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By Bill January 5th, 2012
Hand Surgery
Carol had hand surgery today. She has been bothered by pain in her right hand for about ten years, so she finally mentioned it to her doctor. The doc got some x-rays, said there is some arthritis in her wrist that was bone to bone, and surgery will fix it.
So, today after about four hours at a surgery center Carol is home with her hand and arm in a cast with a prescription for some pain medication. All is well so far. So what’s the big deal? Something doesn’t work too well anymore, so get it fixed. That is what we do as we get older. I am doing it as well. I’m sitting here with my titanium knee. My friend has a titanium knee as well, and his …
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By Carol January 3rd, 2012
Bill and I had not heard that our friend Barbara was in hospice and close to death. We learned of her passing from another friend who makes a habit of studying the obituaries every Sunday. Despite her long-standing heart condition, I had expected Barbara to live for many more years. After all, her mother had survived past 100. Barbara had been her mother’s long-distance caregiver for several years.
We attended Barbara’s Memorial Service a few days before Christmas. While the snow fell softly outside the chapel windows, Barbara’s children, grandchildren, friends and loved ones sang and played, recited poetry and shared memories of Barbara and her multifaceted life. It had been a journey of exploration and connection. We were struck by how many of her friends and associates had met Barbara unexpectedly on a …
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By Carol November 6th, 2011
If you own your home and your son doesn’t rehab old houses, you need a handyman (or woman). This person must be competent, reliable and trustworthy. They must have good communication skills and be affordable. This is an amazingly tall order in today’s world.
But for those of us who live in an aging in place Village neighborhood like Washington Park Cares in Denver, finding honest, trustworthy and competent help around the house is not a problem. Some of this help comes from the organizations volunteers. If you have a light bulb you can’t reach or need safety grab bars installed in your bathroom, a volunteer may be available to do it.
Otherwise, the organization carefully vets service providers–like our sprinkler and tree man, Don Chapman, who came the same day last summer when …
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By Judi October 9th, 2011
As our generation ages most of us will be confronted with the same issue-how do we help our aging parents make the transition from independent living to some form of living assistance? There are many resources to help adult children caregivers with these concerns. One of those resources is a Senior Move Manager.
Mary Kay Buysse is an aging services professional who is currently serving as the Executive Director at the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM). NASMM is a 501(c)(6), non-profit, professional association of organizations dedicated to assisting older adults and families with the physical and emotional demands of downsizing, relocating, or modifying their homes.
Mary Kay is also a member and contributing author at Parentgiving.com‘s Ask An Expert forum. I came across her thoughtful answer to this question from one …
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By Carol October 4th, 2011
I am excited to realize that we have been publishing Inside Aging Parent Care for a year and a half now. In celebration of this most recent anniversary, here is our very first post:
For many of us, it begins with a phone call. In our case, the call came from my 89 year old father late in the spring of 2008. He had been released from Waterman Hospital after his third bout with pneumonia a few weeks earlier. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “why am I here when you are there?”
We had often encouraged Dad to consider moving from his home at an assisted living facility in Central Florida to join us in Denver where Bill and I have lived for the past twenty years. Up until now he had always resisted …
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