Over at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, the Vital Signs September 2012 issue focuses on controlling good pressure. The article, Getting Blood Pressure Under Control: Many Missed Opportunities to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke, explains that many people are not treating their blood pressure and many others are taking medication but not monitoring enough … Continue reading
Filed under aging parents …
Avoiding a Return Trip to the Hospital
One out of five hospitalized Medicare patients needs to return to the hospital a second time within 30 days of their first discharge. A second hospital admission, shortly after the first, is a no-win situation for everyone concerned about an elder parent. Patients are often sicker, they are unnecessarily exposed to other hospital bacteria, and families … Continue reading
Research Says…
With some frequency adult children search for reliable medical information after hearing research reported on the news. Or perhaps an aging parent or spouse is ill, a physician recommends a new therapy or treatment, and a family wants to learn more as they consider the recommendation. When any of us seek to learn more, it’s second … Continue reading
Woodland Park (VMRC) Green House Homes Update: August 26, 2012
Construction of the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Green House Homes at Woodland Park is moving along. On two of the buildings the outside stonework will be completed soon. The stonework was so lovely that I shot a close-up with my camera.
Learning All We Can About Assisted Living
Check out 10 Things Assisted Living Homes Won’t Tell You, an August 15, 2012 article over at Smart Money. These tips for adult children and their families look like common sense suggestions. Often however, when family members seek an assisted living community for an elder parent, they need to make decisions quickly without much time … Continue reading
New Sodium Research: Low Sodium Research, Part X
Cutting back on sodium in a family’s diet is challenging, and new research (abstract) confirms the importance of persevering when it comes to lowering sodium intake and highlights the difficulty we all have in doing it. Lowered sodium intake is important for everyone, but especially for older adults with chronic problems such as congestive heart failure … Continue reading
10 Most Common Chronic Conditions in Residential Care
This week’s (August 10, 2012) edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), includes this informative graphic depicting the ten most common chronic conditions among people who live in residential care communities. Below the image I’ve pasted in a paragraph defining residential facilities as they … Continue reading
Back from Vacation
As Our Parents Age has returned from a terrific vacation filled with hikes, swimming, kayaking, and family activities. Watch for the start of another great year of blogging.
Jane Gross – “On Being” Program Rebroadcast
On her Facebook page A Bittersweet Season author, Jane Gross, mentioned that one of her book interviews with On Being radio host, Krista Tippett, will re-air today (Thursday, July 26, 2012). Gross wrote her book after her journey in the elder parent caregiving world, and she shares a broad range of insights, ideas, and thoughts. I listened to this … Continue reading
Elder Parent Surgery, Part IV: The Art of Respect
A month after my mother’s surgery at the University of Virginia Health System, we returned for a follow-up appointment with her surgeon. My mom came through with flying colors, but the real star is Dr. Duska. Moreover, the people who work with this gifted and graceful physician, her residents and fellows, are also amazing. All … Continue reading
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Dementia
Adult children and their parents who are inveterate readers of fiction, especially prize-winning fiction, may want to read two posts at VOXXI (Hispanic Voice of the 21st Century) about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The two posts are related and inter-connected, examining the tragedy of a great Nobel prize-winning writer who begins to suffer from memory problems, … Continue reading
Is Your Blood Pressure Taken Correctly?
Several times, now, I’ve been with my parents when they’ve had their blood pressure (BP) taken. How can medical providers get the best reading if they do not settle people into the recommended position for the best results? Medline Plus, part of the National Library of Medicine, posts instructions for taking blood pressure and getting reliable readings, … Continue reading
Skin Protection – A New App
Yet another friend has skin cancer. She always used sun blocking lotions, but also enjoyed staying out in the sun for long periods. (I have her permission to write this much.) Check out the post about a new mobile skin-check app at the Health and Medical News and Resources blog. The app, developed by the University … Continue reading
More on Financial Scams Aimed at the Elderly
Check out Protecting Elderly from Scams, a July 4, 2012 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Staying alert for the many troubling phone calls and other communications that elders receive is challenging. Just the other day we received yet another frustrating phone call from credit card services. My past blog post feature links to many … Continue reading
Aging Parents and Hospital Admission for Observations
When your parents go to the hospital and need to stay over night or longer, be sure the medical staff admits them as official patients and not for observation (which means that technically they are not admitted at all). People hospitalized for observation do not qualify for Medicare’s skilled nursing care benefit after leaving the hospital, and … Continue reading
Alzheimer’s Drug Researcher Becomes a Patient – Loses Job
This short article over at Caring.com reminds us that Alzheimer’s is not just a disease for older and elderly adults. Moreover the story reminds us that our stereotypes and dysfunctional thinking, when it comes to people who are coping with serious diseases, can do much harm.
Woodland Park Green Houses: On the Inside, June 11, 2012
The VMRC Green Houses at Woodland Park are beginning to look like real houses with roofs, windows, and doors. Now much of the construction has moved indoors. This time when I visited, Mr. Marvin Nisely, who supervises the construction at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, took me on an inside tour of one of the homes. Expand … Continue reading
Congrats for Denver Post Commentary on Ageism
Huge congratulations to my friend Carol over at Inside Aging Parent Care! Today the Denver Post published her commentary — sharing some of her thoughts and ideas about ageism. Carol explains that even those of us who are currently growing older and into retirement years need to adjust our understanding about what it means to … Continue reading
Elder Parent Surgery, Part III: Expect the Unexpected
After a successful day of treatment at the University of Virginia Health System we were relaxed. We thought that we had considered every detail of Mom’s surgical adventure. Then at 4:00 a.m. a fire alarm went off in the hotel on the night after my mother’s surgery, and we had to evacuate the hotel immediately. But … Continue reading
Elder Parent Surgery, Part II: At UVA Hospital
My mother’s laparoscopic surgery at the University of Virginia Health System went splendidly with the best possible outcome. Part of the day’s success is due to medical skills, but it’s also due to the UVA hospital staff members who treated my mother with respect, dignity, and gentleness at every point of the day. Mom did … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 