20years, where has it gone.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

It is easy to forget that until around 100 years ago or less, about half of all Australian children died before they started school. And even in the last fifty years the death rate of young children has dropped by about 90%.

And even if you look at adult children, over the last hundred years there has been a big reduction in all death rates - not just for the elderly. Until the introduction of antibiotics and vaccinations, if you got old enough to have adult children there was no guarantee that you would die before them. This is why it was important to have half a dozen children, in the hope that at least one would still be alive to bury you (not to mention, support you in your old age!).

Not burying your children is a very modern concept. Of course, any death is something to regret, but it has always been part of life. Just as an example - I had a half sister (died a few months ago), not because my father divorced, but because his first wife died - while her parents were both alive.

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All very true, John, but some modern concepts are worth embracing. Not many, I grant you, but some.

Around 79 years ago my brother ( also John, but that's another matter ), first born in our family, contracted acute leukemia when he was 7. In those days this was an automatic death sentence, but they got two years. Because they fought for a cure, or even a remission, the last 9 months was hell. It's easy to say this now, but perhaps they'd have been better off accepting the inevitable. The effect this time had on them, particularly dad, had ramifications for the rest of us as children and therefore as adults. I was not even born then, and my three sisters were young.

Mum will be 102 in July, and she still thinks of John 1 everyday.

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Originally Posted by johntins

Mum will be 102 in July, and she still thinks of John 1 everyday.

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She's doing well. Dad died 18 months ago, not long before his 99th birthday - although it wasn't much of an existence by then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

It is easy to forget that until around 100 years ago or less, about half of all Australian children died before they started school. And even in the last fifty years the death rate of young children has dropped by about 90%.

And even if you look at adult children, over the last hundred years there has been a big reduction in all death rates - not just for the elderly. Until the introduction of antibiotics and vaccinations, if you got old enough to have adult children there was no guarantee that you would die before them. This is why it was important to have half a dozen children, in the hope that at least one would still be alive to bury you (not to mention, support you in your old age!).

Not burying your children is a very modern concept. Of course, any death is something to regret, but it has always been part of life. Just as an example - I had a half sister (died a few months ago), not because my father divorced, but because his first wife died - while her parents were both alive.

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My Danish great grandparents had 6 children and 3 died in infancy. A Swedish family on a neighbouring selection at Tinana Creek left Sweden with a cricket team, 11 kids, and arrived in Maryborough with a bowls team, 4 survivors of the voyage.

Must have been an interesting community then. Most were from Denmark, Sweden, North Germany, and what is now part of Poland. The ethnic Poles resented being lumped in as Germans. I was told by grandfather that few spoke English, most were illiterate or only partly literate. He never had any English until he started school which was the norm as few spoke any English at home. Great grand parents were shown on the immigration register as "reads some" and "can read and write".

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Originally Posted by p38arover

She's doing well. Dad died 18 months ago, not long before his 99th birthday - although it wasn't much of an existence by then.

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No. Mum doesn’t want to be here any longer. She’s totally bedridden and needs physical care constantly. But all her lights are on.

Congratulations to those celebrating the big wedding/together milestones :) And so sorry for those who have lost loved ones, or losing them.

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Originally Posted by johntins

All very true, John, but some modern concepts are worth embracing. Not many, I grant you, but some.

Around 79 years ago my brother ( also John, but that's another matter ), first born in our family, contracted acute leukemia when he was 7. In those days this was an automatic death sentence, but they got two years. Because they fought for a cure, or even a remission, the last 9 months was hell. It's easy to say this now, but perhaps they'd have been better off accepting the inevitable. The effect this time had on them, particularly dad, had ramifications for the rest of us as children and therefore as adults. I was not even born then, and my three sisters were young.

Mum will be 102 in July, and she still thinks of John 1 everyday.

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As an example,one of my sons has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia,diagnosed 2001,aged 16.
He was one of the first,and the youngest in the country at the time, to go onto medication instead of a bone marrow transplant.
Been lots of ups and downs,but leads a normal life,apart from tiredness.Married with two kids.
But no one knows the long term side affects of these drugs,he takes six tablets a day,and is on the third type of drug since 2001.

If i had it at his age,two years would have been max.
How times have changed,although his mother,myself,and others in the family, will never stop worrying about him,things could be so much worse.

Back on topic,we have done 34 yrs together,which we both find amazing.

And my mother is still plodding along at 85,but Dad decided to leave us when he was 55,35 yrs ago.

Speaking of Medication, I was at the GPs last week to get a Govt form signed & to get some scrips for myself, a routine thing these days, & when I saw the computer screen light up I was curious to see my lot compared to other patients. I felt quite embarrassed when my four lit up when, not that I actually counted nor saw any patient details, a few screens were 6 or 7 inches high, full of medications that some people took daily. [bigsad]

Unbloodybelievable! I came away relieved that 4 was all I take daily & 'er indoors is chasing me up just to get those down & I can't even tell you the names of these four.[biggrin]


Paul, in my mind's eye I have always imagined you to be around the 30 mark. I obviously needed Spec Savers, but now I know more, I'd have to place you at 50 -60.


No offence meant.
[biggrin]

To continue the upbeat theme we seem to have arrived at.. In 2008 my sister, the one closest to me in age, was diagnosed with the wonderful sounding GlioBlastoma Multiforme IV. Bet you'd want that in your playlunch.. The docs gave her three months, but operated. They opened her head. They do this while you are awake, BTW.
3 Months became nearly 6 years. She was never right, but hey...

She died about 6 years later. One thing I learned, don't let them give steroids. At least not for a reason you know about. You want to remember your loved ones as you know them. Steroids didn't help my Pen, but they ensured I'd always remember her as a balloon. I can't say it better than that. It was awful.

My wife was terrified of steroids, probably fro similar reasons, although she never went into it.