Aging, Medicine, Continuous Care Retirement Communities and "Old Dogs"

For almost 17 years my Mom has been living in a Continuous Care Retirement Community (CCRC).  My Dad was with her for the first three years before he passed away due to complications related to cancer.  Mom coordinated volunteers at the community's shop for thirteen years.  I frequently helped her create the calendars and send them to all the volunteers involved.  We used a Macintosh computer and had lots of fun with it.

Mom lived in her own apartment with her dog for the first thirteen years at the CCRC and has lived in an assisted living unit for the last four years.  Two of her former volunteers live on the same floor she does and I saw the names of two more volunteers living in the medical wing of the CCRC on the floor below Mom's apartment.

Innovations in medicine contribute to the extension of quality of life and I have seen it with my parents.  Last year Mom was accidentally given a dose of medication for another resident.  I was there almost as soon as it happened.  I contacted the pharmacy and was relieved to learn that most of the medicine would not have a negative impact on Mom.  She was "out of it" for about 24-hours, then recovered well as the foreign medicines left her system.

The movie Old Dogs I found to be very funny and fun to watch.  Part of the movie has the two main characters, Robin Williams and John Travolta, accidentally taking the wrong medicine and shows side effects that made me laugh out loud.  I take my own medicine (more vitamins than prescriptions) twice a day and have set-up my Mother's medicine for years.  (Her medicine is now packaged by a local pharmacy for distribution at the CCRC.)

Mom will be 95 in December and her medicine and the CCRC are contributing to her high quality of life at this point in her life.  I am happy to be sharing this quality time with her.

Walking the Talk--Preventive Medicine and Vaccinations

I believe that it is important to "walk my talk" (to put into practice what I advocate).  (See my blog post about "What if everything were perfect, just the way it is?").

My health care plan would only pay for the normal seasonal flu shot for 2009-2010 if my doctor administered the shot.  My doctor's office is not planning to get the vaccine until late in September, 2009.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have released the seasonal flu vaccine and pharmacies are already stocked.  Guidelines from the CDC advise administering the flu shots as soon as the supplies become available.

I went to my local Dominick's (Safeway) pharmacy and the pharmacist administered the flu shot.  Because insurance wouldn't cover the flu shot administered by a pharmacist, I paid $28 for the shot--well worth it to get it while I'm well and before flu season starts.  The vaccine should "stay in my system" for one year--through this year's flu season.

In October or November, if all goes well, the H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine will be available and distributed.  I plan to be in line for that vaccination as soon as I can qualify for it.

I had a Shingles vaccination last year.  I had chicken pox as a child and my cousin--at the age of 60--contracted shingles.  The one-time vaccination is supposed to protect me from shingles for the rest of my life.

My 10-year pneumonia vaccination expires this year and I'll be getting another one of those as well.  When I had an annual physical with my doctor earlier this month, he advised me that I'm nearing the end of protection of my tetanus vaccination.  I'll be OK for another two or three years as long as I don't have a "dirty" wound.  If I have one they'll give a booster shot.

Preventive medicine--which, for me, includes vaccinations--is important.  As with an automobile, it's better to catch or prevent problems rather than trying to fix them.  Part of my preventive medicine routine is to have an annual physical and to have an annual eye exam--both of which I had in August.  I also go to specialists as needed.

In 2008 I almost waited too long to have my appendix out--it hurt in my back rather than in my right side.  I was fooled by the placement and, when the emergency room took a CT-Scan, it showed that my appendix had "flipped over" somehow and was at my back rather than at my side.  I had felt pain a month before I went to the emergency room and then it passed.  It turns out that my appendix was already dead and was about to burst.  (It didn't.)  The surgeon saw me about 7:00AM (I had come to the emergency room at 5:00AM) and said that he was going to "warm up" by removing a gall bladder, then I was second on his "dance" (surgery) card.  He did a laparoscopic appendectomy and I was out of the hospital within 36 hours of going to the emergency room.

I do water aerobics almost daily and the day before I had my appendix removed I had done 400 sit-ups in the water (thank heaven they were in the water).  I usually am in the water between 5:00 and 7:00AM and the next day, rather than going to the wellness center on the hospital grounds, I drove myself to the emergency room.

I'm pretty healthy and plan to stay that way.  How about you?