about something
few find funny
By James T. Carney
Motivated by the Yale News article, “Frailty, dementia raise mortality risk for older Americans after surgery,” about a study by Yale researchers that found striking differences in the mortality rate of older Americans within a year of their having major surgery, I have been reading a book on aging written by a medical doctor.
I am reading the book the way I do many books: from back to front, on the theory that if I know where it ends, I can also know where the beginning chapters are going. Of course, this approach removes the element of suspense (but even an MD can’t write a suspenseful book on aging). At any rate, the author prescribes good diet, fresh air, and exercise for everyone, which, as he points out, become more important as we age, not because they increase our longevity, but because they tend to reduce the natural frailty and decrepitude of old age.
What did the Bard say? “Frailty, thy name is woman.” The author takes a less discriminatory approach.
Actually, the author’s caution about excessive medical treatment for the aged follows on an observation made by one of the most brilliant U.S. Steel CEOs for whom I worked when I was in charge of benefits administration; the CEO told me that U.S. Steel could save hundreds of millions if it terminated health insurance (and therefore medical services) for each individual retiree six months before the retiree died. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to get this done. In an effort to find another way to reduce end-of-life medical costs, I did pray nightly for the return of the Black Death, which usually killed people in the space of a few days. Unhappily, my prayers were not answered and I lost my chance to become a U.S. Steel executive vice president.
Anyway, as I read my way forward in the book on aging—oops, I mean backward—I may attempt to surgically implant further bits of demented humor into this frail subject. I will pray that the operation incurs minimal risk of corroborating the Yale findings.
| Copyright © 2022 by James T. Carney |
I'm not surprised by the findings, that older folks are hit harder. It may have a lot to do with anesthesia. When I had my first knee done 6 years ago, they put me under, and I was wiped out for weeks. Napped every afternoon, and I never nap. Second one last year, they put me in "slumber" mode with Propofol and a saddle-block injection. I wasn't wiped out at all. Very uncomfortable to wake up and not be able to feel certain parts of one's anatomy, but way better than full stage 4 anesthesia. Of course, healing from "major surgery" ("minor surgery" being defined as "that done on someone else") would be harder on the elderly as well.
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