviving the tough times that we
acquire a special appreciation for the bounty
of life. Coming to terms with myself was
an understanding that I will need to deal
with many physical and practical aspects of
ageing – fear, hope, sadness, loss, physical
and cognitive decline, and eventually
death. Americans keep talking about a war
on ageing, believing that they can stay in
control and conquer the enemy out there.
No one defeats ageing – it defeats you, and
it’s only a defeat if you define it that way. It’s
great to take advantage of the remarkable
advancement in medicine, but I don’t want
to go through endless medical treatments
in an attempt to defeat an enemy who may
eventually be a friend. Neither do I want to
go through ageing alone. I want to be with
family and friends as we travel together
in this hard, painful and heart-breaking
beautiful journey called life.
Do you have a similar experience given
Covid - about yourself or a near and dear
one? Email us at editor@seniorstoday.in
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