One hundred and what?!

I was at a patient's house the other day to check on her swallowing.  Mrs. W is a lovely lady.  She didn't say much, but she did answer questions and followed directions appropriately.  I asked her how many kids she has. "Two," she said, as she looked off in the distance to remember, "but I think my daughter died. Yes, she died."

Her swallowing was pretty good, and I chatted a bit with her husband and their caregiver.  One of the things I do during my evaluation is to see the person's mouth and teeth.  I routinely give a lecture about oral hygiene.  Mrs. W didn't need much of a lecture.  Her teeth were in great shape!  The caregiver said, "Ask Mr. W to see his teeth.... he keeps them in his shirt pocket!"  I had to laugh, and I told her about Jack.

I had been in a bit of a rush that day, and I had gone into the house without looking closely at my facesheet.  As I left the house, I thought to myself, "Gee, that lady seemed pretty old.  I wonder how old she is."  I picked up the facesheet.  Her year of birth:  1902.

"1902!" I thought.  "Wow, she is old.  She is 98!"  Wait a tick.  "1902?!  Wait.... Does that say 1902 or 1920?"  Hold on one minute....I had trouble processing this.   1902.  This lady is 108 years old!  One hundred and eight!  My oldest patient ever!

I'm always amazed at the centenarians.  They are always in great shape.  In the occasional instances that I am referred to visit one, I am very rarely needed to do any intervention.  Some people just have amazing genes. 

Knock on wood.