Lately, it seems that retirement is a thing of the past. I was always taught that you save your money and invest well. It seems that as our economy suffers, the money we have in our accounts becomes less and less and our investments are hurting more than ever. With taxes on the rise and inflation at an all time high, wages don’t seem to be keeping up.
As a younger individual, I see that the days of being 65 and quitting work to be disappearing as fast as my bank account. I see elders who were living a good life, retired now and returning to work to pay for the rising cost of healthcare and the costs of the medications it takes to live. As a diabetic, I see elders paying huge co-pays for doctor visits and medications that I take now. How will I retire and continue to live paying the rising cost of my healthcare if the people that are retired now cannot?
We must find ways to provide healthcare for our elders now or our generation may never see the golden years as golden at all, but black. If we do not find ways to improve our healthcare system our elders of today and tomorrow may not be able to live without working. We also must ensure that social security is around for younger generations to enjoy, and have, to be able to live our latter years.
Working in the field of healthcare, I see the many flaws that plague our system every day. It is just a question of whether the government should play a large role in this or not. No matter what you decide, a change must be made soon or we may never get to experience what our elders call the golden years. The rising cost of everything, especially healthcare costs, along with diminishing financial reserve, is a recipe for disaster that will affect our elderly of the present and future.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
“Deserving to die with dignity”
Almost each and every day I see how dealing with the end of life for our loved ones turns us into selfish people, sometimes rendering us incapable of making a rational decision. There are many reasons that we choose to keep our loved ones alive by artificial means. It may be because of the guilt we feel for not visiting, or maybe the reason lies shallower, such as for money. Whatever the reason for our selfishness, each day I find that we can prove to be some of the most morally wrong people that all of us would hate if we saw someone else do the same to their loved ones.
I have to ask a question, is it ok that we keep our 98 year old mother alive on a ventilator with a feeding tube with no way to talk, eat, move, and think? Is it ok that we put this same person into surgery, or worse yet, if our body does give up, beat on our chest in a futile attempt to keep us alive for another maybe year? No. There has to come a time that we as people are ok with letting our loved ones live out their last days with dignity and compassion. Why do we let this go on in our hospitals? Why is it ok that we keep these people alive by artificial means? This is because there is no one that is willing to talk to families about the quality of life their loved one will have and no doctor is willing to tell a family that what they are doing is wrong, wasting money that may be used for someone who can be helped, someone that can be saved, someone with a future.
One way all of this can be avoided is by letting our family and loved ones know how we would like our life to end. Let them know just how far to go and what measure to take that may extend life that has no quality. We can also make living wills so that there is no question just what we would like to have done. Would we want to live out our days in a bed on a ventilator, a feeding tube, all kinds of drips hanging from our bodies, and if our body does give out, having someone pound on our chest to keep us alive for more dying?
Also, have we ever considered the cost of keeping that loved one alive? Who pays for this? The cost of keeping a heart going that is 90 years old with no chance of any type of quality is not cheap. That is because after insurance stops paying the hospitals must absorb the rest, causing the failing of our health care system. End of life is one thing that has our system in shambles, with hospitals having to cut costs so that a person with a chance of bouncing back from an illness may not get their chance because we were too selfish with someone that wanted to be let go.
I have to ask a question, is it ok that we keep our 98 year old mother alive on a ventilator with a feeding tube with no way to talk, eat, move, and think? Is it ok that we put this same person into surgery, or worse yet, if our body does give up, beat on our chest in a futile attempt to keep us alive for another maybe year? No. There has to come a time that we as people are ok with letting our loved ones live out their last days with dignity and compassion. Why do we let this go on in our hospitals? Why is it ok that we keep these people alive by artificial means? This is because there is no one that is willing to talk to families about the quality of life their loved one will have and no doctor is willing to tell a family that what they are doing is wrong, wasting money that may be used for someone who can be helped, someone that can be saved, someone with a future.
One way all of this can be avoided is by letting our family and loved ones know how we would like our life to end. Let them know just how far to go and what measure to take that may extend life that has no quality. We can also make living wills so that there is no question just what we would like to have done. Would we want to live out our days in a bed on a ventilator, a feeding tube, all kinds of drips hanging from our bodies, and if our body does give out, having someone pound on our chest to keep us alive for more dying?
Also, have we ever considered the cost of keeping that loved one alive? Who pays for this? The cost of keeping a heart going that is 90 years old with no chance of any type of quality is not cheap. That is because after insurance stops paying the hospitals must absorb the rest, causing the failing of our health care system. End of life is one thing that has our system in shambles, with hospitals having to cut costs so that a person with a chance of bouncing back from an illness may not get their chance because we were too selfish with someone that wanted to be let go.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Older Population Stereotypes
One of the most common stereotypes I come into on during my days at work is the older people cannot perform physical activity. Although, we know that some limitations are inevitable, do older people just sit around and play bingo and sew?
Every day I work with the elderly and see that this is not true. I sit and talk with many of my patients that are just as active, if not more so, than they have ever been. Because of this, they seem to get better faster from many aliments. Getting sick is one thing that plagues us all from time to time, but the elderly suffer from this much more often. However, the patients that force themselves to participate in physical activities seem to live longer and do better in almost every setting.
More and more each day on the TV, news, or sports we see the older population doing things that at one time seemed unreachable. Things like quarterback an NFL team, climb mountains or win Olympic medals at or above the age of forty are just a few of the instances you may see.
I come into contact with people each day during my work where two patients in the same room, of the same age, differ so much. Almost each time, it’s the patient that is active in something, whether it be swimming, running, walking or just running around with the grandchildren are the people that live longer healthier lives with less complications. Their mental function is improved, their bodies respond better to medicines and healing. Simply having a conversation about a sports team or the weather outside makes a difference with the patient that is more physical.
All of this has got me to thinking about my age and my disease. I have had diabetes since the age of six. I have had to make many lifestyle changes and learn to deal with my disease. I have a new found understanding of how my body responds to increased physical activity. Also, as I become older, I am now seeing the importance of exercise, how much more sensitive I am to insulin and how much better my blood glucose can be. I do all of this so that I may have a better chance of living a longer and more productive life.
Every day I work with the elderly and see that this is not true. I sit and talk with many of my patients that are just as active, if not more so, than they have ever been. Because of this, they seem to get better faster from many aliments. Getting sick is one thing that plagues us all from time to time, but the elderly suffer from this much more often. However, the patients that force themselves to participate in physical activities seem to live longer and do better in almost every setting.
More and more each day on the TV, news, or sports we see the older population doing things that at one time seemed unreachable. Things like quarterback an NFL team, climb mountains or win Olympic medals at or above the age of forty are just a few of the instances you may see.
I come into contact with people each day during my work where two patients in the same room, of the same age, differ so much. Almost each time, it’s the patient that is active in something, whether it be swimming, running, walking or just running around with the grandchildren are the people that live longer healthier lives with less complications. Their mental function is improved, their bodies respond better to medicines and healing. Simply having a conversation about a sports team or the weather outside makes a difference with the patient that is more physical.
All of this has got me to thinking about my age and my disease. I have had diabetes since the age of six. I have had to make many lifestyle changes and learn to deal with my disease. I have a new found understanding of how my body responds to increased physical activity. Also, as I become older, I am now seeing the importance of exercise, how much more sensitive I am to insulin and how much better my blood glucose can be. I do all of this so that I may have a better chance of living a longer and more productive life.
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