Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Over the past few years I have been subject to numerous medical tests.  EKG's, Blood work, the dreaded colonoscopy and even a test to find out if the blood pressure in one leg is the same as the other.  I have had operations on my hand, for cancer on my kidney and a hernia.  I am currently off work with a broken bone spur in my heel.  I take statins for cholesterol control, 2 different medications to control type 2 diabetes and a mood leveler.  I actually am in pretty good shape health wise for a 63 year old man that used to smoke and didn't really take very good care of himself.

My mom is in a care facility and I try to visit her every day.  What I see there is very hard to accept as a son and a human being.  Don't get me wrong....she gets very good care and she likes it there (except that she would rather be home).  What I see makes me question my reasoning for living longer.  I see old folks that cant talk, cant communicate, that wet and soil themselves, that are always silent, that are always combative, who never get visitors, who are warehoused, and who are asking to die.

Is this the future I have to look forward to?  A future of lining up in my wheelchair for 2 hours before meal time?  A future of taking medication after medication?  A future of hoping that the aide gets to me before I shit myself?  A future of staring out the window and probably not even knowing why or maybe who I am.  How about a future of having my children visit when they get around to it and having them yell at me because I am telling them the same story that I just told them yesterday or even a few minutes ago?  I hate to be called honey but I guess I better be prepared to be called that a lot when I am warehoused.

Don't get me wrong...I wont blame my children if I am old, cant take care of myself, am a danger to myself and those around me..........they should put me in a home....or take me out in the woods and shoot me.  I don't want to be a burden to my family.

The next time you visit someone in a care facility and smell that aroma of urine and death remember this.....these folks were young once just like you and maybe someday you will be in a place like this.  Maybe you will be sitting in the hallway while someone passes by and you wish you could remember where you were and who you are.  Next to our Veterans...the elderly are the most neglected segment of our population.


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