What happens when you find out your diagnosis from a patient portal, instead of your doctor? For more than a year, my mom suffered from a persistent, baffling cough. Two negative bronchoscopy procedures and several imaging scans later, her doctors still couldn’t figure out why she was coughing. Her pulmonologist scheduled an exploratory biopsy. A […]
How to gently redirect the conversation when someone has dementia “Where do you live?” “Did you eat lunch?” “How are the kids?” If your loved one has dementia, you likely hear these sorts of questions, repeated over and over in an endless loop. People with dementia commonly repeat behaviors, known as perseveration — the medical […]Read More
End-of-life midwives ease the final passage with compassion On Saturdays, Don Meints found special pleasure in baking bread, especially with his four daughters. He loved working out any stress from his job as a teacher by kneading his frustrations into dough and turning it into cinnamon rolls, kolaches, and scones. “It was a variety of […]Read More
People’s beliefs about aging have a profound impact on their health, influencing everything from their memory and sensory perceptions to how well they walk, how fully they recover from disabling illness, and how long they live. When aging is seen as a negative experience (characterized by terms such as decrepit, incompetent, dependent, and senile), individuals […]Read More
When is it time to stop driving? During one of our family’s weekly visits with my mother-in-law, I was following her as she drove herself to the doctor in her purple Jeep. Suddenly, I watched her turn left on a one-way street into oncoming traffic. Thankfully, she quickly corrected course without an accident. On other […]Read More
Crafting a Memoir Helps Older Adults Connect By Melissa Ramsdell Chicagoan Beth Finke knows the power of a memoir. She teaches several classes in the Chicago area about how to write your own life story. Yet, a recent student served as a powerful reminder of the impact of writing down your memories. A woman […]Read More
The tough conversation about stepping up care It’s one of the most difficult conversations to have: letting a loved one know they may no longer be able to care for themselves. Chicagoan Abby Clancy knows this all too well. “We had been having the conversation about moving with my mother on and off for years,” […]Read More
Easing seniors’ transition to a smaller space Dorothy Beatty was an anomaly when it came to downsizing, says her son, Stanley Beatty. Dorothy, from Kansas City, Missouri, took her time making the decision to downsize from the home she lived in with her husband and children to an apartment in a senior community. But once […]Read More
By Heidi Lading Kiec Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” This quote, found in many leadership books, is applicable to a host of situations, but it’s especially relevant to individuals and their loved ones facing end-of-life […]Read More
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