Life after 80

Today, I reflect on my life after the 80-year milestone.

Friends tell me to expect changes in the eighth decade. Passing that milestone creeps into my thoughts when I consider whether the changes I experience are linked to my perceptions of aging.  Besides wrinkles, grey hair, and lower energy, has my thinking changed? Am I still the person I was ten or twenty years ago? Thankfully, I’m still able to do many of the things I’ve enjoyed all my life — although more slowly and with more focus.

Here are some thoughts on life after 80 as I know it today:

Healing Takes Longer 

In the past weeks, the painful awareness that health issues take longer to resolve has become more apparent.  I had a bone marrow transplant in mid-October to build up tissue on my upper gum.  The procedure was recommended to accommodate a replacement implant for a molar that I lost a year ago.  After the surgery, I was fatigued with hopelessly low energy for a month.  Although the surgeon is confident ( and the X-rays confirm) that all is healing as it should, and I don’t suffer pain per se, there were days when I wished that I had decided to live with a space in my gum rather than preparing for the implant. Was this normal post-surgery exhaustion?

Is longer healing one of the challenges of living in an 80-year-old body? Google tells me that wounds in adults take 20 – 60% more time to heal than in younger adults. Immune cells produce a slower response as they are less robust. My body’s capacity for healing after transplant surgery was compromised.   In future, I’ll remember than healing takes longer after 80 and will moderate my expectations.

 Physical Decline

There’s no denying that physical resilience declines with aging, regardless of care taken to stay fit, eat well and sleep enough. Besides increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer, aging slows you down.

By the eighth decade, most people suffer from some chronic disease.  For me, it’s mild hypertension that is controlled with medication and osteoarthritis that necessitated two successful hip replacements.

Recent vision testing confirmed the presence of a cataract that will need future surgery as it develops. My ninety-year-old husband recently had his hearing tested and needed a set of hearing aids. Hearing and vision are important for maintaining the ability to communicate and remain socially engaged. These long-term conditions have no cure, but good medical follow-up makes them manageable.

Cognitive Changes 

Harvard Health Online writes about the inevitability of losses that come with growing older. Ability to focus decreases, thus increasing distractibility. Has aging increased my distractibility, or is it from too much screen time? Or both?

Harvard Health also states that the ability to learn, remember, and solve problems slows down with age due to the brain’s slower processing capacity. Perhaps that’s why some bridge conventions fly out of my head when I’m faced with making my bid with a difficult hand!

Despite slower processing, experts maintain that, given enough time to learn and perform new tasks, older adults perform as well as younger people.  Our brains adapt to manage new challenges!

Society Expects a Decline after 80

Readers of this site know that ageism, both overt and subtle, abounds in society. It creates an invisibility for older people that is based on negative stereotypes and allows inferior treatment because of perceptions that they suffer physical and cognitive losses. Late-night television hosts frequently joke about old people. Healthcare professionals hold unconscious biases that may limit treatment options offered to older people. Ironically, when searching for photos for this post, most sites showed people in poses suggesting decline rather than fitness, health, and vigour!

I wasn’t surprised when Service Ontario required a special test before renewing my driver’s licence after my 80th birthday.   Despite the previously noted developing cataract, I passed the vision and cognitive testing with no difficulty.  While I agree that older people should demonstrate capability when driving, the testing process created awareness that society now categorizes me as an ‘older person’.

Positive Age Identity 

Life after 80 offers a new starting point. I’m determined to maintain a positive age identity despite negative perceptions by the broader society.  Growing older may slow me down, but it won’t change essential aspects of who I am.

Eight decades of life experience give me a degree of strength and wisdom that will help as I face the inevitable challenges of aging.  Constant changes, struggles and successes as well as opportunities for learning and growth will happen just as before. I’ll face the future with healthy habits, continued social engagement, and a positive mindset.  After all, I’m still the person I’ve always been.