Sometimes, when I reflect back on the years when my mom’s hearing and then memory was failing, I still wonder what I might have done differently. We had a long distance relationship but even before any of these concerns were apparent, we had a special connection.
ElderCarelink Blog
A Personal Reflection: When a Loved One has Dementia
by Kathryn Kilpatrick, M.A. CCC/SLPDecember 31st, 2010 at 3:11 am
Caregivers May Wonder about Quality of Life for Elders
by Carol Bradley Bursack, Editor-in-ChiefDecember 28th, 2010 at 3:11 am
As a person who was the primary caregiver for multiple elders, many of whom lived for years with debilitating medical problems, I join the ranks of those who have wondered about the price we pay for being “saved” from diseases, only to live for years in a much diminished state. Please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. I loved my elders, and wouldn’t willingly have given up a moment that I spent with them.
According to Study, Blood Infection Can Affect Elderly Even After They “Recover”
by Carol Bradley Bursack, Editor-in-ChiefNovember 9th, 2010 at 3:11 am
Most of us are aware that hospitalization of the elderly comes with risks. Of course, there are many times when there is little or no choice but to have someone hospitalized, no matter what their age.
A time to mourn
by Devlyn BrooksOctober 14th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
My mother lost her oldest and dearest friend this past week. She was 93 and while she and Mom hadn’t regularly seen each other in years, they remained close, talking nearly every week on the phone. Even sadder is the fact that Mom was scheduled to make a visit to our hometown just a couple of days after she received the news about her friend. She had plans to visit her in the care facility where she was now residing. In recent months her friend had sounded down and repeatedly told Mom that she wished she still lived in town so that they could visit. Mom had planned to surprise her.
Cancer Treatment Has Come a Long Way
by Isabel Fawcett, SPHROctober 8th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
There was a time in my youth that c-c-c-cancer was either nameless, or, dubbed “the Big C,” by some folks in my mother’s generation. Back then, the myths of cancer were larger than life. The Old World view of “the Big C,” was that once diagnosed, any form of cancer amounted to a certain death sentence. The death sentence included prolonged physical, emotional, and psychological suffering for the cancer patient. That was then.
