The Joys of Getting Old

          Getting old isn't easy and you don't really understand that truth until you get there.  Many things that you have taken for granted all of your life slowly stop working.  Most seniors learn to live with pain.  The number of meds you take begins to increase and you need special cases to keep track of them and take them at the correct time.

          I heard the story of an elderly woman who woke up and after a few minutes exclaimed that she must be dead.  Her husband asked why she would say that.  She replied "because nothing hurts this morning!"

          And nobody really cares about your changes in your health, nor do they want to hear about them.  In fact the older you become, the fewer friends you have and nobody needs you  or cares about you anymore.  It can be a very lonely time in life, especially when you need to "shelter in place".  We haven't been able to see our grandchildren for about three months even though they live nearby.  Nobody from church calls.  Being isolated is hard.

          And the pandemic has made  many things worse.  Seniors now are the likely folks to get Covid19 and even die from it.  You must take all sorts of extra precautions.  Our doctor has clearly told us that we should not attend church until there is a good vaccine available.  That could mean that we may never be able to go back again.  After 38 years we must give up serving in Awana.  

          It has affected us in many ways.  We just received a note from our dentist of 45 year who we really appreciated.  He has decided to close his practice for a number of reasons, but especially over concerns about his health and that of his staff and his patients.  That is a big blow to us, especially when I am in need of dental work to relieve some pain.  Many dentists are also temporarily closed because of the pandemic and many aren't taking new customers.  I think my dentist has made a wise choice, but it has created a real problem for us.

          Here is what maybe all of us 70+ year-olds, and those "yet-to-be", have to look forward to!

          This is something that happened at an assisted living center. The people who lived there have small apartments but they all eat at a central cafeteria. One morning one of the residents didn't show up for breakfast, so my wife went upstairs and knocked on his door to see if everything was OK. She could hear him through the door, and he said that he was running late and would be down shortly. So she went back to the dining area.

          An hour later he still hadn't arrived. So she went back up towards his room, and she found him on the stairs. He was coming down the stairs, but was having a hard time. He had a death grip on the handrail and seemed to have trouble getting his legs to work right. She told him she was going to call an ambulance, but he told her no, he wasn't in any pain and just wanted to have his breakfast. So she helped him the rest of the way down the stairs, and he had his breakfast.

          When he tried to return to his room he was completely unable to get up even the first step, so they called an ambulance for him. A couple hours later she called the hospital to see how he was doing. The receptionist there said he was fine, he just had both of his legs in one leg of his boxer shorts.

          Just wait, the older one gets, the more often events like this may happen to you.  Just smile and keep moving on.

          But there is one positive thing about getting old - heaven is getting closer, day by day.   Soon we will be done with the pandemic and all of our aches and pains.  What  a future that will be.

Happy Father's Day

          It has been 11 years since my father died, but I miss him more now than I ever did before.  He taught me so much over the years and I wish that I could talk to him once again.  I'm thankful that the Lord kept him from having to deal with this Covid19 mess and I would not want to bring him back to this after sharing in the glories of heaven.  However, I do wish I could talk to him and hear his wisdom about dealing with this pandemic.

          My dad taught me so much about dealing with difficult events.  When he was a year old he had to deal with the death of his father from the Spanish flu.  He and his mother were forced to relocate during the flu, after his death. But he saw how the Lord marvelously provided for them during those difficult times.

          About 60 years later he had to deal with another major shock, losing his job at RCA during one of their layoffs.  He never complained about this sudden news and the Lord provided him with jobs daily, including substitute teaching and working on preparing taxes.  Eventually the Lord provided a full-time job as head of facilities for what was then the Lancaster Osteopathic Hospital.  Dad's positive attitude and trust in the Lord during those years was a real lesson to us.

          Then a few years later he faced the toughest tragedy when my mother was killed in an automobile accident.  This caused a major readjustment in his life.  Privately he missed her deeply and often his tears flowed.  But again he went on with life, never complaining or blaming God, and serving the Lord  Again his faith in the Lord was a tremendous example to us.

          Dad's life was never easy and he taught us how to deal with what God provided.  During the early years of his marriage, following World War II, jobs were scarce.  For his first teaching job his pay was so small ($1,200) that he couldn't afford to have my mother and me live with him in Doylestown, so we had to live with his parents in Sunbury.  He learned to take a variety of part-time evening jobs to pay the bills.  Later he was able to get temporary jobs with Dupont in Wilmington on the Manhattan Project, New Cumberland High School, Susquehanna University teaching Air Force cadets and Elizabethtown College. Then a full-time job finally opened at RCA in Lancaster.  This meant eight moves for us until we were finally able to settle down in Lititz when I was in fifth grade.   Again, dad put his trust in the Lord and He provided all that we needed. 

          Dad also taught me the importance of serving the Lord.  We were in church whenever the doors were open, even though it often meant making lengthy drives to Harrisburg.  Then dad led the effort to begin our church in Lancaster where he was a charter member, an elder, teacher, trustee, treasurer, delegate, superintendent, etc. throughout most of his adult life.  Only recently I learned how he often kept the church solvent in its early years by paying bills out of his own pocket when the offerings were not sufficient.

          He was also very active in our denomination serving for many years on the Board of Directors.  In fact one of his last acts here on earth came the night before his death when he completed checks and a financial report for the Board of Directors meeting.  He also was instrumental in the founding of Berean Bible School.  He served as president of the Warwick School Board for a number of years, was a board member of Lancaster Christian School and served on the Lancaster Christian Businessmen's Committee.

          I owe my father so much and I learned so many valuable lessons just by observing him.  His faith was real.  His work ethic, unbelievable.  His wisdom, outstanding.

          Dad, I don't know if you can hear me, but thank you for your life and example.  I just hope that I can be half the father that you were to me.  I do miss you, but I know that I will see you again, possibly very soon.

         Happy Father's Day.  

And The Changes Continue

Our New "Family Practice"

        My how a virus has changed our lives so quickly, in so many ways.  I doubt that we will ever return to the "normal" lives we had been experiencing up to about three months ago.  Maybe wishing for the "good old days" will have more meaning.

          Perhaps the biggest changes have come in the field of medicine.  As I look back over about eight decades of medical care, it is interesting to see what has happened.  Now I don't recall much of anything before I was in first grade, although I am sure that I must have visited doctors before that.

          My first memory of a doctor came when I was in second grade and we lived in Elizabethtown.  My doctor was Dr. Wenger who actually lived a few houses from us on College Avenue.  He was a kind man and I remember going to him for my necessary shots.  He also made a home visit when my brother and I had the mumps.

          Now I don't remember going to a doctor when we lived in Lancaster, but when we moved to Lititz, Dr. Griswold took over our care.  His office was in his home on Broad St.  He also made some home visits.  I recall, during the polio epidemic, that he came to visit my sister who fortunately did not have polio.  Home visits are now something from another era.

          I recall that here I had my first experiences with the waiting room.  In those days doctors did not make appointments.  When their office was open you just went and sat in their waiting room.  There, until it was your turn, you could keep company with those who had colds or maybe even the flu.  And, in addition to the coughing, you often had to put up with screaming babies.  And sometimes your wait could be an hour or two depending upon how many were ahead of you.  I guess you had to be really ill to endure that.  I'm so glad that this has changed, although sometimes today you can still wait a considerable time even when you have an appointment.

           When we got married and were living in Sunbury we went to Dr. Heimbach in Selinsgrove.  What I remember most about him is that when we were waiting for the results of a pregnancy test he shared the results first with my father-in-law and told him to tell his daughter that she was pregnant.  Obviously that was before Hippaa regulations.

            Then we settled in Silver Springs and the Lord miraculously led us to Dr. Richard Bryson in Landisville.  He turned out to be one of our two favorite doctors.  He was so kind and friendly and would help us out at all hours and on any day.  I recall going to him one Christmas morning when one of our boys was sick.  He was our first doctor to make appointments.  He had his own closet of medications so you seldom had to go to a pharmacy.  When our boys continually got infections with high fevers he would provide us with omnipen that we could carry with us and mix when we needed it.  I doubt any doctor would do that today.  Whenever my back got bad he would provide electrical stimulations which really helped.  He eventually retired with a heart problem.  And we really missed him.

            For several years we tried several other area doctors.  Some were fine but Dr. Bryson had set a standard as a family doctor that few could approach.

          Then one Thursday evening I went to the ER with heart issues.  I was released but was told to see a family doctor the next day.  When I called our practice at Oyster Point my regular doctor was not in on a Friday and I was given an appointment with Dr. David Fuchs, the founder of the practice  And that was the beginning of a very special relationship that lasted for over 12 years.  Dr. Fuchs was a gentleman.  He was intelligent.  He went out of his way to care for us. Often he made an appointment to see us when all his appointments were already taken. He would quickly reply to our messages even when he wasn't on duty.  He would refer us to good specialists when they were needed.  He was always on time and we never felt rushed.  He would provide samples when he could to reduce our medical costs.  We always felt that we were cared for.  We lost a real friend when he retired a few years ago.

          We were blessed over the years to have good doctors, but Dr. Bryson and Dr, Fuchs were exceptional.

          Now I started this blog by saying how much medical care has changed.  If this isn't obvious with the history I  shared, let me share a few specifics.

1.    Doctors no longer have offices in their homes.  Most now have modern facilities which they share with numerous other family doctors. in their group.

2.     Doctors no longer keep supplies of medicines in their offices to give to their patients rather than providing scripts.  Seldom do any even provide samples anymore.

3.     Doctors now make appointments but some still fall behind their schedule and you end up waiting, sometimes 30-60 minutes to be seen.

4.     Family doctors today are quick to refer you to a specialist rather than treating you themselves.

5.     It is almost impossible to have a true family physician to treat you unless you are able to wait a month of so to get another appointment with the same one.  Doctors have too few appointments available and their management doesn't want them to work more patients into their schedule.

6.     Traditional visits are now often replaced by telephone visits or video visits.  One nurse recently remarked that doctors no longer want to see sick folks.  I wonder then who they really want to see.

7.     When you are seen by a doctor they often only one to deal with one problem and they usually don't want to deal with a problem that you didn't share in advance of the visit.

8.     Most doctors today have electronic portals which include results of visits and tests, future appointments and give you a chance to correspond with your doctor.  If they are kept up to date, these are a valuable modern addition to care.  The only problem is that many have their own portal and don't share data.   I presently have five different portals.

9.     And then there is the sharply rising costs of meds.  Dianne presently pays $355 a month for one of her meds.  My inhalers run me about $200 a month and my insulin about $150 a month.  And those charges are after our insurance has kicked in its share.  Then there are many more less expensive meds that we must also take. And then there are insurance costs, copays, costs of tests, and, if needed, hospital bills. Keeping well has become very expensive today.

          So there are just a few observations about changes I have seen over the years.  And the present virus is forcing more changes.  Some of these are very good, others are so-so.  As in anything, much depends upon the skill and concern of the doctor.  Some are in the business to minister to folks, others are in it for the money.  Fortunate is the person who finds a good family doctor who is available and cares for his patients.

ALERT TO OUR READERS

ALERT - We have just been informed that the operators of our blog software plan to make significant changes to the software in June and August.  We don't know yet what these changes will involve nor if they will prevent us from continuing to post blogs using our computers.  About a year ago similar changes were made by our web supplier and we have no longer been able to reach or operate our web site.  We are warning you that this could happen to us again and we might then need to eliminate our blogs.  We are praying that this doesn't happen, but should the blogs no longer be updated each week you will know what has happened.  Continuing then might require us to invest in new and expensive hardware and that might be impossible since we are retired and living on a fixed income.  So we will just need to wait and see what happens.  Thanks for your visits and support over the years.  We just hope it can continue.

Here are the facts ... I guess!

       One of the strange things about this pandemic is the various recommendations, opinions and changes that been rather common.  Who or what should you believe?  Everyone seems to be an expert and willing to share their opinion.  But who is right?

          There are so many Monday morning quarterbacks who think they know how this pandemic should have been handled.  The President takes many hits on his decisions, especially from the party who hates him and wants to get rid of him.  But really, what major leader has done any better in handling the situation in their own country?

          Now it is refreshing when you read something that is practical and useful, such as the list below.  But, unfortunately I don't know if it is fake news or the truth.  it supposedly was prepared by the Head of he Infectious Disease Clinic at the University of Maryland, whoever he or she may be.

          So here is what that person has shared.  Smile or weep.

1. We may have to live with C19 for months or years. Let's not deny it or panic. Let's not make our lives useless. Let's learn to live with this fact.

2. You can't destroy C19 viruses that have penetrated cell walls, drinking gallons of hot water - you'll just go to the bathroom more often.

3. Washing hands and maintaining a two-meter physical distance is the best method for your protection.

4. If you don't have a C19 patient at home, there's no need to disinfect the surfaces at your house.

5. Packaged cargo, gas pumps, shopping carts, and ATMs do not cause infection. If you Wash your hands, live your life as usual.

6. C19 is not a food infection. It is associated with drops of infection like the 'flu. There is no demonstrated risk that C19 is transmitted by food.

7. You can lose your sense of smell with a lot of allergies and viral infections. This is only a nonspecific symptom of C19.

8. Once at home, you don't need to change your clothes urgently and go shower! Purity is a virtue, paranoia is not!

9. The C19 virus doesn't hang in the air for long. This is a respiratory droplet infection that requires close contact.

10. The air is clean, you can walk through the gardens (just keeping your physical protection distance), through parks.

11. It is sufficient to use normal soap against C19, not antibacterial soap. This is a virus, not bacteria.

12. You don't have to worry about your food orders. But you can heat it all up in the microwave if you wish.

13. The chances of bringing C19 home with your shoes is like being struck by lightning twice in a day. I've been working against viruses for 20 years - drop infections don't spread like that!

14. You can't be protected from the virus by taking vinegar, sugarcane juice, and ginger! These are for immunity, not a cure.

15. Wearing a mask for long periods interferes with your breathing and oxygen levels. Wear it only in crowds.

16. Wearing gloves is also a bad idea; the virus can accumulate into the glove and be easily transmitted if you touch your face. Better just to wash your hands regularly.

Immunity is greatly weakened by always staying in a sterile environment. Even if you eat immunity-boosting foods, please go out of your house regularly to any park/beach.

Immunity is increased by EXPOSURE TO PATHOGENS, not by sitting at home and consuming fried/spicy/sugary food and aerated drinks.

          Live life sensibly and to the fullest. Be smart and stay informed!