Sorry about the typos folks, as per usual I was doing two jobs at once and men are not so good at multiskilling or so the story goes.

However I will take this opportunity to say that the youngest of the four mature aged people I gave a lift to the shopping centre today is a spry 83 years and applies her accountancy skills helping out a church and a couple of local charities. "Pass it on", she says.

In any event, giving these people a lift to the shops and collection later when they are done is as a good an example as any of the usually simple, mundane support people in their mature adulthood benefit from to keep up their independent lifestyles, thus saving the taxpayer millions every years and keeping their interest in life and enjoyment of it still blooming.

That is why I can see likely benefit to mature old especially from the removal of the unnecessary, restrictive laws that prevent their access to an easily grown plant like cannabis that could relieve some serious pain and lessen reliance on analgesics and other drugs with serious side effects. The example I gave before was rheumatoid arthritis.

Frankly, it is urgent that society reviews the traditional negative stereotyping of the mature adulthood years. Not that it is likely that there would ever be any proper consultation with the mature aged on what they want. The traditional stereotyping of them would be too strong for that, and of course there are always those professionals, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs who reliably will always be putting their own secondary agenda first.

Dear OTB,

I'm so glad that you provided us with the link on
Dr Catherine Hamlin. I watched that particular
episode of Lateline and marvelled at how much good
the doctor has done and is doing for young women
in Ethiopia. But we've got a great tradition in this
wonderful country of ours for both nurses and doctors
working so hard to make a difference to people's lives.
Apart from Catherin Hamlin we can take a look at what
the Flying Doctor Service does for regional Australia.
Then Elizabeth Kenny comes to mind who discovered a
different way to treat polio. There's Dr Maura McGill
Australia's No. 1 expert on natural hormones and menopause
and PMT/PMS management. She lives on the Gold Coast in
Queensland and has helped thousands of women, and the list
goes on. Look at the Australian who discovered the bionic
ear, and of course there's Dr Munjed Al Muderis (the
robotic - bionic man who helps people with missing limbs).
His book, "Walking Free," is out currently sharing his
remarkable life story with us.

There are many such cases of exceptional people doing
exceptional things. Of course we don't all fit into these
categories - and allowances have to be made for our own
safety and well-being. I'm sure you'll agree.

Good afternoon to you FOXY...

Your comments apropos family members defeating illicit drugs, only to be 'caught up' on licit (scripted) drugs is, paradoxical really ? You hear of so many people admitting to being addicted to 'prescription' drugs and entering some 5 Star facility to break their habit ? Surely their prescribing physicians must absorb some responsibility for their patients becoming addicted to legal medication ?

Gee, it's a massive question that confronts society ? Become dependent on illegal drugs ? Alternatively, become dependent on legal drugs ? Either way the poor ol' patient loses out whichever way he goes. I'm buggered then, I've been on a regimen consisting of 50mg of Kapanol twice daily, and 10mls of Ordine 5, morning and evening, since my retirement ! I guess I should blame my Doctor for my 'legal' addiction ?

Definitely Not ! Actually, it was I that consulted him ! Seeking his opinion. All he did was to 'legitimize it', and ensure my symptoms, precisely mandated a treatment regimen involving prolonged opiate use. And to ensure my current levels of health were preserved, and not allowed to further deteriorate !

Foxy,

However my point wasn't that exceptional people can do exceptional things, now was it?

Rather the point I was making but obviously failed to bring home, is that the traditional, stereotyping of mature adults as spittle drooling, dementia-suffering, government-dependent grey old wrinklies to be patronised and have their decisions made for them by social workers and the like, is utterly WRONG in most instances and demonstrably so.

Few who reach mature adulthood are incompetents who cannot manage their own risks, make their own informed decisions and take care of themselves.

However if it makes the discussion any easier, lets accept that any who are unable to handle even moderate independence are usually in care facilities. So what about the rest?

It beggars belief that some people presume they always know what the thousands (and numbers growing) of mature adults want and presume even further to 'represent' their interests whether they want it and have asked for it, or not.

In a former role (for a private company) I was invited to attend a conference on the 'aged' and their care and accommodation requirements. I asked the sponsoring public service big swinging knobs, State and federal, if any of the 'client' group were attending, knowing full well from reading the attendance list prior to attending (as any private contractor would!), that there were none.

The senior public servants, surprised by my question, immediately assured me that they themselves and their staff, along with the invited private professionals and businesses represented the aged. They already knew what 'the aged' wanted and one proceeded to reel off public service job titles and the qangos and companies there. OK, so were there any papers I could discover the methodology and outcomes of the consultations? Stony silence. Then, "Allow us to show you this 'initiative' for a bulldozed 'burb and smaller retirement units. Displace the old buggers and sell them smaller, expensive cells that are so hot in summer as to require retrofitted air-conditioning.

Any wonder that past mistakes are perpetuated and taxpayers' dollars are wasted.

Dear O Sung Wu,

Prescription drugs are a problem, and doctors need
to pay closer attention to what they're prescribing -
that's for sure. I'm on heavy meds at the moment and
one of the unpleasant side-effects for me has been
the fact that my meds make me feel very light-headed
and dizzy. I am having a holter-monitor put on me for
24 hours in December and I am seeing the specialist
again in January. At present I'm not too great. And I
feel so sorry for my husband. He's been a saint with what
he's had to put up with from me.

Dear OTB,

I did get the point that you were making regarding the
elderly but I guess that I got excited and carried away
by the link you gave on Dr Catherine Hamlin. I was also
blown away by your volunteer work and the compassion
that you've shown to others. I'm beginning to
see that - O Sung Wu was right about - when he once told me
that you were "A decent bloke!" Your actions speak louder
than words.

I agree with your concern about how the elderly are treated
in our society. That's why family involvement is so crucial
in their care.

Foxy,

Thanks again for understanding.

I am sorry about your health conditions and I wish you well. Each and every time you enter care you must be very careful to have at least one relative as well as your husband and a friend if possible who can be relied upon to represent your interests, and make sure that is known to the facility concerned. Partners can become exhausted, since they are usually that way when their loved ones are admitted.

It is far too easy to be put on the wrong treatment and care path - to be typecast as this or that (never to your favour) - by even relatively junior employees and case workers. That is from informed experience from observing the illness and treatment careers of others, some close.

Women may live over a third of their life as a mature adult. That is a very long time to be told, "Never you mind" and patronised by 'professionals' discussing them in the third person in their presence.