At the end of a recent appointment at Ichilov, after an EMG for a lumbar issue at L4–L5, I asked a straightforward question: What can be done?

The answer I received was equally direct: “Well, in two years you’ll be 80.”

The recommendation that followed was physical therapy.

This was not my first such encounter at Ichilov. It was the second time I found myself facing a clinical conclusion in which age did not simply inform the discussion—it appeared to decide it.

In an earlier case involving my wrist, I was told outright that because of my age—at the time, 76—surgical intervention would not be performed. Not after deliberation. Not after weighing options. Simply stated as fact.

The outcome was not stability, but decline. My hand is now significantly compromised.

There is another detail that is difficult to ignore. In both instances, the emphasis on age came from........

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