A friend whose mother is seriously ill asked, “What do you think about after your parent is gone, the services are over, and you are moving on with life, but without the person?” My answer? We share memories and we ask questions. The memories are easy, because they come to us. No matter what … Continue reading
Tagged with aging parents …
Aging Parents and Medication Side Effects
Recently my dad, who takes a number of blood pressure and heart medications, began to experience nosebleeds –they seemed to begin out of the blue. Family members and friends kept offering explanations for why the nosebleeds were occurring. Twice, when he had difficulty stopping the bleeding, Dad went to the emergency room at the local … Continue reading
Hospital Stays, Seniors, and the Possibility of Dementia
…or Disorientation We have taken parents to the hospital and discovered that the hospitalization process seems to facilitate disorientation. We have also observed incidental dementia. In essence, a frightened aging parents is sick, frightened, and disoriented and loses touch with reality. One of our parents, who was already experiencing some dementia but was living securely … Continue reading
Update on My Parents’ Blog
My parents worked hard to figure out (outwit?) the eccentricities of the Blogger site, and they managed to get their new blog up and running. They only needed a bit of help from me. I have made a mental note to think about writing some technology tutorials and attaching them to a technology tutorial posting … Continue reading
NIH Senior Net – A Senior Friendly Site
…and Tips for Making a Website Senior Friendly Take a few minutes to visit this NIH Senior Health site. Bring an aging parent along. Notice the great care that has been taken to make the site easy-to-read with large type and navigation links that are clear and uncluttered. This site is full of information on … Continue reading
Baby Boomers, Aging Parents, Caregiving Observations
About a month ago we attended an out-of-town gathering with fifteen or sixteen friends plus spouses, all in the 50’s – 60’s age group. Every single person we met that evening had at least one aging parent who needed caregiving and support. The variety of caregiving arrangements was interesting, and after a long evening of … Continue reading
Aging and Middle Age Brain Health
Why we need to exercise … and don’t need a lot of those other products on the market… I am so tired of television, magazine, and catalog ads selling brain improvement products — to seniors as well as to people my age. They are starting to arrive regularly in my mailbox, and TV is an … Continue reading
Communication: We are Always Children in Our Parents’ Eyes
“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” Henry Ward Beecher Last night on the phone my mom directed me to take care of myself and rest up. She knows the past three years have been well-filled, and often tiring, as my husband and I assisted his mother with post-stroke … Continue reading
Aging Brains: A Review of Welcome to Your Brain
If you think a lot about your brain and why it acts like it does, I’ve discovered a wonderful book. Welcome to Your Brain, by Ph.D. neuroscientists Sandra A. Aamodt and Sam Wang tells all sorts of stories and dispels lots of myths. Published in 2008, it’s filled with clear and easy-to-read information about the … Continue reading
Aging Brains: The “Senior Moment” Comment
As aging children most of us are used to hearing friends and colleagues make the “senior moment” comment. Just about any time a person has difficulty remembering something he or she will comment, “…oops, I’m having a senior moment.” I began noticing this in my late 40’s and now, ten years later, it happens more … Continue reading
Google Buzz and Gmail: Heads Up for Seniors and Everyone Else
If you or your parents use Gmail, as we do, be alert for the new Google Buzz. It is easy to check your e-mail and suddenly find yourself connected into Buzz, and right now if this happens there is almost no privacy. This is a newfangled social networking platform like Facebook or MySpace, but it … Continue reading
My Parent’s Blog – Seniors and Blogs
Wow! Technology never stops. This morning my parents, age 86 and 82, told me that they went to Google and started a blog. This is the coolest thing because they love to write and they love their computers. Also they have lots of great opinions about helping others, ethics, and building community. I cannot wait … Continue reading
Snow Shoveling: A Reminder About Getting Older
With all the snow in the Washington area this past week (two blizzards and about 30 inches in my neck of the woods), we are shoveling several times each day. Our work is even harder than we expected because our neighborhood snow blower needed a repair just as the first blizzard finished up. But we … Continue reading
Census Information and Aging Parents
I’ve written about seniors and aging parents and how they can interact with technology, computers, urban legends, and scams, but one aspect that I have not touched on is the upcoming census. Dale over at the Transition Aging Parents blog, has written an excellent post about helping aging parents avoid census scams. Census information gathering … Continue reading
Thoughts on Medications and Seniors: Part I
Protonix, Synthroid, Lasix, Lopressor, Altace, Fosamax, Vitamin D, KDur, Coumadin and others … all medications prescribed for my husband’s mother in the last several years of her life. Mother took some of these in the morning after breakfast, others in the evening after dinner, and one was prescribed for just before bed. The Fosamax was supposed to … Continue reading
Washington Post Health Section – Aging Well
Today’s Washington Post Health and Science section has a theme, The Aging Well Issue. Article topics include Alzheimer’s/memory, aging-in-place villages, and geriatrics experts discussing “good things about aging.” The Post also has a feature on Medicare with lots of information to help children of aging parents who are helping their parents with health issues.
NPR Story on Vaccines and Aging
This morning (February 8,2010) on National Public Radio, a Morning Edition story, “Adapting Vaccines to our Aging Immune Systems.” explained how vaccines given to seniors are not as effective compared to those administered to children and younger adults. The story describes how the body’s immune system works in general, and how a senior immune system … Continue reading
As Time Goes By — a Great Blog
I expect to have aging parents for some years to come, so I am always on the lookout for other blogs that cover senior issues, especially those that feature great writing. The other day I mentioned Life with Father because it is wonderfully written and fun to read. Check out the most recent post, Love is a … Continue reading
Snow Worries and Aging Parents
As a teacher it used to be that I thought about time off from school when snow was predicted. Now I have parent “SnowWorries,” and I rarely get around to anticipating snow days. During a big snow storm, and we’ve had a bunch this winter, my anxiety level is higher than usual. Not crazy high, … Continue reading
Seniors, Exercise, and Preventing Falls
Once again a fall. This time it is a friend’s mother who fell, and today I heard that her mother’s health is continuing to decline. Senior falls are frustrating and sad, occurring frequently and causing physical problems, discomfort, outright pain, and unhappiness. Over the last four months I keep returning to the topic of seniors … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 