Elder Care Cafe

After Dad’s headfirst fall down a half flight of stairs, he spent three nights in a hospital ICU before transfer to a rehabilitation center for a proposed two to three week stay. The nursing home in question was highly recommended by hospital staff and seconded by close friends of Dad’s who live in the area. [...]

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Sometimes I think life throws situations at us just because we are too complacent. A few months ago, on June 3rd, I posted a list of emergency room tips that highlighted the information all of us caregivers should have available in case something unexpected happens to our loved one. Yesterday, my daughter and my father [...]

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When my mother first showed signs of dementia, one of the early casualties of the disease was her inability to read the books she so loved. A number of times I sat on the sofa with her as we looked at magazines such as Ideal with its beautiful color photographs and large print. I am [...]

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Congratulations to Judge Sonia Sotomayor on her confirmation today as the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court Judge. After a rough few weeks of listening to the posturing of the older white male conservatives on how biased a female Latina would be – does anyone get the irony here? – Sotomayor has reached a milestone in [...]

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Because I am still recovering from Monday’s birthday party, I thought I would stay away from serious subjects for today. There will be time for seriousness tomorrow. Today I am still slightly hunger-over from the sugar rush. The birthday cake was delicious. However, as I was relaxing and thinking about the fact that this is [...]

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Over the years, I have personally known several women diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Although the two are not the same disease, they often have similar symptoms. As defined by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, CFS is a disorder of unknown cause characterized by persistent profound fatigue usually accompanied by other symptoms unrelated to [...]

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Elder Care Cafe celebrates its first birthday this week. The first post, a welcome to visitors to this site, was posted on August 3, 2008. Elder Care Cafe originally began on Blogger in June 2008, with frequent posts about life with father. Father in this case is my dad who is now eighty-six years old. I [...]

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The phrase in case of emergency always throws a little angst into my life whenever I fill out forms for my father or myself, hoping that it is a long time before the contact number is used. Yesterday, I was reminded of the importance of having an emergency contact number in a most surprising way. [...]

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