I just read Frye's account on health and doctors. I read all of the replies too. A great read and educational in all respects.
My last successful trip was coming back from Gatlinburg when I was 75. Beautiful trip , good health.
I've always said, laughingly, that the warranty runs out at 75 years old. Actually, in my case, that I note is true.
At 90,there are all kinds of aches and pains. Reoccurring medical problems, doctors who know nothing about geriatrics AND don't want to know. More than once, if I complain, their answer is more meds which I will Not do. Some examples: A big toe that hurts so bad it was interfering with my walking. The doc gave me a choice. nerve meds or Xrays. I chose Xrays but haven't heard a damn thing. Good thing. I solved the problem by going for a pedicure. Overgrown skin trimmed.
Another example. My hearing aid was feeding back due to wax in the ear. Simple answer, the nurse can flush it. NOPE! The doc had to look first then the nurse, resulting in a nice big fee just for ear cleaning. Now I'll do my own cleaning with a flushing tool.
Another. went for a teeth cleaning two weeks ago.. The tech got rough and knocked out a filling. Result a third tooth extraction in one year. No dental insurance. A side comment. I've lost four teeth in the past four years. All of them together had about $3600 in crowns or root canals. (Damn near the price of a Valkyire). Each tooth extraction was 200 bucks.
Still another. Went for bladder surgery last year and the doc did additional surgery. Result, A MRSA infection of the bladder. Followup: I had to do my own searching to find the special antibiotic to kill the MRSA. 308 bucks since part D didn't cover it.
Another. A younger doc wanted to do a colonoscopy because of my long standing diverticulosis but an older doc said it wasn't necessary since I never had polyps and no cancer is likely at my age.
Lots more but since I recently had prednisone shots in both knees the pain is gone for now but both knees are shot to hell and I sure don't want surgery at my age.
The good news. My yearly complete lab work at the VA results were all normal including a cholesterol level of 120. No diabetic problem. The VA doctor takes more interest in my health problems at 90 than all the highly paid docs at the local "not for profit" hospital.
Since I've never experienced being 90 years old before, this is all new to me. I think I'm blessed to have reached this age. The bad news is that this week I will start being subjected to PMS (Parked MIATA syndrome)and that won't help the intermittent depression that seem to come and go especially when I see friends younger than me expire.
One bright spot today. I'm going to take the time to read the history of the VRCC. what a big undertaking, Thanks Beer!!!!
I'm with you on the dental thing Wayne.
I understand that fillings, crowns, bridges etc are not lifetime guaranteed, and may eventually fail or need redone, but I have had a couple (nasty molar) root canals and caps go south in a year or two, and then he wants to pull them. I am not happy when even with a little (very little) dental coverage, I pay large and go through quite a bit of pain and suffering for multiroot molar root canals, and a steel post and a crown... at well over a $K only to have him want to pull it out a year or two later.
It's not like I don't take care of my teeth, I brush multiple times a day, use a waterpic, use floss, use tooth pics, use mouthwash and hydrogen peroxide in my water pic. I torture my gums. My dentist's hygienist made the mistake of telling me I had the cleanest teeth he ever sees, so I stopped getting cleanings (to save precious mini dental coverage), and then my dentist chides me for not getting cleanings.
I've lost two good chewing molars in the last couple years (both with expensive root canals and caps), and now he wants to pull a third (root canaled and caped last year). The prospect of three implants (both cost and suffering in the chair) is NOT appealing to me, but dammit I need to be able to eat my food. I'm not changing my diet to yogert, Gerber baby food and oatmeal.
I like my dentist and have been going to him for 25 years, but when the first of these early extractions came up, I went to another (high dollar) dental outfit for a 2d opinion, and they confirmed it needed to come out. I felt bad about suspecting my dentist was churning dental work for income, but when you pay big money and pain for a root canal and cap, and then he wants to pull it out a year later you start to wonder.
I suppose dental work is small potatoes compared to the other aging biker issues of diabetes, cancer, knee and hip replacements, anal intrusions, and all the other life threatening stuff, but really I'd rather have a small to medium motorcycle accident than go to my dentist these days (as long as I didn't lose any teeth in the accident).
