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
Tagged with aging parents …
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
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
50 Percent of Older Adults are on the Internet: Pew
In another of the excellent surveys from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, data show that more than 50 percent of older adults, 65 and over, use the Internet or e-mail. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews during the month of April 2012. This survey is significant because the older adult age group had experienced … Continue reading
Woodland Park Green Houses Have Roofs! June 3, 2012
Last weekend I spent the day with my parents at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. On a beautiful Shenandoah Valley late spring day, we walked around near the construction site and shot these pictures of the Green Houses slowly turning into Green Homes. Two buildings have walls and roofs and the third has its foundation. So … Continue reading
Why Won’t the Medical World Stop Trivializing My Time?
Recently I had a medical test at a community hospital with free guest wireless, and I accomplished all sorts of work while waiting. The somewhat invasive procedure was fairly quick but with a longer wait than expected. However, I barely noticed. When I arrived back at my job, I had done so much work at … Continue reading
Money, Money, Money
Money is a big, big issue in retirement. While I am several years from my retirement, I think about my plans carefully, wondering almost daily what else I can to ensure my security. Managing finances for some of our aging parents is a challenge. And the older people get the bigger an issue it becomes, … Continue reading
Pets Can Cause Falls
I watched it happen almost in slow motion. An elderly woman climbed out of her golf cart, and her medium-sized dog bounded out beside her. But then the dog saw another dog and without looking back, tried to take off, jerking on the leash. The woman held onto the leash, but she fell down. Her … Continue reading
Longer Old Age but Lower Quality Near the End?
A few days ago I added a must read link to Michael Wolff’s New York Magazine article, A Life Worth Ending. It’s an eye-opening piece, detailing long drawn-out decline of his mother. Check it out — it really is a must read. For our parents there are no easy end-of-life answers. Those of us with … Continue reading
Very Basic Rules for Aging Parent Digital Devices
Are you helping to maintain and secure a computer for your aging parent? Do you find yourself spending lots and lots of time explaining why NOT to click on a button or an update screen, even when windows seem to swoop in and personally invite a user to click (or worse download)? Here is an … Continue reading
Thanks to the Elders Who Built My Church Community
Sometimes at my church in late October we sing the hymn, For All the Saints. At that service we remember the many dedicated and committed people who have died over the course of the year. For me, this service is always a time to think about long time members, most of them elders and many … Continue reading
Dementia Incidence Going Down? We’ll Just Have to Wait and See
Is the incidence of dementia declining? We really want this to be true, because it would mean a lot less suffering for our parents’ generation and in our own. It’s personal and as we age the threat of dementia feels closer and closer. Unfortunately, when we hear news about the incidence of dementia declining we … Continue reading
Technology: It Even Transforms Elders
The other day, at a pre-Mother’s Day weekend event, I sat in a room with hundreds of seniors — mothers, grandmothers, dads, grandfathers — and guess what? A good many of them had smartphones. I was amused to observe, that a fair number of people in that large room were texting or at least checking … Continue reading
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I know you are a bit frustrated by a few health issues right now, but I hope you know how much we all admire and love you. In all these years, as far as I can tell, you’ve never encountered a subject that you don’t want to learn more about. Sometimes … Continue reading
Woodland Park Green House Walls are Rising – April 28, 2012
The walls continue to rise above the foundations at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.
Exercise, Computer Use, and Cognitive Impairment
A research study published in the May 2012 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds an association between computer activities, physical exercise and reduced mild cognitive impairment. The article Computer Activities, Physical Exercise, Aging, and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Population-Based Study (PDF) reports on an ongoing population study that randomly sampled 926 individuals in Olmsted, Minnesota … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 