I read above about hernia surgeries. Well, I had three. The last time, they implanted a cloth for a permanent solution. But when I subsequently had my cancerous prostate removed with the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery, the cloth presented a problem. Anyway, the robotic surgery made only six small incisions. Five hours after the prostatectomy surgery, I was already walking around the hospital floor as encouraged by the physician. The following day, my family could drive me home. Nowadays, minimal hospital stays are in vogue to avoid infections I think.
I just read that 16% of American males reach the age of 90, as I am. I also read that the average lifespan for American males is less than 76 years. Supposedly less that 1% of Americans reach 100, as it is my ambition. I am walking every day 1 ½ hours, used my mini gym mostly to keep my arms in shape, no junk food but the Mediterranean diet, and so on. This morning I read that the City of San Francisco is suing makers of ultra processed food over health concerns. I strongly applaud.
Left: On occasions, I have at home blood pressure spikes of 171 (specially after exercising on my mini-gym) down to 122 after ten minutes resting. I had similar results measured at my Kaiser health provider. At my age, I ought to stay below 140 systolic resting. And imagine, a Kaiser podiatrist cut my toe nails at a cost of $388 which I did not have to pay. The M.D. wants me to come in every two months to cut my nails because I have difficulties doing it myself. Is there an alternative? My wife doesn't do it right; she hurts me.
Right: With Kaiser Deltacare dental insurance, my dentist billed the insurance $1,942 for replacing a crown; but Delta approved only $352 that I had to pay. The dental work done was just as good as if I had paid five times more.
Left: I am trying to prolong my life by being physically active, eating healthy, and sleeping well (with a CPAP Machine, LOL.)
My only health problem is being over-weight.
Right: Two of my pups regrettably had to be euthanized but two are enough, especially my less than 1 1/2 year old rambunctious puppy.
We are a small but closely knit family. My wife's relatives are in Asia, my son-in-law's are out of state, and mine are in Germany.
BTW, We bought over 2 acres of land some 45 years ago for $18K and had the house built for about $51K. My wife sewed all the curtains, while I either made furniture myself or bought furniture kits that I glued, stained, and protected with polyurethane. My wife came from a Philippine family where maids did all the work. No wonder that she placed a hot iron on the carpet and burned our first turkey. But she took classes to learn housekeeping.
After our children became independent with their own cars at age 16, my wife went on to obtain a master's degree and eventually retired from a job with an >$100K income. Three of us have post-graduate education while my older daughter is currently studying for a master's degree. I myself lived on 3 continents and studied in 4 countries: Germany, Australia, Canada, and California.
