Alzheimers

Dementia Tsunami Headed Your Way: TEDMED Helps Stem the Tide

Posted on 03/12/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Personal Health | RelationshipsTEDMED, a multidisciplinary community of innovators and leaders who join together to create a better future in health and medicine, recently hosted a Google+ Hangout web chat: Preparing for the Dementia Tsunami. TEDMED is a champ at bringing together doers and thinkers from a wide variety of disciplines, and this event did just that. Doctors, researchers, caregivers and other experts joined many participants on Twitter and Facebook to discuss the huge increase in dementia that is coming our way. By …

Is Your Loved One Really Getting the Care You Expect?

Posted on 03/7/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsRecently, there has been a great deal of controversy about an employee in an independent living facility in California who refused to do CPR on a resident, citing company policy forbidding her to do so. The resident later died, sparking many questions about types of facilities, the kind or “level” of care provided and their policies. Several investigations have been launched as a result of the incident. The facility at first said the employee followed policy, but later released a statement saying, “The incident resulted from …

Romance Lives On, Despite Alzheimer’s

Posted on 02/14/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsI returned home from an extended business trip last night and, as I feared, I’m not sure my beloved Dad remembered me. As Alzheimer’s continues to slowly take over his brain, Daddy’s ability to remember key people in his life has been fading. But there are two people he still knows without fail. I guess I should say two souls really, because one is his dog, Jackson. The other is the love of his life, Patricia — my Mom. Dad …

The Lady with All the Answers

Posted on 02/12/2013 by | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthDear Abby:  I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can’t afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Have you any suggestions? — M. J. B. in Oakland, Calif. Dear M. J. B.: Yes. Run for a public office. Such was the incisive wit of Pauline Friedman Phillips, known to millions as Dear Abby. Affectionately nicknamed “Popo” by friends, Dear Abby was the advice maven of a generation – or rather, generations. Dear …

Adventures in Caregiving: Taking Mom and Dad to the Movies

Posted on 02/5/2013 by | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsDue to Mom and Dad’s health issues, it’s been a very long time since I’ve attempted taking them to a movie. Nevertheless, fortified by Danielle, our live-in caregiver, and my boyfriend, Bill, I recently decided to try taking them to see, “Lincoln.” Here’s how we pulled it off … and the emotional roller coaster that ensued for me. We chose an early Tuesday evening when there wouldn’t be crowds (matinees are great too.) We arrived at the movie theater late, …

The Sexy Goddess

Posted on 01/14/2013 by | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthRita Hayworth was a dazzler.  Women wanted to be her; men wanted to be with her. She was a graceful and electric dancer.  Her mother was in the Ziegfeld Follies, but wanted her daughter to act; her father, a renowned dancer, wanted her to dance.  They both got their way. Margarita Carmen Cansino was born in Brooklyn in 1918.  In 1937, feeling that her name typecast her, she dyed her brown tresses a blazing red and became Rita Hayworth.  She …