The danger of knowing your lifespan...

[Nords]

"What do you MEAN I'm not going to die?!?"

"He quit his job, sold or gave away nearly all his possessions, stopped paying his mortgage and spent his savings dining out and going on holiday. Brandrick was left with little more than the black suit, white shirt and red tie that he had planned to be buried in when it emerged a year later that his suspected 'tumor' was no more than a non-life threatening inflammation of the pancreas."

 

[Mwsinron]

Oops

 

[Patrick]

What a moron. Maybe he should have spent some of his savings on a second opinion.

 

[dmpi]

He did better than all of us who will die with the money.

 

[Spanky]

That's too bad. Sometimes the prognosis can be wrong.

 

[samclem]

Well, this could have happened in the US, too, so I'll forego the jokes about the quality of "free" health care.

Ooops.

 

[Moemg]

I had a older close friend who was given six months to live .She said her good -byes to everybody and lived twenty more years .Oops !

 

[dex]

I had a older close friend who was given six months to live .She said her good -byes to everybody and lived twenty more years .Oops !

Did she tell anyone off?

 

[bpp]

In retrospect, he should have bought an annuity, THEN lived it up on the payout from that. Fob off that annoying longevity risk on someone else.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

knowledge can be tricky especially when what we know is wrong. so this would actually be the danger of not knowing your lifespan or of knowing wrongly.

good example of how the capacity to understand can be more useful than the capacity for knowledge. had only he understood, it wouldn't have mattered quite so much what he knew or didn't know.

as he considers suing the hospital because he tried to cheat his mortgage company, it seems, after even this life lesson, he still is not close to understanding. and if he doesn't understand, then it doesn't matter what he knows.

 

[chinaco]

Once one gets past the sad and tramatic aspect of the mortality issue... The article reads kinda like a corny sitcom story.

I must admit, it would be tempting to whoop-it-up and have a good time in the final days while still feeling good. Too bad he didn't seek a second, third, and fourth opinion before he spent it all.

I guess this is a good lesson about the importance of hedging. He should have only spent half of all of his worldly possessions!

My guess is that he didn't have much to begin with.

 

[teejayevans]

Hey if you can sue for $65 million because the cleaners lost your pants,
he should be able to sue because he didn't die on time.
TJ

 

[donheff]

Hey if you can sue for $65 million because the cleaners lost your pants,
he should be able to sue because he didn't die on time.
TJ

He could demand that they make him whole by lethal injection.

 

[Culture]

He did better than all of us who will die with the money.

Joking or serious? Running out of money before dying is hardly better than dying with money in the bank.

 

[Joss]

So this is why they say, "Bad information is worse than no information."

 

[Celany]

ouch.

but what a terribly silly thing to do. If I was given a year to live, first I'd go for a 2nd & then 3rd opinion. I don't think one can be too sure about something like that.

then yeah, I'd live it up some, do some travelling that I've never done. But I think a lot of time would be spend figuring out who I'm going to give my stuff & money too (I've been thinking about will-writing lately).

even if it WAS a mistake, I'd still have stuff to fall back on, 'cause the charities (and friends/family) wouldn't get my money until I was scattered to the winds.

 

[jIMOh]

history has always repeated itself.

When the world makes something idiot proof, the world has ALWAYS, 100% of the time, created a bigger idiot.

this article is just one such example.

 

[kcowan]

Our friend has pancreatic cancer. Discovered in Scottsdale and confirmed in Edmonton. It has metasticized into his lungs and brain. He is spending the time left getting his affairs in order.

I think he would be glad to have no money but have his health back. I doubt he would waste any of his life suing doctors.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

hey nords, where's the "would you make significant change to your lifestyle if you knew when you were going to die?" poll?

 

[W2R]

hey nords, where's the "would you make significant change to your lifestyle if you knew when you were going to die?" poll?

Guess what, I'd quit work. 8)

 

[Mwsinron]

If I was single Id probably get a second opinion or 3 before I did what that guy did. But damn straight Id blow it all too. But being married I wouldnt

 

[trixs]

Honestly,

If I had a year to live and went all out speding all my money... Then found out I was going to live? I would be the happiest person ever!

^_^

 

[Spanky]

I would have been happier if I had not spent all my money. Anyway, he could return to work and start saving.

 

[Nords]

hey nords, where's the "would you make significant change to your lifestyle if you knew when you were going to die?" poll?

Good idea, feel free to start one!

Actually I'd hope that everyone would be able to answer "I'm living exactly the life I choose to live, so no changes would be necessary."

Or, as Scott Adams says, "I'm living the only life I'm capable of living so I won't be making any changes."

As for the medical predictions, I remember a while back that a poster was discharged from cancer treatment with a number of metastasizing concerns. IIRC it took months and the Mayo Clinic to sort it all out. So I can see where an occasional misdiagnosis could happen-- and an annuity would be a great idea, especially after they got a look at his medical records!

But the heck with the "would you or wouldn't you" poll. I'd like to know "What specific activities would you indulge in if you had only x hours/days/months left to live? Provide graphic proposals and include pictures..."

 

[OldAgePensioner]

As a patient who was diagnosed with metastatic disease (lungs, liver, spine) at two Comprehensive Cancer Center's and having Renal Cell Carcinoma with no radiation/chem options (Grade 2 or 3 Clear cell RCC)

I recall private emotions that shall remain private. But I recall clearly the stigma of being considered a CANCER victim. But not me, I wont be anyone's victim, even to provide good laughter.

My reaction was simple. Get a comprehensive Medical Directive and a Bullet Proof Trust.

And Mayo clinic proved to be my sword and buckler, I was sent there by a guardian angel. She knows who she is.