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The Columbia Press July 9, 2021 Senior Moments with Emma Edwards Coming to terms with personal senior moments I’m not yet frail, but I am elderly. At what age did I consid- er myself elderly? Truth be told, I don’t really know. I guess it kind of crept up on me. The big question is do all my moments have to be se- nior moments? And, yes, there are times when I still feel “giddy as a schoolgirl.” Dare I step out of the mold of older, elderly, aging, and sometimes frail? C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” I suspect the average church that lets you know “we have a seniors group open to all those over 55 years of age” is simply out of it. I attend such a senior’s group and, if that age limit held true, all six of my chil- dren would be in the senior’s group with me. I don’t know who decides what makes a person a se- nior, but some don’t consid- er that 55 may be the new “middle age” that used to be 40. Think of it. Sometimes, we learn from people we don’t always agree with but, nevertheless, we can learn from them. Maggie Kuhn (born in 1905) was forced into retire- ment at age 65, which was the custom at that time. “Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes,” Kuhn said. “Old age is not a disease - it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses.” I have a nephew, Gary, who owns a physical therapy company in Michigan. One evening when I was talking to him, I just happened to mention my advancing age, thinking he would be im- pressed and say something nice. Instead, he said, “And so what, Auntie Em, are you bragging or complaining?” Having been taken aback, I had to think a moment. Yes, I could call that a senior mo- ment for me, for sure. Being a kind nephew who loves me, he felt it necessary to explain. He said he was so tired of people using age as an excuse to not do as well or to think they were incapa- ble of advancing the healing process. Norman Vincent Peale of- ten said, “Live your life and forget your age.” We have so much to be thankful for when you think about it. By the time we earn the term “elderly,” we’ve learned the ability to psychoanalyze ourselves – and, I’ll add, to psychoanalyze others too. Admittedly, we seniors (es- pecially us elderly ones) tend to lean on the nitpicking or negative side. As a child, I was often told “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say any- thing.” I try, and I know you do, too! 7 Here’s to Your Health by Dr. Regina Mysliwiec Talking with teens about getting vaccinated I was recently asked why teens should get the COVID-19 vaccine. For me it is simple: People are not dispensable. We cannot afford to lose kids to a disease that af- fects children unpredictably and is mutating to become stronger and potentially more fatal. There is a safe and effective way to pre- vent severe disease from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There’s a lot of misinfor- mation out there and it can be tricky talking to teens and parents who are appre- hensive about getting vacci- nated. However, I think it’s a great time for young adults to ex- ercise their power of choice and make a real difference in the world. Adolescence is the last step before adulthood. The adult brain is starting to form, and it grows by accumulat- ing experiences, finding and testing boundaries, stepping beyond the limits of pre-ex- isting rules and expecta- tions. Until this point, we have only said what we have heard our families and friends say. In high school, we start to explore new ideas, to get a taste for who we are as in- dividuals and who we might want to be as grown-ups. We begin to understand consent and risk — the cor- nerstones of choice. I chose to get the vaccine. I read the studies, I checked the numbers, and I looked at how many people like me had side effects. The numbers showed that no one in the studies who had received the Moderna or Pfizer died — none. There was no question in my mind what the right ac- tion was when I compared that to the number of peo- ple like me who died after getting COVID-19; or worse yet, when I considered the risk of passing COVID-19 to a grandparent, or to a child who might develop a severe inflammatory reaction that damages their heart, or to friend with an undiagnosed autoimmune disease or im- mune suppression. We can’t predict who will be harmed by the choice not to get vaccinated. Getting the COVID-19 vac- cine puts more control in our hands. I chose to receive a med- ication that is proven to be safe and effective at pre- venting severe disease from a contagious virus, rather than be blindsided by un- predictably devastating ill- ness that causes all the side effects of the vaccine, but more and worse. By getting vaccinated, I was also able to set aside time to recover, knowing that the vaccine could make me feel sick for a couple days while my immune system learned to fight off the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is my job to save lives. I did that first as an EMT, when it was my job to put myself in harm’s way to pro- tect others, then as an emer- gency room doctor for the past 12 years. I have cared for more than 11,000 patients in the CMH Emergency Depart- ment. From what I’ve seen, everyone has someone they’re not ready to give up to a disease. For me, it’s my parents who are in their late 70s, my three aunts, my two broth- ers, a niece who just turned 5 years old, my wife of 11 years and our 9-month-old daugh- ter. I chose to be vaccinated to protect the people I love. Regina Mysliwiec is an Emergency Room physi- cian at Columbia Memori- al Hospital. Here’s to Your Health is brought to you by CMH. Special columns in The Columbia Press Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards Week 1: Financial Focus with Adam Miller Week 2: Here’s to Your Health from CMH Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer