Thank you hospice. Since reading Dr. Atul Gwande’s New Yorker Magazine article, Letting Go, a piece that describes the end of life (see my recent posting about this article), I’ve been thinking a lot about our hospice experience with a program in Northern Virginia. For some time I’ve wanted to write about those four months, … Continue reading
Tagged with Care …
Caregiving – Coordinating the Stakeholders
As a parent ages, the range of people who offer support expands dramatically. The older the person the larger the group can be, with multiple doctors, caregivers, assisted living staff, family members, friends, and therapists. A broad range of supporters is a plus, but a designated coordinator, someone in possession of the big picture, is … 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
The End of Mother’s Life
We were not able to follow through with the hairdresser, though we know that Mother would have loved it, even so close to the end of her life. Raymond was a master at making her feel good. Early on Monday morning mother died, perhaps from the dementia, but more proximally from congestive heart failure. She … Continue reading
Thanksgiving and Dementia — Redux
Our family member with dementia arrived at our Thanksgiving celebration sometime around 2:00 in the afternoon. Her afternoon caretaker took Thanksgiving afternoon off, and we planned to be responsible for her care until bedtime. Things went quite well, however, we now realize that if we are entertaining family and hosting festivities at our house, we … Continue reading
Stages of Dementia – Part I
When you read about dementia you learn that the disease presents itself in stages. The literature seems to describe six stages, seven if you think of stage one as the “normal” range in which most of us function. I am reconstructing these stages, attempting to understand the progression of the disease in our family. In … Continue reading
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): The Basics
Links to Posts that Discuss Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) Are At the End of this Post I had not heard about activities of daily living or ADL’s until a year or two ago after a family member had a stroke. Essentially ADL’s are the things we all do day in and day out throughout … Continue reading
Exercise and Aging
I constantly worry about exercise, and I have observed first hand how much and how fast change occurs when an individual stops exercising. One of our family members moved to our area to be closer to us. At her old home, even at age 90, she probably walked more than a mile a day. She … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 