How I could Have Saved My Father’s Life But Didn’t!!!

In the last email I told you a little bit about what I do and how it all came about.  Today I am going to share one of the most personal stories I have.

It’s about my Dad and how I failed him both as a Son and a Doctor.

My Dad was truly a heroic figure.  Right now, someone is reading this email and smiling because they remember him and how he touched their lives.  He was the old school Marcus Welby type of guy but he was not acting- that WAS HIM!!!

He loved medicine, he loved his patients he loved his family and especially his kids and as you can imagine with that much love, he was absolutely beloved back.

Now my dad lived a productive wonderful and ever expanded 79 years but he could have lived longer.

Right about the time I started studying Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine (1997) I began to notice some very significant physical changes.  He started to lose height and began to become more stooped over.  He was losing muscle mass- a condition we now call sarcopenia. We didn’t have a name for it then other than “old age”!

He started to have to sleep more and more, losing for the first time in his life, the incredible stamina that is a trait of our family. His voice began to get a little feebler sounding and his balance started to become an issue.  I especially noticed this when he drove as he had to slow down to take corners so he wouldn’t get dizzy.

Now he still remained physically active and very happy and productive- but things were changing.  It was obvious my dad was suffering from andropause- a condition caused by low testosterone and resulting in loss of bone mass – osteoporosis- just like when women go through menopause.

At the time hormone replacement therapy was the corner stone of Anti-Aging medicine (this was before telomerase activation and stem cells!).  I recommended my dad get his bone density checked and go on androgen replacement and possible low dose growth hormone.

He was old school and said that those things were for illegal body builders and he was “too old” to bother.

I gently brought it up a few more times but each time I got the same response.

Now here is the problem.

My dad did respect me and my opinion, he was just too conditioned by what he had learned to respond to gentle suggestions.  Had I been more forceful and presented him with the science and at least insisted he get a bone density test I know I would have been able to convince him to start at least some of these therapies.  In case you are wondering this is also long before the so called “anti-osteoporosis” drugs came out.

My dad’s symptoms continued until one evening 3 years later he slipped and fell on the ice coming home from his tennis match.  He told me that evening he was not in much pain but could not get up.  The next morning, he showed up in the office in considerable pain.

Over the next 3 days the pain became unbearable and he could no longer walk, sit or move without serious agony.  But like a true Iron Man of medicine he still showed up at work.  We had to get an ambulance to the office and admit him directly to the hospital.

His X rays showed 3 consecutive collapsed vertebrae in his low back- compression fractures from osteoporosis.

Over the next 2 weeks his pain remained agonizing and all kinds of therapies were tried.  Narcotics didn’t work, steroids didn’t work and drove his blood sugar through the roof. Finally, a catheter was placed in his spine (epidural) and medicine was given that way.  It did not work.  He was now in constant severe pain, narcotized, immobilized, with sky high blood sugars and a catheter in his back,

After 4 days like this I noticed he was shaking in the bed and becoming delirious and had a fever.  I asked the nursing staff about this and one of them mentioned the catheter was supposed to come out 2 days ago.  As you may have guessed no one followed up and it had become infected providing a direct link for skin bacteria to get into his central nervous system.

He died a few days later of a disseminated bacterial infection.

I will never forget his last words to me.

His nurses asked me to ask him what they should do with the practice since it became obvious, he would not be able to return.  He said to me, “Tell the girls I’ll be in tomorrow”.  When I reminded him that tomorrow was Wednesday-always his day off, he said, “Ok then tell them Thursday”

He died on Friday but in his heart and mind he was going to go back to the practice and patients he loved.

It took me a long time to get over the guilt of not being more forceful in asking my dad to take preventative measures when they still would have made a difference.

When this happened, I vowed that I would not follow the same path of “typical” medicine and wait for illness disease and dysfunction to start before I would try to intervene.

I made a promise to myself and all the other fathers, sons, wives, daughters and loved ones who would love to have their Dad around for a few more healthy years to learn and do everything I could to stem the tide of aging and buy us all some more runway.

Since the year 2000 that has been my life’s work!!!

But I need your help!  I need you to learn grow and be open minded and curious about what is out there at your fingertips! I have written literally thousands of blogs since that fateful day and they are all waiting for you.

For now, we are focusing on Keto and Longevity  because I passionately know that there is a strong link between the two, so let’s start there in this email series, but don’t be afraid to branch out and educate yourself and take advantage of 2 decades of experience I can share with you.

And be aware that I regularly post on all topics Anti-Aging and related there, Keto and otherwise! Anti-aging is good health, you are never too young (or old!) to get started.

Help me keep my promise to my Dad!

PLEASE!!!!

Dr Dave