Sunday, August 25, 2024

Two Friends needing help

Part of what has been happening in my life is two of my friends (one in mt. Shasta who lives alone on 2 1/2 acres of land totally off the grid with solar arrays and their own well and then another friend who has "Basically lost his fortune and as a result his mind and economic viability" have been difficult to deal with. The one in the forest is still mentally and physically viable and just needs more help at age 81 living alone to function and to do well that remotely.

The one nearby is a different story because he is starting to break windows out of businesses which might be a sign of early senile dementia and he is scaring his sisters and brothers and is in his mid 60s. So, my hope is that the police don't shoot him while he is having a confused angry episode lately. So, likely he needs to be somewhat institutionalized for his safety and for the safety of others including his family.

However, if you have ever dealt with these kinds of things regarding good friends it is a very difficult thing to manage in some ways when your friendships go back 30 to 50 years like with my 81 year old friend who I met likely in the 1970s. And our other friend I have known since the 1990s so over 30 years so far likely too. 

End of life issues whether they are in their 30s or 60s or 80s or 90s or 100s are difficult for everyone that you are related to or that is your friend of long standing.

MY cousins wife was given too high a dose of Amiodarone and she went unconscious while standing and hit the deck like a sack of potatoes and broke her hip in her 80s. So, as you get older the medicines can be both your friends and your enemies.

When I took lisinopril from around 1998 to 2013 I remember I had gone off it because I didn't need it for awhile and then I was put back on by my doctor at too high a dose and I remember having to lie down on the carpet in the hallway for 3 to 5 hours with everything spinning because they put me on too high a dose.

So, the problem with all medicines is: "Are they going to help you more or are they going to kill you or both?"

In some ways all medicines are poisons and it might be good to start right about there to begin with. So, choose your poisons well if you want to stay alive.

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