Healthcare Reform: Eldercare in Trouble

What’s all this I hear about “death panels”, forced abortions, and mandatory sex change operations? Has the country I used to know gone AWOL? Come on, folks, get real. No one wants to kill Grandma, and no one wants to abandon disabled children. As a matter of fact, the current situation is causing both the elderly and the disabled to suffer needlessly.

We have before us an immense dilemma and an extraordinary opportunity.

The dilemma is that our current healthcare system is ailing and getting sicker by the day.

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Caring for Parents…Reflections

An aging, ailing, and dying parents handbook could certainly provide some useful information so that baby boomer “children” don’t have to re-invent the wheel on taking care of parents…with recommendation for book endorsed by AARP

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Death is only a transition

This meditation on dying came from a friend whose beloved mother just died. When we become aware that a parent is about to die, thoughts such as these can be most comforting:
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the [...]

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The Final Transition…Death and Denial

Dad died on April 12 of this year. He and Mom were at home with friends enjoying conversation along with coffee and macaroons at their dining room table…one of Dad’s favorite activities ever. All four were having a lively chat about the state of the world, another of Dad’s favorite activities, although now [...]

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A Year Later

It’s been a year since Dad returned home from the stroke rehab hospital.  He’s still dealing with 12 hours a week of dyalisis which leaves him fatiqued and often depressed, but he and Mom continue to enjoy life’s gifts.  They spend time with friends and family, go to parties, entertain in their home, frequently dine [...]

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I’m doing fine

I’ve been “missing in action” for a while.  Everything’s okay…even great in some ways.  It’s been a busy few months, and my head has been  elsewhere.
I visited Mom and Dad in December, and it was a wonderful reunion.  Dad has lost a lot of weight (that’s a good thing), but he does look old to [...]

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It takes just a moment to show your parents you care!

I took a few minutes this afternoon to call Mom and Dad to see how they were doing.  The in-home healthcare aide had just gone home, and Mom was fixing dinner.  Mom put Dad on the phone, and he sounded GREAT! 
It’s been over six months now since Dad’s stoke, and he’s still doing daily physical therapy, occupational [...]

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WHY BOTHER Caring for our Elders?

With the Jewish High Holy Days and the Muslim month of Ramadan overlapping for the second time in two years, this year seems particularly auspicious for reflecting on the question of Baby Boomers’ responsibility to provide health and other care for our aging or ailing parents.  
Why should we care for our parents or other [...]

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Dad’s first post-stroke home: Assisted living, in-home care, or a nursing home?

Now that Dad is home from stroke rehab again, I’ve had the luxury of reflecting on the early days following his stroke, when my siblings, my mom, and I had to decide where he would go when he no longer needed to be hospitalized.  For the time being, that chapter in our lives is past, and thankfully so, [...]

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Aging Dad…and Mom too

I have to say that watching Dad age in the past year has had its ups and downs.  Dads are supposed to be there always, to be the strong ones, to take care of you no matter what.  So when Dad had his stroke, it took some adjusting to the role reversal.   Now I get to [...]

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