Elder Care ABC

“All I Heard Was Congestive Heart Failure. What Does That Mean? Is She Going To Die? ” “He Is Trying to Explain It -But It is Like The Doctor Is Speaking Another Language.”… Try to stay calm-learning about your elder’s disease is important but it takes time to process all the new information and terminology. [...]

Elderly people sometimes want a DNR if they suffer from chronic illnesses and are concerned that their quality of life will suffer if they require resuscitation. A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order is another kind of advance directive. A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you [...]

What’s better? Inheriting money from a rich relative or doing something special today with someone you love. Personally, I pick the “doing” every time. Money can’t buy happiness; but memories can. Don’t believe me? Open up a photo album right now and you’ll be flooded with memories – good and bad — of elderly people [...]

“I can’t do it, Christy, I just can’t!”  My friend Yvonne called me recently after a raw conversation with her husband.  Her mother is rapidly approaching the point in which she will need help managing basic daily activities.  Yvonne’s husband (probably thinking he was being a good guy) assumed the natural course of action was [...]

Welcome to the August 19, 2009 edition of eldercareabc carnival. To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent that is to triumph over old age. ~Thomas B. Aldrich 3zsj5d78rw Kaye Swain presents Aging Parents Just Want Their Daily Paper! posted at SandwichINK.com, saying, “Anytime you are providing senior home care for an [...]

I sometimes wonder if a doctor knows you’re on Medicare they will just “load you up” with all kinds of prescriptions or supplies and not even pay attention to your condition or other prescriptions you might be on. My dilemma is that my husband, who has congestive heart failure, went to see an endocrinologist the [...]

Each time I dial my elderly friend’s telephone number, I take a deep breath in anticipation of what will predictably turn into a thirty-minute one-sided conversation – her side. Having lived 86 years, Bess has a lot on her mind and much to say. From neighborhood gossip and leaky faucets to graphic descriptions of her [...]

Sometimes in the caregiving for our elderly parents, we can get bogged down in the details and forget the essence of what caring for another is all about. I know I do. My Outlook calendar often looks like this: Tuesday- Mom’s knee doctor; Thursday: mom’s heart doctor and breakfast with mom and her friends; Sunday [...]