Is There A Secret to Living to 91? A Patient’s Word on the Matter

“What’s your secret to living to 91?”

I asked a patient of mine this question recently.

Her answer with a wide grin and a chuckle was: “I don’t know, but it’s Friday and that means it’s a Manhattan night. Could you get me one?”

Sadly, she passed away a few days later.

I liked her though. She was fun, funny, spritely, sharp, and had a twinkle in her eye.

In fact, I wished I had the time to take a seat right then and there in her room and spend the rest of my shift chatting with her. I felt like I could learn something. Maybe not exactly the secret to living to 91, but certainly smaller more subtle life lessons.

At the very least I knew I enjoyed her company and felt like talking with her would surely be a bright beacon to the countless patient notes I had to write or surprise beeping pages I had slated for my future. In fact, it was a page in the end that drew me reluctantly from the room.

That was the last time I saw her. I was off from work for 3 days and when I returned she was comfort measures only. Meaning, her goals of care were not for repair, but measures which would keep her comfortable until she passed through her final phase of life.

While I had known from the beginning her injuries were likely life threatening, I had hoped despite her age she would spring back like she must have so many times before. But it was not to be.

The: ‘What is your secret to living to (insert age here)” is one of my favorite questions to ask my patients over 90.

Surprisingly, I can’t remember any of the historical ones. Only the two most recent.

The details of the second patient are more cloudy. I can picture her, but not her exact story.

Her answer though was: “I don’t know. You just keep waking up in the morning and you just keep breathing”

Somehow I feel like this whole population is so very underrated. I feel like even using the word “elderly” has a negative connotation. I wonder how it is even possible we don’t have a more public platform to celebrate their longevity and history.

While all of these issues are far beyond my scope of training, I can at least make my teeny contribution in sharing their wisdom. In this case, as I see it, the pearls shared from my most recent nonagenarian is look forward to the things you enjoy and keep doing the basics, like waking up and breathing.