JacquelineMarcell

Love: Expressed With Peanut Butter

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS-Tell us your story! As I travel around the country speaking about caregiving and Alzheimer's, I often hear the most heartwarming stories about late-in-life love. Visiting an Adult Day Care Center last year, I observed a group of seniors (with mild dementia) getting ready for their afternoon walk. A lovely lady with the rosiest cheeks and name to match, Rose (80-ish), gushed as she pointed out her new boyfriend to me, whispering about their budding romance and completely giddy about how wonderful he was. More…

Online Tests and Games to Strengthen Your Brain

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! I want to share these links with you that I discovered--to some fun online brain-teasers (tests and games) that help to strengthen brain function and memory: http://cognitivelabs.com/indexa.htm and http://cognitivelabs.com and http://cognitivelabs.com/tests/test1optD.htm. And here's one from the Alzheimer's Association: http://www.kappapuzzles.com/alz/solveacrossword.html?tr=y&auid=2344788. I have been enjoying them for hours and am very happy to report that my brain is still working--phewww! I worry sometimes that since I had two parents with Alzheimer’s Disease, I need to do everything I can to help prevent it being in my future. The current research says that exercising the gray matter does make a difference and may delay onset, so we should all get into the habit of playing games, doing cross-words and always learning new things. If you discover any other links to tests or games we should know about, please let us know!  More…

Next Wave of Boomers Turning the Big... Six--Ohhh My God! : Four Years Left to Find a Cure for Alzheimer's

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! I can't believe that another year has passed so quickly and last year's first wave of America's 78 million Baby Boomers (born 1946 through 1964) are turning SIXTY-ONE this year! And, the next huge wave is right behind turning 60! It's a big deal because these numbers are unprecedented in our history. See, the year before the BIG BOOM started (1945) only 2.8 million Americans were born. Well, apparently, a bit too much partying after WWII resulted in 3.4 million bouncing babies in 1946. No one thought the trend would continue very long, but with the prosperity of the times it did-and for 19 more years! So just think-now--every seven seconds for nearly two more decades, a Boomer will hit the major milestone of turning 60 yelling "nooooo!" -- kicking and screaming all the way into "older middle-age". Yep, the flower-power generation that vowed to stay young forever naturally is having face-lifts, Lypo, Botox, and tummy-tucks in record numbers. They are also having retirement anxiety as they struggle to keep up with and care for the children they decided to have late in life so they wouldn't disrupt their careers. And, on top of all that, now their elderly parents are getting sick and needing care, but because of modern medicine are living loooonger than ever. More…

Insurance for Long Term Care: Are You Willing to Gamble You Won't Need It?

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! When I suddenly had to become a fulltime caregiver to my elderly parents, both with health problems and starting to develop dementia (namely Alzheimer's), I had never even heard of Long-Term Care Insurance. After we burned through their life savings and started chipping away at mine, I was advised to apply for financial assistance for them through the government's Medicaid system ("Medi-Cal" in California)--a program for those at the poverty level. It was a long process with mounds of paperwork and numerous investigations, but finally my parents were approved. I was so happy that monetary help would finally be on the way, well, until I discovered that the financial assistance would only pay to place my parents in a nursing home, not even in assisted living, and with very little help to keep them in their own home. More…

Did You Share Holidays With a Grumpy Loved One?

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! When I was a little girl, my mother and I loved Christmas--with the baking, decorating, shopping for presents and attending parties. It was always so much fun... well, until my controlling father got mad at a relative or two and silly family feuds went on just below the surface--which we weren't ever allowed to speak about. We'd walk on eggshells each year hoping the holidays would go smoothly--but it was always strained with ominous foreboding that my father would snap into a rage at someone over something, which usually happened after he'd been real nice for a while and we'd let our guard down. More…

Tips for Hiring a Caregiver for an Elder

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! Keep in mind that any kind of change is frightening for elders and the fear of the unknown can be intensified. Have the doctor write a "prescription" to get a caregiver and ask the doctor to sternly advise the elder that they must have help in their home or legal action may have to be taken. You can have a caregiver agency send an administrator to help convince your elder how much easier things would be if someone came in to help them. Assure your loved one that you will monitor this person to make sure they do things properly. If that doesn't work, and your elder is in danger of hurting himself or someone else, and cannot be left alone, contact Adult Protective Services who will send a social worker to talk to your elder. Their report automatically goes to the police department, so an officer will visit them soon. A uniformed police officer may be just enough to help convince your elder of the seriousness of the situation. More…

Holidays: Perfect Time to Observe Elders for Dementia and Declining Health

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! Since one out of every ten persons by the age of 65 gets some form of dementia (Alzheimer's being just one type), and nearly one out of every two by the age of 85 is afflicted, the holidays offer a great opportunity to observe loved ones for the earliest signs, which are statistically ignored for about four years. The big point is: if dementia is diagnosed early, treatments can slow the progression and delay full-time care. Simply print out the Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer's from my website and study them: http://www.elderrage.com/alzheimers.asp. Then fold them up and take them with you when you visit loved ones over the holidays. Also take a little spiral notebook and discreetly keep track of ANY behaviors that seem even slightly illogical or irrational. Record little odd behaviors that previously you'd just chalk up to your loved one getting older and aging. And every time you hear a nervous gallows laugh when someone has a "senior moment", go in the bathroom and jot it down-even on yourself! More…

Free Wheelchair Mission

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving More…

Gifts for Loved Ones With Alzheimer's / Dementia

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! I have mentioned one of my favorite sites before, the Alzheimer's Store www.alzstore.com, and all the many wonderful products they have to help make caregiving easier. They also have some great gifts for loved ones with dementia for the holidays. More…

Elderly Driver Killed 10, Injured 68 -- What If He Had Alzheimer's?

Author Elder Rage www.ElderRage.com Host Coping With Caregiving Radio Show www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving WELCOME BACK ALL MY CAREGIVERS—Tell us your story! I wrote about this heart-breaking tragedy back in October of 2005 http://blog.thirdage.com/?p=242 and today George Weller was sentenced to probation, but required to pay the families a lot of money as restitution. I have been listening to numerous radio interviews and watching the message boards today--and I am so surprised that no one is mentioning the high probability that Mr. Weller is a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. Since nearly half of all people age 85+ suffer from Alzheimer's, and Mr. Weller was so illogical and irrational (a warning sign of AD) at the scene of the accident, "They should have gotten out of my way!" -- I wish the victims' families could understand Alzheimer's so they wouldn't be so tortured that Mr. Weller has not shown any remorse nor was there today to say he was sorry. More…