4 ms·

Same. I heard something from an RN like "If you break a bone after this age, you have 6 months to live" Every. Single. Time. since then this has been true in m

Same. I heard something from an RN like "If you break a bone after this age, you have 6 months to live" Every. Single. Time. since then this has been true in my anecdotal experience. Sometimes I've really regretted mentioning it because I've mentioned it to coworkers sort of casually and then, sure enough, their parent was dead within 6 months of the break. After the first few came true I said it more seriously like, "Listen, you need to prepare for their death..."

rayhendricks 7y ago
Took a healthcare economics class in college and heard the same thing. Basically if an older person breaks their pelvis or enters assisted living...they ain’t coming out.
paulcole 7y ago
At some point your frankness at work is going to come back to bite you. Honestly smarter to just stay quiet. “Your mom’s gonna croak by Christmas” tends to not go over well with everyone.
- astura 7y ago
  Seriously. The only appropriate thing to see say to a co-worker in that situation is a polite "I'm so sorry to hear about that, I hope your mom feels better soon." Keep the prepare for death conversations for close friends and family. Even if in was a close friend you happened to work with, the workplace is not an appropriate place for such a conversation.
  - AstralStorm 7y ago
    Why is it not an appropriate place? What is an appropriate place? Do you get to spend over 2/3 of waking time there? If you do not wish to discuss it with coworkers, some of whom may or may not be friends, it's your choice to raise them or not. Focusing the attention on important matters could be done tactfully, which is very different from not talking about things. If it's by fiat, there is an ulterior motive of "think happy thoughts, preferably shallow". There are such workspaces. There are also those that keep grave silence by fiat or unspoken convention.
thaumasiotes 7y ago
I had a grandfather who (to my eyes, as I got intermittent updates) started rapidly suffering a series of not-obviously-related health problems. I mentioned to my mother (his daughter, and a doctor in an unrelated specialty) that it seemed like he was basically just experiencing failure of everything. She was surprised and expressed that though there had been several problems, none of them were especially serious. But he died shortly afterward.

rayhendricks 7y ago

Took a healthcare economics class in college and heard the same thing. Basically if an older person breaks their pelvis or enters assisted living...they ain’t coming out.

paulcole 7y ago

At some point your frankness at work is going to come back to bite you. Honestly smarter to just stay quiet. “Your mom’s gonna croak by Christmas” tends to not go over well with everyone.

astura 7y ago
Seriously. The only appropriate thing to see say to a co-worker in that situation is a polite "I'm so sorry to hear about that, I hope your mom feels better soon." Keep the prepare for death conversations for close friends and family. Even if in was a close friend you happened to work with, the workplace is not an appropriate place for such a conversation.
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Why is it not an appropriate place? What is an appropriate place? Do you get to spend over 2/3 of waking time there? If you do not wish to discuss it with coworkers, some of whom may or may not be friends, it's your choice to raise them or not. Focusing the attention on important matters could be done tactfully, which is very different from not talking about things. If it's by fiat, there is an ulterior motive of "think happy thoughts, preferably shallow". There are such workspaces. There are also those that keep grave silence by fiat or unspoken convention.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

I had a grandfather who (to my eyes, as I got intermittent updates) started rapidly suffering a series of not-obviously-related health problems. I mentioned to my mother (his daughter, and a doctor in an unrelated specialty) that it seemed like he was basically just experiencing failure of everything. She was surprised and expressed that though there had been several problems, none of them were especially serious. But he died shortly afterward.