2/26/16 Is It Better To Die Slow Or Fast?

    I've been thinking about this, our friends dad is in the hospital and this is second or third time he ends up in there.  I hope he makes a full recovery, but at a certain point in someone's life, if they aren't going to make changes, what will be the outcome?  The hardest death I've had to deal with was probably my Grandma on my Mom's side, we saw her a few times a week when I was growing up,  she was the keystone for our family, not to mention she worked in the cafeteria, so she always had a couple extra burgers on Thursdays and pizzas on pizza day.
    Once she got sick though, she was never the same.  She got shingles, which doesn't sound like much, a rash really, but it comes on stronger the older you are, and it tends to affect one side of the body.  This kind of sidelined her, and she then avoided being out in public which I think contributed to making her bedridden.  There were a few years they talked of therapy, but I don't think she was ever into it.  Eventually there was a blood disorder which made things worse and then in one of the many hospital visits, she contracted MRSA, which fortunately for the hospital, we are not the suing kind.  But for a woman who was strong and managed the school cafeteria with 20 ladies and then turn around and be bedridden and confined to a small room on a twin size bed.  There was a huge quality of life drop-off.
    My Dad hasn't started with the necessary doctor visits, but he certainly is not being smart about his day to day shenanigans.  He's retired, so he has time where he could dedicate an hour a day to working out, which I know would reduce all his aches and pains, but no, instead he matches his aches and pains with even more lethargy.  He claims to have bad shoulder rotation, and every time he lifts his arms, it's "ay ay ay ay ay"  If he started lifting weights, I think this would go away.  We'll see where he is in a few years. 
    If I have a choice, I'd rather get to about 75-80 then one good heart attack, no muss, no fuss.  I don't want all that hospital time, nurses cleaning my ass, arguing with the boys who is getting the house or whatever.  I don't want to be a burden, seeing our friends spending all their evenings visiting in the hospital.  Everyone's life is put on hold, they can't go out and have a good time knowing a loved one might be dying. 
    It sucks either way, it is not a topic I am comfortable with, but we are grown ups and no one can avoid it, eventually.