Joni #Ernst is a year younger than me. Like me, she probably has decades of life ahead of her. She is also probably aware, as I am, that we're at the age where things start ... just happening. Not to everyone our age, or even most people. But to some. To *enough* to be a source of worry.

A nagging #cough. A #mole you don't remember being there the last time you looked. The sensation of an irregular #heartbeat. Moments of inattention and confusion. Fear that never quite goes away.

If she has any of these symptoms, I hope they're nothing significant. Really, I do. There is a short list of people I truly want to see drop dead, and she's not on it. However vehemently I disagree with her politics, if she were my patient, I'd give her the best possible care. Like I always have.

But when she goes in for her next #medical appointment, if she mentions any of these or other worrisome symptoms to her provider, goes through the usual battery of tests—

—I really do kind of hope the good doctor says "well, we're all going to die" before giving her the all-clear.