All of us ponder our mode of leaving this earth. Almost always, we hope to fall asleep and not wake up after a full and productive life highlighted by times of great joy and few periods of tragedy.
I was fortunate to care for an elderly gentleman who illustrated our dream ending. I met George ten years ago when he was all of 99 years of age. That is not a typo!
A decade ago he presented to a local NJ hospital with abdominal pain. A CT scan of his abdomen revealed a mass in his pancreas. Understandably, he was told by his doctors that he must have cancer of the pancreas and in view of his advanced age, he should consider going home to put his affairs in order.
He chose an alternative path and came to Columbia to further investigate his problem. A biopsy revealed a form of lymphoma potentially curable with moderately intensive chemotherapy. After careful review of his state of health , I concluded he could tolerate standard curative chemotherapy and we embarked on the regimen. George was a jokester and at every visit he engaged me and the staff with ribald and humorous stories, often involving some aspect of his life. Somewhat surprisingly, he breezed through the treatment and had a prompt complete response without appreciable toxicity. I was both relieved and very satisfied with the outcome. He would have died if he followed the initial medical recommendation and I hoped I bought him one or two more years, thinking it inconceivable that he could live much beyond 100.
So, the years went on with regular visits with George and his amazingly supportive wife. It became clear he was cured and by God’s Grace he was imbued with great longevity. In fact, we sent blood samples to researchers at Harvard studying the genetic make up of centenarians. There was a gradual decline in his mental acuity and the jokes became repetitive and then truncated. But he always smiled and his wife and family were most appreciative for his longer lease on life. I began to think he might actually become the longest living man on earth!
It was not to be. Recently, I had a phone call from his son. My secretary’s message to me was that he wanted to know how to make a donation to Columbia. I suspected I was going to hear about my friend’s demise. I was not wrong.
George passed on at age 109! HIs son described his last day. George had his favorite lunch of gold fish crackers and ice cream. He then had dinner with his wife and went to bed. He did not wake up! He had not suffered a painful or debilitating terminal illness. He was most fortunate.
I have no expectation of living as long as George but I pray for an ending such as his. May we all be blessed with his good fortune!
Pear Martini Broadside 