At 45, Laura contracted polio, a disease everyone believed would leave her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Surprisingly, Laura made it through the disease with no repercussions, with high spirits and determination to stay independent as long as she could. Despite her attempts to lead a healthy and active life some diseases are hard to avoid.
At the age of 70, Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the book, Aging and Older Adulthood by Joan T. Erber, malignant neoplasms are the second leading causes of death for older adults (pg.94). After going through chemotherapy the decision for a mastectomy of her right breast was the next step and once again Laura made it out alive despite the statistics. Noticing that her hearing …show more content…
At the age of 90 Laura had a car accident, causing an internal bleeding that was difficult to stop, but once again Laura proved her resilience and came out with no visible scratches from the mishap. Although her husband had passed, which according to the book is normal for a wife to surpass her husband’s life, limiting their sexual partners (pg.93), Laura was able to find a younger lover allowing her to stay sexually active beating the odds once more. However, by age 94 Laura’s physical health took a toll when she had an accident resulting in a broken hip, and six months later another fall broke the other hip. Hip replacements and a walker allowed for Laura to maintain some of her …show more content…
Although her mobility had lessen, Laura was still able to read her books without the need of reading glasses, reading at a close distance. This differs from the book which explains that older adults have difficulty reading small print at a close distance. Despite her many illnesses, Laura was able to live up to her 99th birthday. Reading this paper, one could say her physiological aging is all three types of aging. That of a pathological in aspects like the breast cancer and broken hips, normative in the hearing loss and decreased driving abilities, and finally successful aging in aspects like her vision, jogging and staying sexually active up until her early nineties. As someone who was in her care for the last few years of her life, I would say her overall aging was that of a successful type, because regardless of the many mishaps in her life she always kept her optimism high and her love for life
At the age of 70, Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the book, Aging and Older Adulthood by Joan T. Erber, malignant neoplasms are the second leading causes of death for older adults (pg.94). After going through chemotherapy the decision for a mastectomy of her right breast was the next step and once again Laura made it out alive despite the statistics. Noticing that her hearing …show more content…
At the age of 90 Laura had a car accident, causing an internal bleeding that was difficult to stop, but once again Laura proved her resilience and came out with no visible scratches from the mishap. Although her husband had passed, which according to the book is normal for a wife to surpass her husband’s life, limiting their sexual partners (pg.93), Laura was able to find a younger lover allowing her to stay sexually active beating the odds once more. However, by age 94 Laura’s physical health took a toll when she had an accident resulting in a broken hip, and six months later another fall broke the other hip. Hip replacements and a walker allowed for Laura to maintain some of her …show more content…
Although her mobility had lessen, Laura was still able to read her books without the need of reading glasses, reading at a close distance. This differs from the book which explains that older adults have difficulty reading small print at a close distance. Despite her many illnesses, Laura was able to live up to her 99th birthday. Reading this paper, one could say her physiological aging is all three types of aging. That of a pathological in aspects like the breast cancer and broken hips, normative in the hearing loss and decreased driving abilities, and finally successful aging in aspects like her vision, jogging and staying sexually active up until her early nineties. As someone who was in her care for the last few years of her life, I would say her overall aging was that of a successful type, because regardless of the many mishaps in her life she always kept her optimism high and her love for life