Do you really want to live to be 100?
In my daily reading of the obits, I read about a former client of mine- who passed away at age 100.
I had the pleasure of working with him when he was 99. He had been discharged home from the hospital after recovering from the flu. He returned directly to his bungalow where he had lived for over 65 years.
The Community Care Access Centre (CCAC ) provided the maximum amount of services possible, which was 56 hours per week. The remaining weekly hours (112) he purchased privately from a local home health care company. His family lived out of town and he had no other immediate family in town. He was competent and clear headed. His wishes were clear- to leave his home feet first. Not a surprizing refrain and one I hear frequently. The problem according to the family was that he could not ‘indefinitely’ afford to pay for the required care at home. As such, his children (who were also his POA) made an application for admission for a publicly funded Long Term Care residence. While we tried to explore all possible options for how he could pay for his care (ie, 2nd mortgage, loan etc.), they did not feel it could be managed. However the stars lined up, he was offered a bed within a very short window of time, which he accepted. He died a few days later. Do you really want to live to be 100? I am not so sure……..
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