Finding a physician for an aging parent can present unexpected challenges. Some doctors do not take Medicare, others do not take new Medicare patients, however, they provide care to existing patients who age into Medicare. Sometimes a concierge practice will accept an older patient as long as a hefty yearly fee can be paid. Then … Continue reading
Filed under Medical Care …
Antibiotics and Elders
This article about antibiotics and older adults appeared in the March 15, 2019 New York Times. While these medications cure bacterial infections, many antibiotics cause side effects that can be especially pronounced for older seniors, so they should be prescribed carefully and avoided when possible. The article, written by Paula Spann, interviews geriatric physicians, lists some … Continue reading
I Knew I Was Right to Dispose of Those Powerful Pain Killers
Recently memories about whether or not to use pain medications came flooding back after reading a New York Times article Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Relief. The article described research that compares the effectiveness of opioid and non-opioid medicines. It made me remember just how easily power pain medications have been prescribed. Physicians observed and … Continue reading
Prepare Elderly Parents for Their New Medicare Cards
If you are an individual who focuses on personal data security, one of the most surprising things you discover when it’s time to offer support to aging parents is that Social Security numbers appear right on the front of the Medicare card. Americans are told not to carry their Social Security cards around, but once they … Continue reading
The Aging Parent-Multiple Medication Conundrum
The intersection of elderly parents and multiple medications continues to be a conundrum for many adult children. It certainly is for my family! Two recent Washington Post articles about medication issues may be useful for the children or aging adults to read and then share with one another. In Older Patients Sometimes Need to Get … Continue reading
Help People Evaluate Health Media With Trust It or Trash It
The moment a person needs health information, the inclination is to Google it, even though there are much better places to visit — places that offer high-quality and reliable health information. A Google search does not guarantee good quality information — especially when it comes to health information, and due to sponsored advertisements and what I call … Continue reading
Does More Care Do More Good?
When we are sick, how much health care is good health care? These days when we call an ambulance, the medics rush in with all sorts of equipment and medications — called advanced life support, which replaces the basic life support that many of us learned in CPR classes. Doing More for Patients Often Does … Continue reading
Aging Parent Hospitalizations and Observation Status
Just when you think that you have settled the most significant adult child-aging parent issues — when you and your parents have spoken about medical care support, finances, and the range of their end-of-life wishes — along comes another concern to worry about, and it’s one that may be completely out of our control. We … Continue reading
Detached Retina: Another Vitrectomy Treating My PVR
I’ve just returned to the hospital for another surgery on my right eye. My retina condition has a name — proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) — which basically means that, so far, my retina keeps detaching. When I last reported on my detached retina issues, I explained how oil was placed into my eye to hold the retina in place. … Continue reading
Pets and Patients: Can Pets Help With Healing?
Ever so often a blogger, in this case me, discovers a piece of news that’s old, but so interesting and relevant. When Best Friends Can Visit, appearing in the New York Times New Old Age blog, is just such an article. This report, written by Judith Graham, describes how some hospitals and medical centers have decided … Continue reading
Detached Retina – I’ve Got Oil in My Eye
This post is not a substitute for talking with your physician. Since oil was put into my right eye to hold my retina in place for several months, I’ve been humming an old Sunday School song, “Give Me Oil in My Lamp,” last sung, by me anyway, some time ago. The only difference is that … Continue reading
Grandfather First Refused Medicare Because of Scare Tactics and Misinformation
It’s funny how changes in health care policy seem to generate anxiety, anger, and all sorts of misinformation in the United States. Well, actually it’s not so funny. How is it that so few people can scare so many others when it comes to keeping many more people healthy? But that describes what has happened … Continue reading
End of Life Choices
In June 2010 I read a chilling New York Times Magazine article, What Broke My Father’s Heart, by Katy Butler, who described how her father’s heart outlived his brain because a pacemaker kept chugging along. It kept going despite that the rest of his body, due to dementia, was giving up and shutting down. Butler … Continue reading
Aging Parent Hospitalization
I’ve written about senior parent hospitalizations several times on this blog. When a parent is hospitalized, an adult child needs energy, clarity, and attention to detail. Recently Dale Carter, over at Transition Aging Parents, wrote an excellent post about her experience when her mother was hospitalized for surgery, and she includes lots of ideas that … Continue reading
Are Boomers As Healthy As They Think?
Over and over the media refer to boomers as a health conscious generation, and boomers often assume that their generation is healthier than their parents’ generation. Now new research, just published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, reaches conclusions that dispute the rosy boomer heath assumptions. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Health Examination … Continue reading
Stroke and Recovery: Changes In a Politician’s Perspective
If you have ever had a stroke event in your family, you know — as we do — about the frustrating process of recovery and rehabilitation, as well as the constant bickering with benefits providers when it comes to whether a person is making “enough” progress to merit continuing rehab sessions. If this is a … Continue reading
Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenses Loom Large Despite Medicare
Adult children who help aging parents should check out the Washington Post article At End of Life, Medicare Beneficiaries Spend Thousands Out-of-Pocket. Reporter Sarah Kliff explains that a recent study, Out of Pocket Spending in the Last Five Years of Life (abstract), published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, examined the amount of money that aging … 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
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
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
As Our Parents Age So Do We 