Posted by steve giddings on February 19, 2002 at 23:15:57:
In Reply to: Re: Suggestions for 73 year old with AFib posted by Carl Plaskett on February 19, 2002 at 18:51:54:
Just a couple of comments in reply to both Carl and Ed.
First, ignorance is no excuse. Same in medicine as in the law. I think some physcians confuse do the easiest thing with do the patient no harm..
Yes, I said speak with the surgeon for that reason.Age and vitality. Not all of us were created equal, and some make themselves even more unequal with time, for better or for worse. I know some really vigorous octagenarians, even row with one from time to time, but the older folks get, the more likely they are to become fragile, especially with stress. My feeling is that while you should never say no automatically, you should tend to say yes with greater caution and for better reason to older people.
And I may have met that same guy. A very short while ago, when I was young, my wife and I were climbing Long's Peak in Rocky MOuntain Nat'l Park. We passed an elderly (I mean greater than 80 by appearance) couple just below the boulder field. They were roped together and moving slowly but steadily along. We sped by. We hauled ourselves to the top, using the permanently installed cables. Not long after we reached the top, standing up there, all sweaty and tired, grinning like idiots, taking pictures of each other, feeding on bags of granola like horses with oat bags, the same couple made the summit. Their pace was the same at 14,238 ft as it was at 10,000. Totally impressive. We did a lot of glissading on the way back down. They were carrying axes but we didn't wait to watch how they got back. Somehow we figured they'd be ok.