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He Walked Into the Clinic. He Never Walked Again!
Ignored Warnings, Added Diagnoses — and a Life Forever Changed Nearly 800,000 Americans die each year because of diagnostic errors. It’s a staggering and outrageous number, reported by researchers at Johns Hopkins — and it should make everyone perk up and think. Errors in diagnosis are alarmingly common among older adults. There are many reasons why this occurs. Seniors often live with multiple health conditions, take several medications, and illnesses can show up very differently than they do in younger people. Sometimes symptoms are vague or don’t appear at all. And far too often, what’s really going on gets a shoulder shrug by our health care providers: “It’s just part…
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Boxes of Life
Whose Boxes Are You Living In? I’m lying in bed belly-flop down. That’s my escape route into my world. I’m shutting down! Yes, that’s right, down I go into my idea of peace and calm. My head is resting on my left arm. My eyes are closed. They fall open! I see a hand draped across the pillow. It must be mine. I’m lying here alone. A tanned hand speckled with spots, lined with slightly protruding dark blue veins. The forefinger must have a mind of its own because it’s heading west a bit. Yep, it’s mine alright! Where did the years go? I’m 75–1/2 now. Yes, I count the…





