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Exploring Aging
If your
Ray:car breaks down, who are you going to call? If you need advice on your taxes, which professional are you going to get on the line? If your toothaches, what number are you dialing? If your baby has a fever, whose office will you be visiting? How about this one?
Ray:If you are somewhere around 60 years old and have a medical issue, what type of doctor will you reach out to? There's a good chance you know the answers to all of these questions, but have you ever considered seeking a geriatrician for your medical needs? You may have visited a pediatrician as a kid, but have you ever visited a geriatrician as an adult? On this episode of the Exploring Aging podcast, we will meet a retired geriatrician who has given his entire life to serving aging adults just like you. Stick around.
Ray:I think you're gonna like what you hear. Thanks for joining us on today's program, the Exploring Aging Podcast. I'm your host, Ray Sanders. On today's program, we have a very unique, yes, I mean a very unique opportunity, to spend some time with someone that has dedicated their entire life to serving the medical needs of aging adults. Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a discussion with a doctor?
Ray:Well, guess what? On today's program, that's exactly what we're going to do. That's what we're gonna do on this show. But as always, joining me in studio are doctor Bill Pierce and Greg McNeese. You know what?
Ray:I'm sure glad you guys keep showing up. I'm I'm glad you're here to help me host today's show.
Greg:We're glad to be here.
Bill:We love it, Ray.
Ray:Well, Greg, you are the one we can credit for having our special guest with us today. I don't want to introduce him. Bill could introduce him. You have the honors. Please introduce everyone to doctor Frank Davis.
Greg:Certainly, glad to. Doctor Davis, actually, I'm sure it'll come out somewhere along the way that doctor Davis and doctor Pierce have been longtime friends, and, even further, beyond that, they can kinda talk through that. But doctor Davis really does come to us with a massive background of experience. But you know what? At the end of the day, he's dad, he's husband, he's granddad.
Greg:And that's what makes him really, really special, not only to his family, but to us because through all the academic stuff, guess what? There's a heart that beats for people and, that's that he embodies that. Long time member of his church, connected there, serves there, and he also serves on the board of directors to Baptist Village Communities. And so that's how I got to know him, but really is an outflow of his relationship with doctor Pierce. And, doctor Davis, we're glad you're here today.
Ray:Thank you. I'm glad to be here and glad for this opportunity, just to share with some of our older patients.
Ray:That's great. Well, you know, if you're listening out there today, we certainly hope that we can represent you since the doctor is in the house. There's some things that we wanna ask him specifically based upon his experiences. And we're looking forward to just kind of unpacking some of the things really that we've talked about on this program as professionals in the field. But it's not every day that we get to have someone who's dealt with this on this level, with with patients.
Ray:And it seemed probably just about anything you can imagine Mhmm. From the seat that he has sat in. So doctor Davis, I've been so excited to get you, on the program. It's really a great opportunity to meet you. To be honest, you know, I'm I'm I'm the dull knife in the drawer here, guys.
Ray:I'll admit it. You guys are the subject matter experts. But to be honest, when Greg told me that he had an idea of bringing on a geriatrician on, on the program, I said, what's that? And he said he said, Greg said, well, you you do have kids. Right?
Ray:And you've taken them to the pediatrician. I said, well, yeah. I've I've done that. And I he said, well, a geriatrician addresses the needs of aging adults. So it it makes sense.
Ray:But I'm learning that this is a field that hasn't been around all that long when you think about how long medicine's been, you know, in practice. But, it's it's a field that it's evolved over the last few decades. So so was he right? Was he was he right? I'm I'm really curious.
Ray:You know, help our listeners understand the line of work you've dedicated your life to, doctor Davis. Explain to everyone your specialty. What is a geriatrician?
Ray:Fine. I'd like to explain that. So I, a geriatrician is someone whose focus is older patients, and it wasn't really especially until early 19 nineties. And I was already a family physician at that time, but there was an opportunity for internal medicine and family doctors who had a a strong interest in older patients to, take a a board test in geriatrics rather than go back to school and do another 3 years of education. And so I was grandfathered into the, geriatric board in 1992.
Ray:So here, medicine has been around for so long. I mean, we can go back way into history. But not until 1990, somebody is having an epiphany. We need to have a specialty that focuses on older adults. What what in the world were they seeing in the medical field is like, you know, a general practitioner, your regular doctor.
Ray:They're they're they're well intended. But was it tied to the fact that we're living longer? People, I mean, what, why all of a sudden?
Ray:There are several factors, I think, that contributed to that. And one is that our our population is aging, but also gradual recognition by the medical community that there are special needs. An older person isn't just older in general, but their kidneys work differently. Their liver works differently. Their brains work differently.
Ray:Not badly, but but slower in most of those cases. And, a dose of medicine that might be appropriate for a middle aged adult might be too much for an older patient and might harm their kidneys. And so, the field began to develop as they realized we need to treat older patients a little differently and and need to take into account, their function.
Ray:Had it ever been on your radar even in med school? Did you
Ray:I mean, how did that Not not really. I my goal was to be a family doctor partly from growing up in a small community and and, sort of idolizing our family doctor as I grew up. I think that had part of the impact. But as I got into practice, early in practice, I did everything a family doctor does. I delivered babies.
Ray:I did minor operations, took care of people in the hospital, and then saw some older patients. But as a few years went by, I began to realize I was drawn to the older patients. I enjoyed them more. And they they were also grateful in a different way than younger patients. The younger we are, the more our expectation is I want to be cured.
Ray:I want whatever this element is to be gone and and done with. Whereas older patients have a different attitude. A lot of times it was if you can make me feel better and function better, they were really grateful. So it's just a different expectation. Quality of life.
Ray:Wow.
Bill:That that is really neat.
Greg:So doctor Davis, let me ask this question. How long kinda you said at some point in your journey, in your practice, would you say had you been a family doctor for a decade and then began to kinda change gears? I mean, Kinda give a perspective of what
Ray:that is. It was about, probably 15 years into practice. I graduated from medical school at OU in 1978. I don't recommend this, but I got married the week after I graduated from medical school. Okay.
Ray:And we, my wife and I moved to Kansas City, and I did a 3 year residency program in family medicine, which trained me well to, assist in surgeries, deliver babies, treat most orthopedic minor orthopedic issues. So and then we moved to Blackwell, and we were in Blackwell for 3 years, at which point, there weren't a lot of specialists around us, so I did a lot of different things. But when we moved to Edmond, then we had available gynecologist, obstetrics, orthopedic surgeons. And so, the focus of my change begin of my practice begin to change, and it was after I've been in Edmond for a few years that I began to realize how much I was enjoying the older patients.
Ray:Sure.
Greg:Interesting. Yeah.
Ray:Let me I'm gonna ask
Greg:a question about your family. How did your family you know, as your children grew up and they realized dad was focused in on medicine for the older adult. What did they think about that?
Ray:I think they liked it just fine.
Greg:Sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a bit different. You know?
Greg:Yeah. I could see the boys at school going, oh, yeah. My dad, he's a doctor for older adults. You know? And so Right.
Ray:I don't think they ever got teased about that.
Greg:That's good.
Bill:Frank, you know, you were my physician for many years, and I appreciated you so much. And I hated it when you retired. I gotta tell you that. But I I know that you are a prince of a gentleman, and you you look at your profession as a ministry, and you have helped so many people. And I I thank you for what you've done over all these years, and you deserve that.
Bill:You deserve a big thank you for that. I wanna ask you a question talking about geriatrician. What what are some of the major differences between a geriatrician and other kinds of medical providers?
Ray:I think it's, their their focus is just different. Because, geriatric patients oftentimes have more than one problem. It's kinda like medicine's under pressure now. When you come in, it's like the doctor needs to get you taken care of, figure out what that problem is, and get you out the door in a shorter period of time as possible. So there's a lot of pressure.
Bill:Yeah.
Ray:And that really comes head to head in conflict with our older patients who sometimes they need to talk, they need to express things, and and they want a relationship
Bill:Exactly.
Ray:With their doctor. And I think that's what I enjoyed most about the older patients is that they they appreciated the relationship. And their medical problems are often complex. Instead of, you know, like, it's not just a sore throat or or an ankle sprain. You know, they have hypertension and diabetes, and their kidneys are maybe not functioning as well as they used to.
Ray:And so a geriatrician has to kinda try to take multiple problems and and balance them and see what's what's the best treatment I can give this patient to help him function better.
Bill:Sounds complex.
Ray:It can be complex, but it is also very rewarding.
Bill:Yes.
Ray:Yeah. You know, you've used the term a couple of times that I've heard you say that, older adults. And so what was the criteria? When people would find you, locate you, and they just come in and say they say, well, I'm old. And you say, well, you're 35.
Ray:You're not old. Mhmm. Well, I'm 65, I shouldn't be here, I need to be down the street, I'm not old. How how do you come to define geriatrics? Great question.
Ray:You know, officially, we define it as age 65.
Ray:Okay.
Ray:But you're right. I had a number of patients survive beyond 100. Although, you know
Ray:You taking credit for that doc?
Ray:I'd like to, but I think it had more to do with their genetics. But some of them, were very active, and and, that can make a difference. But that we define it as, after retirement or age 65.
Ray:Right. You know, it's interesting for me, being a part of this program. I had never been aware of the fact that someone who's 60 I think it's 60 years old 60 years old. Correct me if I'm wrong, guys. If you're 60 years old, there's a high likelihood, I think it's in the 90 percentile, that you have at least one medical condition.
Ray:If, you're 60 years old, there's a good chance that if you're in the 70 percentile, that you have 2 medical conditions. I never have thought about it because so far as I know, other than my dashingly good looks and my lack of hair follicles I don't
Greg:know if we would agree with that. Go ahead.
Ray:I I haven't really ever had to address that. But it makes me think maybe, you know, I'm 61. I'm starting to approach the fact that I may need to think about a geriatrician. And this is how naive I am about this. You said earlier, when you get to be a certain age, your kidneys start to function in a different way.
Ray:Your blood this your maybe your bladder or other things function at a different age. I'll tell you one thing I'm noticing. In this very building, when I turned 40, the worst in today, I was at my computer one day, I was 40 years old, and I couldn't see my screen as much. And that and my I'm like, oh my goodness. It's like, what happened?
Ray:Somebody flipped the lens in my in my in my, my eyes. And it was it just happened. So my eyes began to function differently. But the the other thing is that when I was 25, I say that my shoulders went from from up top down to my waist. But the thing I know is changing now is my metabolism.
Ray:I'm telling you right now, I'm putting in as many miles walking, I'm eating less, and I'm still having a inner tube. So we really do begin to change and our body changes. But even the thought about how to process medicine, that's a big deal. And if we're not careful, we think, okay, I'm gonna take 2 Tylenol or I'm gonna take 2 Advil. Well, that may affect us differently in our kidneys, when we're 40 versus how we're 60.
Ray:Never even dawned on me.
Greg:So I
Ray:think there's probably some listeners out there, younger than me and older than me, they're going, boy, great point. Never had thought about that.
Greg:You know, and I think you're, Ray, I think you're exactly right not to take time away from doctor Davis. But for those of us who are younger, there is some value in having someone like doctor Davis that's speaking into our medical life, if you will. Yeah. Because we do change. We do change over time, and our bodies have different needs.
Greg:And so to stick with a this is gonna sound bad, but to stick with a young physician who may not understand the interactions from different systems, we we may be doing ourself a disservice. Yeah. Well, in
Ray:the in the whole specialty of it. So, you know, I'm going to be a prime candidate for considering a geriatrician in the coming years. Alright? So why would someone transition? Or why should someone think about, I'm gonna look I mean, I almost said, I'm gonna look in the yellow pages.
Ray:Good luck with that now. Right. Good luck
Ray:with that.
Ray:That says that's that's probably the first sign that I need to see at your attrition. Yeah.
Bill:Go and get your 15 minutes ready.
Ray:Look at the yellow pages. What am I thinking? But at some point, I need to be thinking about seeing a geriatrician versus just a general practitioner. What what what's the difference there in terms of why would someone begin to think, okay, it's time to make the the changeover?
Ray:That's a great question. I don't know that I have a a easy answer to that question, but a geriatrician's his training and his focus are different. And so I I think maybe he'd be looking more for prevention, more for things. What what can I do to help keep you healthy? What can I do to keep you active?
Ray:And not just in your body, but also in your mind. Mhmm.
Greg:You know
Ray:what I things need to be considered.
Ray:I'm not taking anything away from my GP, my general practitioner. But I'm getting this sense that, geriatricians, not that they have more time, but they're willing to take that time. They're willing to listen maybe a little bit more. They're a little more in tune to some of the issues that I might be facing. Is there a baseline?
Ray:Let's say, if I was a new patient of yours, you're probably gonna take me through my my my blood test. We're gonna do the but is there are there other other things that you're looking for that might be outside the normal? Just, a checkup from the neck up? Or, you know, can you stand on one leg and jump a rope? Or I mean, what are some of the things that you're looking at as a geriatrician that you're tuning into with your patients?
Ray:You know, one thing it might be a little bit different. Yes. We're looking at blood pressure. We're interested in your, sugar, your body body fat composition, how much exercise, but we might also do a, mini mental status exam, an MMSE, kind of looking for, could this guy be depressed, or is he showing any early signs of of memory loss? So we've got a we've got a number of of tests that we might, that they are simple to administer, that would just screen for early changes.
Ray:So MMSE, I'm gonna put you on the spot.
Ray:Mini mental status exam.
Ray:Wow. Okay.
Ray:Yeah. So it's like 30 questions that you asked that that give us an idea kind of how well you're functioning mentally.
Ray:And is that an intuitive score that the doctor assesses while
Ray:they take
Ray:you through this and you're you're listening to the answers and that'll come and tell you? Okay.
Ray:Yep. Alright.
Ray:Well, so like so many things that have happened in the last few decades, I would assume you've seen many changes given the fact that you, are no longer practicing. But over the years, as a medical doctor, you've probably seen many changes. What are some of the biggest innovations you have seen in geriatric medicine in your career? What are some of the things that have changed over time in the last few?
Ray:One thing I'm seeing is, just the the pressure of the aging population on the medical establishment. I don't know the statistics like Doctor. Pierce does, but, far as the number of adults now who are aging compared to them to the young adults and children in our society, but that's really changing. So there's more and more pressure on the medical establishment by our growing older population. That was one one change I'm seeing.
Ray:The other change I thought about was, more and more people want to age in place. More people are choosing to stay at home or in an independent living facility Mhmm. With options of more care when they need it. So that's that's another change that I'm seeing.
Ray:Mhmm. Okay. I get it. Makes sense.
Greg:Let me ask a question kinda on that on changes. What would you say, doctor Davis, as we kinda talk about the you got those changes that you've just talked about. The positive and maybe even negative effects when we're talking about those changes, or maybe even some advancements. I mean, we could look at the aging of our of that cohort as an, if you will, an advancement, but it's not necessarily I I mean, what it's doing on the medical system is not a positive. It's a negative effect.
Greg:Kind of give some feedback on what do you see as some positive and negative effects of of these changes?
Ray:Well, the maybe the positive effect is, we've got we've got more older adults who have skills and knowledge that could be shared if they if it can be tapped into. So I'd see that as a positive. We have older adults who have more time to invest now than they did in giving back, and so I think that's a positive. The negative I mentioned was just kind of the pressure on the medical system, and maybe a negative too is now more younger adults are are help helping take care of aging parents. Let me give a just a brief humorous example.
Ray:1 of my sons, is now talking to us about the home we live in because it's a two level. They want us to be really careful on those stairs.
Ray:Mhmm.
Ray:Dad, shouldn't you be thinking about getting a one level place sometime? And I'm kinda answering, well, when I start falling down the stairs, we'll we'll talk about that. Yeah.
Ray:Yeah. But, you know, it is a reality. People are are living longer and better quality of lives. And one of my mentors in my life is an fellow that a lot of you guys are new, Bruce Scott. And he always said to me, there are some things worse than dying.
Ray:And as I've been looking and, you know, looking at the exit strategy for my life, one of the things that I would hope for is I'm not interested in living so much longer as I long as I am strong. And I think that's an that's a 2 edged sword because I think the the advancements in medicine are helping me end strong. But they can also help me hang on longer than I may want to. And sometimes I just like, can I check the box I'm ready to go see Jesus and start putting in my time there too? And so that's there's this struggle.
Ray:I mean, once if you're the one that's having to consider that, if you're ready to, you know, meet Jesus, that's one thing. But the strain, if you've ever sat bedside by someone who's passing, and you're having to make that decision, and you think, well, medicine could keep them alive another day. But should we? That that's the tension between the positive and the negative, you know. My uncle Jack just passed away a year ago this last week.
Ray:And I was with him when he passed. I can promise you, my uncle Jack was ready. And he was like, guys, I love you. Release me and let me go. You know?
Ray:So that's that's the that's kind of the double edged sword there.
Ray:Sure. It is, Ray. My nurse and I used to make regular nursing home visits.
Greg:Mhmm.
Ray:So we spent long hours walking up down hallways, seeing different patients, and and we would see some where their mind was gone, their body was wasting it, they were still here.
Ray:Yeah.
Ray:And, she and I kind of made a a quiet agreement. If I'm in that condition, you have permission to put a pillow over my face until I quit kicking. Yeah. And so, I mean, kind of humorous, but we both realize seeing older age isn't necessarily a blessing if it's not a good quality of life at the same time.
Ray:Let's be honest. These bodies aren't meant to live forever. That's right. And we have a whole a soul and a and a spirit that is going to live. And we'll have new bodies.
Ray:We won't have to worry about that. And that's the whole gospel message, is it not? Amen.
Ray:Is that
Ray:is that there's hope beyond, I'm sorry doc, anything that a doctor could do for us.
Greg:Mhmm.
Ray:This isn't it.
Greg:That's
Ray:right. This is one dimension. We live in a multidimensional world. And as try as we might to keep this old temple up and in shape, it's someday it's going to crumble. And, we need to be ready for the next.
Ray:And that's something to consider. I mean, sometimes you don't need to talk to your physician. You need to talk to your pastor. Right? And making sure you got that all figured figured out.
Ray:And in fact, if you're listening out there today and you got questions about that very serious topic, I can just tell you that the Baptist Village communities are very much interested in your quality of life, but they're also interested in your afterlife. Don't be listening to this program and wondering about that aspect of who you are and not wonder if there's answers to that. And I would just dare say that you could reach out to any of us, at BBC and tell someone you're wondering about what lies on the other side. And they'd be happy to have that discussion with you. I know.
Ray:Am I right, doctor Pierce?
Bill:Amen.
Ray:That's right. You know, from a medical field perspective, what do you see on the horizon? We all kinda like to know, you know, I'm a car guy. What's coming out? What's Ford coming out with Chevy, Mercedes?
Ray:You know, what what's coming on, horizon? Is there anything out there that you can tease us with? I mean, we've got all the AI. Are they gonna give us new brains? I mean, what what what's coming what's coming on?
Ray:What do you see? Are are you hearing anything? Or is this as good as it gets?
Ray:I hope this is not as good as it gets. But and there are some innovations that are coming out. I don't know that I have a specific example of one right now, but, yeah, I mean, medicine keeps does keep advancing. But you're exactly right. These bodies weren't designed to live forever.
Ray:Mhmm. Yeah.
Ray:Well, one of the things that I have seen, and I know you would have interest in is a lot of folks as they old as they get older, they they struggle with type 2 diabetes. And even in the last 2 years, the advancements in terms of monitoring and systems that you can do to make sure where your blood sugars are, that's that's an advancement, you know. And this even in medical equipment. You guys are always advancing and looking at a medical equipment and how things are done. I mean, my goodness, I've been to some of the villages and I want some of the bathtubs I see.
Ray:These are some, you know, it's pretty high-tech stuff.
Bill:Yeah. Pretty good innovations out there for medical equipment.
Ray:And as as boomers are as boomers are aging, you know, there's probably gonna be more and more of that that we see. Alright, Bill. I think you had a question for doctor Davis. Yeah.
Bill:Ray, but before I ask that question, I I thought I heard you asking about a brain transplant. Yeah. You said it's
Ray:not possible? I was hoping you had some news.
Bill:So, Frank, I know that our listeners are interested in what you might call what practical advice would you give them on how to live their lives? From your years of experience, what are some things they all can do that that falls into the practical advice category?
Ray:I do. Thank you for asking, Bill. There'd be several things I'd say. First would be stay active. Be on your feet.
Ray:Be be mobile the most you can be. So stay active. The second I think is important is to give back, have a purpose, be be involved in your family, be involved in your community, but give back to others.
Bill:That's good.
Ray:I think it's important to have a place. So be involved with family, but also with, with church, with a community group, a Sunday school class, being involved with others is important.
Greg:And I
Ray:think learning new things is also important. I've been trying to learn Spanish since I've retired
Bill:Oh, that's great.
Ray:Using, using Duolingo, and I can read it better than I can hear it or speak it, but I think it's important that you stimulate your mind and keep trying to do new things. The other practical thing, both for men and women, but especially women is calcium intake. I'm a big proponent of daily vitamin and calcium. And so every morning, when I first get up, I shake out vitamin c and calcium for both my wife and myself and a multiple vitamin. And I think that's good preventative health, keeping your bones strong.
Ray:I've seen so many older folks who are disabled partly because of their bones or osteoporosis, and that's to some measure preventable.
Bill:And we see a lot of that too.
Ray:When you talk about supplements, that's I think we could do a whole show on that. How do we know if we're getting the right potion? I mean, is wall can you go to the shelf of Walmart? Do you have to go to Sprouts and Good question. And, these natural grocers?
Ray:Do you have to, I mean, how do we know we're not getting some kind of back room?
Ray:Right. I would encourage people to talk to their primary care doctor. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Ray:I think he he's positioned in a good point to know for them what they need.
Ray:Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. Any other practical tips?
Ray:I think I'm done.
Bill:Great advice.
Greg:It is good advice.
Ray:Well, that's great. I really appreciate it. Well, you know, guys, it always happens. We're just about out of time. The doctor has definitely been in the house.
Ray:Yes. We got some of our questions answered, but there's more to come. I'm just wondering, doctor Davis, honestly, we would like to ask you some more questions, get some more insight with you. I wanna put you on the spot. Would you be willing to come back for our next episode if we could hang around?
Ray:Would you be willing to do that?
Ray:Sure. I'd love to.
Ray:Alright. You heard it, guys. Somebody's get the contract out. He's gonna sign up.
Ray:Love it.
Ray:I think maybe 3 or 4 shows maybe the way he's so enthusiastic. Well, that's out that's outstanding. Well, folks, I hope you've enjoyed today's podcast. Doctor Davis, we really have enjoyed having you on this show. And he's gonna be with us on our next episode.
Ray:Don't miss it. Download this show. Like it. Send it to your friends and be sure and be ready when doctor Davis joins us on our next episode. We're going to ask doctor Davis, what he believes are the top five mistakes.
Ray:Uh-oh, get ready. Mhmm. The top five mistakes adults are making that hinder or hurt their health. And if Greg pushes on him hard enough and doctor Pierce can get him in a headlock, we might get 6 or 7 out
Greg:of that. I think it might sound like
Bill:it did.
Ray:Well, if you're listening out there, I hope you're interested in in his response. And then be sure and join us next time on, the Exploring Aging podcast. Until then, you heard it from the doctor himself. He's used our our tagline.
Bill:He did.
Ray:He said stay active and stay informed. And be sure to tell a friend about the Exploring Aging podcast. Until next time, I'm your host, Ray Sanders.