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LINK A doctor and medical ethicist argues life after 75 is not worth living

I don't want to live long, I want to live in good health til I run out of money and then I want it over quickly. Ideally that will be after the grandbabies are married, but.... I'm 61 and they're babies. That means maybe 20+ years... I don't think I'm up for it.

HippieChick58 9 Aug 29
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21 comments

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17

B.S. !!! I just turned 90 and I go to work every day. I take pleasure in being creative and producing services other people want and are willing to pay for. I have more projects than I can manage but I work on them in rotation and am never bored. I have rental property.which I spend most of my time on. I have a wonderful relationship with my tenants and they often pitch in and help with the landscaping ect.
I have three antique cars, which I love to drive and work on. I skipped the garden this year because it was to time consuming.
A good diet is the best medicine. Taken in modest amounts. Sugar is the most addictive product in the world. -and worse than tobacco for your health. I don't understand people who consume poison - of any kind- tobacco, alcohol, drugs --and that includes soda pop. I haven't drank coke in 40 years.
A good Dr. is very important!! A bad Dr. will kill you!!
The worst thing is to retire!! don't do it
. Have something you have a passion for and do it with all the vigor you have.

Damn good advice.

An inspirational story Big Mac. I presume that with your healthy diet you don't eat your namesake fast food.

7

euthansia should be readily available for anyone who wants to 'bow out'. But my dad is 85, fit healthy and volunteers down at the maritime museum. My mother in law is 94, only been in hospital for babies, still drives and plays golf. Neither are ready to 'bow out' because they still enjoy life. I'm taking my MIL to the ballet tomorrow. As for them not contributing.....they worked all their lives, paid taxes and now they have earned a break. THey both live in their own homes, still cook and clean. My dad very much believes in euthanasia but he is by no means ready yet.

I agree with the open availability to bow out when I think I'm ready. But, heck, my grandmother was working part time until she was 80, then she volunteered (like making lap rugs for "the old people" with ALZ) and played poker/cards three nights a week until she was in her hundreds. My mother's 81, travels frequently, and feels the day isn't complete without a social engagement of some type. I aspire to be them. 🙂

7

The deal is we get old, we get sick, and we die. The trick is to know when time’s up and not waste your savings and remaining quality of life on tortuous and futile medical procedures.

7

I am feeling MUCH better at 71 than i felt at 61.. maintain my house, yard, pool etc single-handedly, 6th term president of an over-60 Singles Social Club, enough $$.....life is wonderful, he can STFU

6

I’m 74 and there is nothing wrong with my brain or my body, apart for a knee which I injured falling off a ladder at work around 15 years ago, but it’s just a bit stiff and painful at times, that’s all. Longevity runs in my family, my mother and all her siblings lived well into their 90s, and on my fathers’s side too, although he was the exception, dying at 67. I don’t live in the USA, but the UK, and have paid more into the NHS through my National Insurance contributions all my working life, than I have taken out...so if I do need to access health care in the future I will feel it’s my entitlement. I don’t agree with the good doctor, but then I only have a year to go until I’m 75... so I would disagree, wouldn’t I?

6

It may not be worth living for some, but it is for me. I am as mentally alert as I ever was, and physically fit. I still enjoy many facets of life. Through a lifetime of work and public service, I earned the time that I have that I can still enjoy.

6

I have two different ladies across the street. One 85, other 87. They both are driving, taking care of flower beds, nice ladies. I keep watch on their place and they watch mine. So they would disagree.

5

I feel tempted to rip up this article. Vow smow. When he's 75, if he's 75 he may or may not see it differently. He seems depressed and sort of puritanical. Who is he to say who's life is meaningful?

5

Depends on your frame of mind! Some people I have come across think that life is not worth living over 30

4

In "Logan's Run", they killed everyone at 30!

4

I have long believed humanity should have an updated definition of 'life' ... the ability to sit, lie down and suck air is not, in my opinion, 'life' ... we prolong the process of dying , often to the detriment of the dying.
An example ... my brother in law suffered with dementia ... actually my sister and her daughters suffered as he didn't have much idea of anything. He fell over and broke a hip, hospitalised, caught pneumonia. After 4 weeks of intensive care the pneumonia was fixed, hip operated on and once again fit to go back to his bed at home ... he lived a further 18 months of drooling unknowing 'life' In what way was his survival a benefit to anyone?
If you did it to a dog they would prosecute you (in England at least)

totally agree. Just as we can say if we want to donate organs, we should also be able to decide when we want to die. The day that someone has to wipe my own bum.........I want out

@MsDemeanourLong ago I was in that situation .. completely disabled and unable to do more than sit and ask for help .... but I knew it was temporary.. I could not accept that as a permanent life

I actually said that to the staff (about it being considered cruel to a dog) more than once as my mother suffered horribly the last 3 days of her life. A good daughter would have smothered her with a pillow & I live with that every day now.

@AnneWimsey I have always felt so guilty whenever one of my dogs was put to sleep - always held in my arms ... always wondered was it too soon, was there more of life they could live. But I sat beside my mother every night for a week as gangrene worked through her body ... like you, I know that allowing that was wrong, but the law does not allow for the humane end of humans

@ShadowAmicus and I have always said, after the fact, that I let my dogs linger too long because I could not face that day......
Hugs.....

4

So you'll be 81 in 20 years..you really don't think your grandkids don't want or need you to be here..

3

Wants to die at 75 ?. Can be arranged I am sure

just watch him change his mind at 75

3

Nonsense. My great aunts and great-grandmother lived into their 100s.

They remained mentally sharp, living alone, physically active, slender and volunteers.

3

Does life really not matter when you run out of money?

Maybe you meant you want your life over quickly if you cannot afford palliative care?

2

Wow. He seems pretty free and loose with what he considers a "meaningful life." There's a lot of longevity in my family and I plan to continue the tradition, possibly well past the 103 my grandmother made it to. And that means getting vaccinations and antibiotics if needed. I enjoy life too much to just passively fade away at someone's predetermined deadline.

2

It's an individual choice. I know people 10 and 20 years older than me (I'm 66) who are doing great. I also know some who have lost the capacity to even make the choice and how very hard it is on the ones who love them. I would want to be taken to the vet and put to sleep if I could not have a quality of life I enjoy or was such a burden because of mental impairment with no hope of recovery that others have to give total care for me. I would want to be put to sleep, seriously. I have the living will thing but will my wishes really be respected?
It's an individual choice and we should be allowed to each of us make it as we see fit.

2

Bullshit my family is long lived and had fun after 75

bobwjr Level 10 Aug 29, 2019
1

That’s nearly 11 in dog years. There is no Labrador or Springer Spaniel over 11 I know of would agree with that!

I have owned/known several Labs 14 or so......

1

75 is only 9 years away for me, and I'm just starting to have fun! Damn.

1

Didn't read, but would bet they are both under 60 or 60+ and in bad health.

1of5 Level 8 Aug 29, 2019
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