Medical Education

Strange times for John & Karen Tykol lately. I can tell you that I’m getting to be far to knowledgeable in geriatric medicine. Since dad’s surgery he’s had a variety of medical issues, none of them having anything to do with the hip. The hip replacement went great but there is several issues that arose from the surgery. 

Currently the worst issue is the loss of vision, I think dad has come to accept that his vision will be poor for the rest of his life. Dad of course doesn't like it but he needs to start learning how to live with it. Easier said than done but if he and mom want to live independently he needs to learn how to work around this issue. Keep your fingers crossed.

Since the hip surgery dad’s heart rate has been racing, I mean a resting heart rate of 110 to 130, that’s fast for any heart let alone an 83 year old heart. The doctors response to this is to put him on meds to slow the rate, great idea except it doesn't appear the doctor wants to look for the cause of the rapid heart beat. I mean there’s got to be a reason for the sudden increase in heart rate, right. Seems like common sense to me. Not to mention each med they put him on causes his blood pressure to drop to 90 over 50. I’ve always thought that the doctors here wrote off the elderly and just went through only the necessary steps to keep them happy. I sincerely hope that this is not a nationwide issue.

So that leaves the family trying to solve these problems. This involves practically becoming a doctor and seeing many many more doctors. It also involves looking at blood test results, comparing these results to other past tests and informing the doctors that your loved one is anemic or asking for other tests to rule out hyperthyroidism. So it seems strange to me that doctors would not weed these things out for their patents. It just reaffirms my thought that being an educated consumer is very important, especially when it comes to medicine.

I’m very fortunate to have a caring sister, a niece who will soon have the title of “Nurse Practitioner” and a wonderful wife who always goes above and beyond what she should without even a word said. So I’m blessed or I should say that our family is blessed.

Spending the last 4 months living with my parents has taught me a few things about what it means to age. On top of that, Mom and Dad have taught me a few things about what to do to age more gracefully. 

Here are a couple of things that they have said or we’ve witnessed. Karen and I have also talked in length with older people we’ve met on our little sailing trip.

1)     (This one comes from Dad, Maury and Sandy from S/V Senior Moment). Stay active. Easy to say but not that easy to practice. Keep moving, keep your ass off the couch. Whether it’s walking, riding a bike, sailing or whatever, doesn't matter just keep moving.

2)     Stay interested in something. Whether working part-time, volunteering or going back to school. Keep an interest alive and I think your mind will follow.

3)     This is one thing I’ve witnessed. Do whatever you can to keep your own teeth and keep them strong and healthy. It appears to me that the taste of food is much better with your own teeth and the ability to chew food easily and well will be greatly appreciated as we age. Also I think we appreciate food more as we age, we may not eat as much but we appreciate it more.

4)      Don’t be afraid to try new things, whatever they are. Maury and Sandy (S/V Senior Moment) I won’t tell their ages, were always ready and willing to come along with Karen and I when other much younger people were too tired to accompany us. They are the true poster children for aging gracefully. We send them our love. A co-worker of mine Betty back at the school district went skydiving in her 80’s, it was something she had always wanted to do and being in her 80’s wasn’t too late to try something new.

5)     Don’t watch TV too much especially Fox News or MSNBC (self explanatory). The world is not ending.