| >> My family and I have had very frank discussion about death earlier than we would have otherwise. It would benefit any family to have that discussion, even if both parents are in their 20s and there has been no "scare scenario". Many people die every single day due to unpredictable events, with no warning whatsoever. Unfortunately, too many people have never really pondered their mortality, leading them to be incapable of even considering what it would mean if man/woman/child died tomorrow. Having a sit-down meeting is likely to be brushed off as a "meh, it'll never actually happen to us". Any one of us could be dead in the next 5 minutes. That's more reality than paranoia. The trick is to get to the point where you understand just how fleeting life is (you or a loved one might be gone any day now), but without letting it negatively control your life. >> I did make peace with the fact that I have a much higher probability of dying from it than the average American You should stop thinking that way. A decade past the initial scare, you're likely no more at risk than anyone else. You weren't given the disease, you were exposed to a small possibility of it. It's still the responsible thing to not donate blood or be an organ donor, but as far as your day-to-day life goes you should consider yourself squarely in the "average" category. |
I completely agree that it should be talked about more and plans made. Unfortunately several family members don't see things the same way and this provided the impetus for discussion.
> You should stop thinking that way. A decade past the initial scare, you're likely no more at risk than anyone else.
I'm not an expert, but the last time I researched it, I wouldn't even develop symptoms for at least a decade. So I'm actually at the point where I could actually find out that I have it.
> You weren't given the disease, you were exposed to a small possibility of it.
I absolutely agree! That said, my probability is still drastically higher than the _average American_. I was dating a science teacher at the time and she did some research into it. Basically the only other Americans with similar odds are military personnel stationed in Europe during the Mad Cow scare. There are other populations, e.g. Europeans during the Mad Cow scare, that are at similar or higher probabilities. But among Americans my odds are definitely higher than average.
> but as far as your day-to-day life goes you should consider yourself squarely in the "average" category.
I'm anything but average ;-) but I definitely don't let this impact my day-to-day life. It's much more of an intellectual curiosity and medical awareness for my family and doctors in case I should become symptomatic.