Our Mothers

I continue to be angry with my dear friend Jonathan Jordan for dying. I miss him a lot. Jonathan was both mentally and physically fit. He ate healthy, was an ultra-runner and an equestrian. His mind, eating and drinking habits, and physical activity did not kill him. Unfortunately, he had cancer and was treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. He lost weight, during treatment and was unable to put back the weight that he had prior to treatment. In the Harvard Heart Letter published in August 2012, was titled “Doctors Strive to Prevent the Cure for One Disease Causing Another.” It was stated, “Almost every chemotherapy drug has some effect on the cardiovascular system and most are not good….”Not only that, “radiation therapy can cause heart attack, heart failure and arrhythmias.” In essence, it was stated that the treatment, not the cure for cancer, which includes radiation therapy and chemotherapy also causes the same people to develop cardiovascular disease.

Jonathan, while trail running died from a cardiovascular disease. Did his cancer treatment contribute and cause his death? This just adds to my frustration and anger regarding his death. The rest of my post relates to subjective and obtained information  from Dave regarding his mother Teresa; Tony regarding his mother Adeline; from Linda regarding her mother Helen ; and my mother  for the purpose of gaining insight into these four remarkable women who each lived into their 90s.

Teresa, born in the province of Ontario, Canada, at 94, resides in Michigan near Detroit. She was described as “sharp as a tack.” Competitive, she plays numerous word games like Scrabble, crossword puzzles online and maintains contact with 100 or so relatives on Facebook. She continues to walk and even completed a 1000 mile Mall walk a number years ago. She has a deep faith in God, but has been mortified by the Catholic Church. This attractive woman has been on a restricted calorie diet or no sugar for years while maintaining her weight.

Teresa sold her car last year and lives in an independent facility. Not having her car along with a spinal stenosis condition, has resulted in her slowing down. Her cardiologist wanted to put in a stent, and she replied, “Why do I want to live longer?” For her, being dependent is her worst nightmare. Growing up poor, she wished that she could have lived on the nearby Indian reservation and subsequently made a pact with God that all she wanted in life was a pair of shoes and food. She broke her pelvis about 10 years ago and no longer golf’s three times a week.

To Be Continued