How sharp do you think you'll be at 80+ ?

[Midpack]

I try to stay in shape, but I don't expect much physically when I am 80, that's why I actively participate in everything I can NOW, because I know I won't be able one of these days.

As for mentally, I assume I will fare OK. My Dad is still lucid at 94. My Mom started to have some dementia before she passed away at 93 last Fall, but she was sharp as a tack until the last few months of her life.

 

[Nemo2]

I'm with you. Maybe live close to Oregon or hope that other states change their laws.

I've told DW, if/when I get to 'that' stage, to point me towards the river, and then go visiting/shopping for the day; also to prepare to look 'shocked' when the notifying authorities are parked outside our place upon her return.

 

[donheff]

It will be an interesting experiment with N=7 (my siblings and parents). My parents both died in the mid 80s but neither of them did a lick of exercise and both smoked most of their lives. My father was somewhat debilitated but still lucid up till the end, my mother had a mild cognitive impairment. My two sisters in their mid 80s are both still sharp as tacks and the more athletic of the two is doing great. My 82 yo brother (who also never did a lick of exercise) is showing some cognitive decline although it is hard to separate from general effects of his encroaching blindness. A brother one year older (68) is a runner and in great shape mentally and physically except for aFib (maybe a result of his excess running - marathons).

I dumped 35 pounds a few years back, haven't smoked in 45 years, have good BP and numbers, and exercise regularly. I hope to still be riding a bike in at least my early 80s but recognize that s**t happens so I am prepared to be limited by chance. I also hope to remain lucid until near the end but also recognize that is a crap shoot as well. I plan to turn over my finances to the kids if I start to decline but worry that I might be the last to recognize that it is happening.

 

[RonBoyd]

I do worry a bit about getting Alzheimers ...

My criteria is:

"It is one thing to forget where you left your car keys and a quite different thing to not remember what a key is."

 

[W2R]

My criteria is:

"It is one thing to forget where you left your car keys and a quite different thing to not remember what a key is."

Good criterion.

Slightly off topic, but - - I don't think I will have to know what a key is when I am older. I already hate keys and have arranged my life so that I don't need them any more. My car has keyless entry and a push button ignition, and my house and garage have keypad entry deadbolts. I love this.

 

[travelover]

....my house and garage have keypad entry deadbolts. I love this.

Now all you have to do is remember the codes.

 

[6miths]

Now all you have to do is remember the codes.

This must be a good test in itself. Remembering the codes and passwords for all of the doors, e-mail and bank/credit card accounts and the answers to the security questions when memory starts to slip.

The keyless entry and push button starts are a problem and the self-driving cars are going to remove another flag.

 

[skipro33]

How sharp do I think I'll be at 80?

I suspect I will have outlived my teeth, probably have a bypass surgery, a hip replacement, new knees, be fighting prostate cancer and diabetes, be half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts, have poor circulation, bouts with dementia, be unable to remember if I'm 85 or 92. But I'll be OK with that - as long as I still have my driver's license.

Dad? Is that you??!! If not, you sure sound like my dad. Just don't drive after dark and diaper up. You know you get lost and by the time you pull into the gas station, it's too late.

 

[Mulligan]

How sharp do I think I'll be at 80?

I suspect I will have outlived my teeth, probably have a bypass surgery, a hip replacement, new knees, be fighting prostate cancer and diabetes, be half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts, have poor circulation, bouts with dementia, be unable to remember if I'm 85 or 92. But I'll be OK with that - as long as I still have my driver's license.

Lord almighty, RE, you romanticize the aging process with such beautiful prose. Thanks to your post, and the fact I am just 51, I will modify Mick Jaggers famous quote with.... " I would rather be dead than be 80!".


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[Moemg]

Good criterion.

Slightly off topic, but - - I don't think I will have to know what a key is when I am older. I already hate keys and have arranged my life so that I don't need them any more. My car has keyless entry and a push button ignition, and my house and garage have keypad entry deadbolts. I love this.

When I worked at a Surgery Center we would escort the patient & family to their car . Well once it was a keypad and neither of them could remember the code . After several attempts they had to call a cab .

 

[RonBoyd]

Now all you have to do is remember the codes.

It is one thing to forget the code and quite another thing to lose the knowledge of what a code is.

 

[Lsbcal]

...
Don't you find it odd to be thinking of your future self in the third-person? Like you are trying to figure out how to provide for a child. What will future-self want at the far end of life? Will future-self be able to appreciate anything beyond being warm and well-fed?

Using the term "future self" is an interesting idea.

I'm always just planning and trying to imagine ahead a few turns. We don't know where the end of the road is and it might not be 80 but rather 95. Running those backtests (FIRECalc or VPW) can cause one to wonder about the longer term future -- not just money but all the other stuff in life.

 

[Lsbcal]

It will be an interesting experiment with N=7 (my siblings and parents). My parents both died in the mid 80s but neither of them did a lick of exercise and both smoked most of their lives. My father was somewhat debilitated but still lucid up till the end, my mother had a mild cognitive impairment. My two sisters in their mid 80s are both still sharp as tacks and the more athletic of the two is doing great. My 82 yo brother (who also never did a lick of exercise) is showing some cognitive decline although it is hard to separate from general effects of his encroaching blindness. A brother one year older (68) is a runner and in great shape mentally and physically except for aFib (maybe a result of his excess running - marathons).

I dumped 35 pounds a few years back, haven't smoked in 45 years, have good BP and numbers, and exercise regularly...

That is something that really separates many of us from our parents generation. They never intentionally went out to exercise.

And they were exposed to more environmental health hazards -- my Mom smoked a little (died of stomach cancer at 68) and my Dad worked in a Naval shipyard as a mechanic on a nuclear sub (died of myeloma leukemia at 69).

 

[NW-Bound]

At 80, I hope to be able to help my grandchildren with homework if they take up engineering or a science curriculum that requires math.

But I may not be alive then, or not remember the way to the bathroom.

 

[aaronc879]

No male member of my family on either side ever lived to see 80 so I don't expect to either. If I do, I expect my mental capabilities will be as low as they are now but not worse. Physically, i'll probably be in really bad shape if I get to 80.

 

[Ronstar]

I just hope to be alive and functional enough not to injure or kill myself out in the yard or in my workshop.


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[Options]

Given my historic and current state of health and mental faculties, barring any outlying events, I will be in excellent total health well into my eighties. I don't expect much cognitive decline as research has shown engaging the mind delays mental decline, and I am always working on some (or several) new learning projects. Physically, my diet and exercise regimen are highly supportive of optimum health.

 

[Chuckanut]

Both parents made it to 90 or above. My two grand mothers also made it to well over 90. My grand fathers died relitevly early - late 40's to early 50's. Mostly that was attriubtable to the Depression and WW2, along with no way of treating things like high blood pressure (which so far I show no signs of having).

So, I figure at some point in my early 80's I will put most of my investments in PSSSSSSTT.....Wellesly and collect the dividends to spend on wine, song and my woman.

 

[rodi]

The medications issue that REWahoo mentioned, and the story about dementia after cataract surgery both hit home to me.

My BFF is dealing with this combo of issues right now. Her mom (age 80) was prescribed an additional med by her orthopedist... apparently it reacted badly with the other meds she was on and she passed out and her husband couldn't revive her. 2 days later, at the hospital, she finally wakes up - but is showing full dementia. (Prior to this she was still working as an article editor and making decent $$.). She's been in the hospital for 10 days and they can't figure it out. BFF flew down there yesterday to help her dad deal with it and also to get POA from him so she can pay the bills. (Her mom's job, he's clueless on that stuff.)

Very scary scenario.

 

[W2R]

Now all you have to do is remember the codes.

Good point! F has my code if I forget, but then if we both get loopy at the same time I'd have to use the key that overrides the keypad.

It is one thing to forget the code and quite another thing to lose the knowledge of what a code is.

I think that at that point, if I don't know what a key is or what a code is, it definitely would be time to call 911 for help.

 

[NW-Bound]

...I think that at that point, if I don't know what a key is or what a code is, it definitely would be time to call 911 for help.

It's for someone else to call 911, you mean? If a person does not know what a key is for (Alzheimer patients can get that bad), how would she know what a telephone is, or know how to work a smart phone? And also what 911 means?

I read a blog of a woman who is taking care of her mother. Her mom went downhill fast in just a few months to the point she forgets what a napkin is for, and tries to eat it.

 

[W2R]

It's for someone else to call 911, you mean? If a person does not know what a key is for (Alzheimer patients can get that bad), how would she know what a telephone is, or know how to work a smart phone? And also what 911 means?

If that suddenly happened to me with no warning, then guess I would just have to randomly run out into the street screaming until somebody did something. But then, what if I didn't know what a street was? Or what screaming was? or running? Or why I cared one way or the other?

 

[NW-Bound]

... why I cared one way or the other?

See, that's how most Alzheimer patients end up being, not caring about anything.

So, party on. You will just care less and less.

PS. People do go gently into the night, despite their intention to not do so.

 

[highlow65]

I have 30 years till 80 and I mostly wish to be able to get to the bathroom and know what to do when I get there. Everything else is a bonus.

 

[ls99]

80? If still on the top side, hope am at least as sharp as an ax handle.