In 1999 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and have been under treatment ever since with what is called hormone therapy. This has knocked the cancer back and kept it localized. Now, the physicians advise me the cancer has jumped out of the cage and is moving into other parts of the body. So, we now go into a different phase of treatment.

 

Last Friday I spent 6 hours at the Cancer Center having my first infusions for a chemo therapy program. So far this has gone quite well. I have no nausea, my appetite is good and I am able to continue with my life in normal fashion. I am still working with my partners in the e-newsletter business and  am busy setting up an office with a local manager for Central U.S.A.

 

I have been warned that, in time, the chemo will damage the white cells that protect us from invasion by disease. When this happens, I will have to avoid crowds - no handshaking and hugging, etc. So, while things are still relatively good, I will be attending church and social functions.

 

I am in good spirits and only wish there was some way I could make all this easier on Penny, who keeps feeling that there are things she needs to be doing for me that she can't.  I have told her that she is a tower of strength for me. She has consulted with the dietitians at the Cancer Center regarding my food regimen. And I get a lot of wonderful massages.

 

So, life goes on. How is all this for an Organ Recital?

We continue with the material Gene Hameroff sent us "You're Only As Old As You Think You Are":

 

We all are aware of the stereotypes ot the condition of aging -  things such as failing mental capacity, failure of certain physical functions such as hearing, feebleness, senility, etc. Although some of these conditions apply to some aging people, it is far from a given fact that it is universal.

 

So, where do these sterotypes originate?

 

Negative depictiions of aging can be found everywhere - from greeting cards to best-selling books to the media. We think that television, in particular, has a major effect. Yale School of Public Health surveyed a group of people age 60 to 92 who watched an average of 21 hours of television per week, and found that the more TV they watched, the more negative were their beliefs about aging.

 

The negative  stereotyping most likely starts early - for example the wicked witches in fairy tales are gnarled and wrinkled. This sinks in deeply. Then, as aging occurs, some individuals start applying these negative beliefs to themselves.

 

To a great extent, we don't question these stereotypes because we've absorbed them so completely that we are not even conscious of them. Becoming aware of their presence in everyday life is a first step toward questioning their validity. 

 

So, what can people do to fight these stereotypes? In the TV study, the Yale group asked participants to keep a journal describing the way that older people were represented. The participants were shocked to discover how often they were made the target of jokes, and that they were frequently omitted from programming.

 

"It's like we are non-existent" wrote one participant.

 

In your own life, make a point to pay attention to more positive images of aging - active, effective people im politics, the arts and the community. The writers of the report say "We do not refer to "superstars" who are jumping out of planes at age 80. It is too easy to write them off as exceptional, having nothing to do with you."

 

Also, spend time with older roles models, such as relatives and residents of your community and learn about their strengths and contributions.

 

It is important to recogize the many places where a realistic attitude and positive action can make a real difference.

My friend Gene Hameroff, who has send us some great postings for Late life, has done it again. This information is from Bottom Line Health:

 

 

Becca Levy, Phd., of Yale School of Public Health reports that "Our studies showed just that.  It involved 660 people, ages 50 to 94, who were asked questions that explored  the ways they perceived their own aging. The study participants were asked how much they agreed with statements such as "Things keep getting worse as I get older." and "I am as happy now as I was when I was younger."

 

Nearly 25 years later, researchers tracked down those participants who were still alive and how long the others had lived. Those who had expressed a more positive  view when surveyed lived a median of seven years longer, even after differences in their ages and health at that time were taken into account.  It held true for both men and women who were over age 60 as well as for those who were younger.

 

 

There is no definitve explanation, but we think that several mechanisms  are involved. Some are psychological and might well involve the harmful effects of stress on bodily systems.

 

Another piece is likely to be  behavioral - people who believed that  aging means unavoidable memory decline, for example, quite possibly won't try as long or as hard  to remember, won't bother to apply strategies  that could help. Similarly, people who think there's nothing  that can be done about hearing loss probably aren't  as quick to seek medical attention if they develop hearing problems.

 

In the longevity study we found that views on aging can affecct can affect a person's will to live. This explained, at least in part,  the difference in survival.

 

When you don't believe  that benefits of long life will outweigh the hardships, you're less likely to follow a healthful lifestyle and seek treatmens for a prolonged life.

 

This one was passed on to us by our friend Lorrie Gummere:

 

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent the holiday away from school.

 

One child wrote:

 

We always used to spend the holiday with Grandma and Grandpa. The used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida.  Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.

 

They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

 

They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, and do exercises there. But they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool, too, but in it they all jump up and down with hats on.

 

At their gate is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. But sometimes they sneak out. They go cruising in their golf carts.

 

Nobody cooks there. They just eat out.  And they eat the same thing every night - early birds.

 

Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out bring food back to the wreck center for pot luck.

 

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday, too.

 

When I earn my retardment , I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandkids.