Retire where you will walk a lot.
I think the impact of this is nearly impossible to overstate. I will say, however, that it isn't necessarily weather driven but that can obviously impact it. From my experience:
My dad was a 45 year smoker who had his first heart attack at 60 and had progressively worsening heart issues after that. Despite (or possibly because of) that and despite living in an area where it is cold in winter he joined the local Recreation Center, signed up for their "Silver Sneakers" senior walking group and kept himself active and walking up until his dementia/Alzheimer's go so bad that he couldn't drive. Then he couldn't go to the Rec Center and to make it worse this was all in the middle of COVID when we had to distance anyway and his dementia was so bad that he had to be supervised at all times.
My point is that despite his heart issues he kept himself reasonably physically healthy until his dementia got so bad that he couldn't.
My mom, on the other hand is the exact opposite. My dad tried for YEARS to get her to go along with him to the Rec Center but she always had some excuse why she couldn't and even though she never smoked and doesn't have any heart issues she deteriorated MUCH worse than my at a similar age. Then this all came to a head two years ago:
My mom had a broken vertebrae in early 2024. She has osteoporosis so it wasn't from any trauma it "just happened". Anyway, the Doctor told me (I'm the PoA) that she 'had to' have surgery because the broken vertebrae was pressing on her spinal cord and if they didn't operate she could become a paraplegic.
By early 2024 my mom was 79 and not walking all that well but still walking. She literally walked in for the surgery but she hasn't walked since and, realistically, never will again because the recovery was a disaster and she repeatedly 'refused' PT. I finally stepped in and went off on the Physical Therapist telling them that she couldn't 'refuse' without my permission. It was too late. Now she is what the Nursing Home calls a "Hoyer Lift" because they have to use a thing that looks like an engine hoist to me (I'm a car guy) to get her in and out of bed and when she does get out it is only to a wheel chair.
Honestly if I had it to do all over again I'd have told the Doctor that we were going to risk it and pass on the surgery. Given her condition today, she isn't a paraplegic but she might as well be.
I have two important pieces of advice to share with the group based on this experience:
- I agree wholeheartedly with @Cincydawg : Retire where you will walk a lot. Living somewhere like Atlanta may make that easier but you CAN do it even in a place like Cleveland, my dad did.
- YOU are responsible for your own healthcare so DO THE PT. If you have an elder relative in PT, MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO IT because if you stop moving, you'll lose the ability to move and if that happens at 30 you could probably get it back but if it happens in your 80s you are done.
