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Would you really want to know????

(55 Posts)
rosiemus Tue 20-Nov-12 14:18:01

In the papers today I saw that a simple blood test could predict how long you have to live. www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9689759/A-blood-test-to-reveal-how-long-you-have-to-live.html

I suppose it could have its uses (no point wasting £50 on a new pair of boots then - may as well blow it all on chocolate) but I really don't want to know when I am going to shuffle off this mortal coil. I like to think I have a whole lot more living to do - and if that is not to be the case then I'd prefer to enjoy my time without chalking each day off

soop Fri 23-Nov-12 12:35:04

jeni Sister Gabrielle picked me out of a class of 32 as being "tone deaf"...was asked not to sing in the choir. shock Have had a hang-up ever since.

jeni Thu 22-Nov-12 21:56:34

soop why out of tune? Please not!

Nanadog Thu 22-Nov-12 21:27:45

grin Ana

Ana Thu 22-Nov-12 16:48:32

The mind boggles, Nanadog! shock

Nanadog Thu 22-Nov-12 16:46:01

Good for you soop. If I did all the things I want to now greatnan I'd probably hasten my end ...and get arrested into the bargain.

Greatnan Thu 22-Nov-12 14:24:09

I am not taking any chances - I am doing all the things I want right now!

soop Thu 22-Nov-12 13:08:37

Okay! Let's pretend I knew when my end was nigh. I'd get the family and friends together [including some Gransnetters] and we would sing [out of tune] dance [out of step] eat lovely food - such as an entire giant Mars bar, drink Champagne, and I may indulge in a cigarette or two [for old times sake].

Nanadog Thu 22-Nov-12 12:10:28

But I'd still want to know absent I know I can do all these things but like most people I'm working my way though them at a leisurely pace. I want to see the Northern Lights, so am organising a visit to some relatives in Orkney at the end if 2013 or early 2014. But it's more than that. I'd like to know if I'm going to still be here when my grandchildren are growing up, getting married, being a greatnan, etc.

Oddly enough I did trip over a bus last week. I've told my GS if he leaves it on the stairs again he's on Big Trouble.

absentgrana Thu 22-Nov-12 12:00:02

But you can do those things anyway Nanadog without knowing whether you have ten years or ten months left? Any one of us could trip over a bus tomorrow and the length of our telameres isn't going to predict that.

Nanadog Thu 22-Nov-12 11:53:54

Have thought about this long and hard, and yes, I'd like to know.

Presumably you don't get to find out you will go on the ?th day of ?ember 20?? That would be too much information. But to be told I'd probably go within a certain time frame yes, I'd live with that and find it helpful.

There's things I'd want to do, undo, say, things to experience, write, organise, places to go and so on.

Am I alone in this?

Ana Thu 22-Nov-12 11:37:44

Thanks absent. I've heard patches are effective.

jO5 Thu 22-Nov-12 10:02:26

About the man about to be executed giving up the fags.

jO5 Thu 22-Nov-12 10:01:15

I meant Greatnan's joke was good. (well, it made me laugh!)

absentgrana Thu 22-Nov-12 09:54:37

Ana I used nicotine patches for about a month. I still have two of them left in my dressing table drawer "just in case" but I don't think I'll need them. Btw I chose December 1 so that I would be well ahead with my resolution before the New Year.

johanna Wed 21-Nov-12 22:41:49

Well, jo5 do you mean what I think you mean?

jO5 Wed 21-Nov-12 20:59:25

Greatnan grin Good one that!

Ana Wed 21-Nov-12 20:34:37

Coffee ice cream! Yes!!! I don't drink coffee but I love anything coffee flavoured...confused

Greatnan Wed 21-Nov-12 20:31:23

Damn, rumbled! Coffee ice cream with some pouring cream on top! Oh, and tea, of course, about ten cups a day.

johanna Wed 21-Nov-12 20:05:53

greatnan , eureka... it is Ice Cream for you is it not????? That must be your vice.
grin

Nonu Wed 21-Nov-12 19:51:03

I would hate it if I thought any of my darling children would be left with regrets , over what they didn"t do .

Guess all Mums would feel the same !

smile

Ana Wed 21-Nov-12 18:53:13

absent, did you give up by willpower alone, or use any of the 'aids' recommended?

Greatnan Wed 21-Nov-12 18:51:21

Didn't you hear about the man about to be executed who was offered a cigarette and replied 'No, thanks, I am trying to give up'?

absentgrana Wed 21-Nov-12 18:35:01

I don't think I would matson. I genuinely don't miss it as a rule. When my mother-in-law died recently, I did feel the need to go outside and have a fag while standing in her care home room looking at her little body. So did Mr absent who gave up several years before me after a stroke. We didn't go out and smoke (no cigarettes anyway) but I think it was all to do with a sense of not being able to do anything rather than a craving for nicotine.

However, if I had bullying health care workers around me being self-righteous about smoking (and other habits such as drinking) and I was dying, I might hit a 60-a-day habit instantly. [gin]

matson Wed 21-Nov-12 16:16:26

i love chocolate, have hardly any vices now [ boring old soul ] i stopped smoking 5 years ago and if i knew when i was going to die i would start smoking again , just for a few days before i go grin

absentgrana Wed 21-Nov-12 11:43:26

Nope Greatnan, I am on record as saying that I don't really like chocolate and eat it very rarely. I used to smoke and am now approaching the first anniversary of giving up (1 December) [pats self on the back emoticon]. I hate shopping and don't gamble and am keeping quiet about my vices.