Sherry

Sherry L. Christensen is a retired high school teacher. She designed and built this blog site to inform and inspire others in an effort to build a community of solo retirees. You can reach her at livingliferetired16@gmail.com.

Geriatricians–Would you, or someone you know, benefit from seeing one?

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Geriatricians
(iStock)

Geriatricians Can Help Aging Patients Navigate Multiple Ailments

By Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News

“For months, Teresa Christensen’s 87-year-old mother, Genevieve, complained of pain from a nasty sore on her right foot. She stopped going to church. She couldn’t sleep at night. Eventually, she stopped walking except when absolutely necessary.

Her primary care doctor prescribed three antibiotics, one after another. None worked.

“Doctor, can’t we do some further tests?” Teresa Christensen remembered asking. “I felt that he was looking through my mother instead of looking at her.”

Referred to a wound clinic, Genevieve was diagnosed with a venous ulcer, resulting from poor circulation in her legs. A few weeks ago, she had a successful procedure to correct the problem and returned home to the house where she’s lived for more than 50 years in Cottage Grove, Minn., a suburb of St. Paul.

Would her mother benefit from seeing a geriatrician going forward, wondered Christensen, her mother’s primary caregiver, in an email to me? And, if so, how would she go about finding one?

I reached out to several medical experts, and they agreed that a specialist in geriatrics could help a patient like Genevieve, with a history of breast cancer and heart failure, who’d had open heart surgery at age 84 and whose mobility was now compromised.”

Read more about geriatricians

Find a Geriatrics Healthcare Professional

The founder/author of LivingLifeRetired.com is not related to Teresa Christensen.

2016 bathroom remodel

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Vanity area before (Photo by slc)
Shower area before (Photo by slc)

Reasons for bathroom remodel: tub reglazed by previous owner made it too slick to stand in safely, cracked tile floor grout, granite tile counter, short toilet, old/moldy tub/shower, outdated shower fixtures, short shower head, one unnecessary doorway and hallway, popcorn ceiling, poorly patched walls

Initial Budget:  $7,000        Actual:  $10,500

I started this six-week remodel by removing the popcorn ceiling texture and the shower door enclosure. I used a small garden sprayer to apply water to the ceiling and then scraped the popcorn off.  It was messy but easy. Taking off the shower door was also an easy process.  I saved all the parts and put it up for sale on Craigslist after the Habitat for Humanity Restore turned down the donation.  No takers on Craigslist so I ended up putting it in the landfill. Bummer!

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50 Shades of Gray…Hair

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50 shades of gray
witness2fashion

Gray, graphite, pewter, smoke, silver, slate, ash, dove, charcoal, gunmetal. No matter the name or if 50 shades of gray exist, most of us will experience a change in hair color as we age.  Many women and men dye their hair so the gray doesn’t show. Ads tell us:

“L’Oreal Age Perfect by Excellence is specifically developed to color mature, gray hair….  Discover haircolor that flatters you perfectly.”  Just for Men products, “Target the gray for a natural look.”  The ads say gray doesn’t “flatter” and isn’t “natural.”

But the Bible says in Proverbs 16:31,

Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.

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Hands-Only CPR can save a life

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Hands-Only CPR
American Heart Association

Today, I had the privilege of attending a free group training on Hands-Only CPR in Loveland, CO, a “Heart Safe City.”  I met Tommy Lucero, a young man who, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald, “Went into cardiac arrest during baseball practice in 2014 and was revived by two coaches. He has fully recovered and is a senior this year” at Thompson Valley High School (the same high school my daughter attended).

He would have died without the CPR.  “Shortly after the incident, the Lucero family joined the then-newly formed Loveland Heart Safe initiative to help save lives. Since then, the partnership has raised money, knowledge and awareness.”

What is Hands-Only CPR?  According to the American Heart Association website, “Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by people who see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an ‘out-of-hospital’ setting (such as at home, at work or in a park). It consists of two easy steps:

  1. Call 9-1-1 (or send someone to do that).
  2. Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.”

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Online money management can help you stay on top of things

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online money management
mint.com

Online money management not just for young

Terry Savage, The Savage Truth

January 22, 2017

“If the very word ‘fintech’ makes you flinch, you’re not alone.

A 2016 Federal Reserve study found that only 18 percent of people over the age of 60 use mobile banking services (vs. 67 percent between the ages of 18 to 29, and 58 percent ages 30 to 44). In fact, only about half of Americans over 65 own a smartphone or tablet, according to a 2014 Pew Research study.

It’s never too late to start learning to use smartphone technology. The immediate incentive is to learn texting so your children and grandchildren will stay in touch. You don’t have to give up your friendly flip-phone right away. Just ask your adult children for a smartphone with its own number on their family plan, along with a lesson in texting and Skype or FaceTime.

Your smartphone offers you the convenience of controlling your life as you move about your day. If you don’t have adult children nearby to teach you, contact your local senior center because many offer courses. Apple has free seminars in its stores.

Here are three steps to start using smartphone technology to manage important parts of your life. You may want to start learning the basics on your home computer, then you can graduate to using your smartphone to track your money, your meds and your life.

Online bill payment and account information: Stop writing paper checks and start using online bill payment. You can use your home computer and also download your bank’s app to your smartphone. Use official banking apps from your financial institution’s website or through Apple’s App Store. Most financial institutions have a link to a page with their official app where it’s described and can be downloaded, Nerdwallet points out.”

I downloaded my bank’s app two months ago and now I can deposit checks easily from home.  If you can take a picture with your phone, you too can make deposits without going to the bank.  It’s a fast, safe and easy way to deposit your Social Security or pension checks.  Just call your bank and they will help you get started.

Read more about online money management as well as tracking medical matters and budgeting

Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books.  She responds to questions on her blog at TerrySavage.com.

Single, retired and thriving?

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single retirees
Getty Images

How to Thrive as a Single Person in Retirement

You can enjoy an active and fulfilling retirement with the right attitude and thoughtful preparation.

By Dave Hughes | Contributor to U.S. News & World Report Feb. 9, 2017

“If you are single, you probably have some concerns about your retirement that people with partners are less likely to experience. Married retirees may someday encounter these same issues if one spouse passes before the other. With awareness and proper planning, you can be better situated to enjoy a happy and secure retirement. Here are four ways you can thrive as a single person in retirement:

  • Cultivate a support network
  • Build your social network
  • Consider alternative living arrangements
  • Be willing to travel solo

…While being retired as a single person does present some challenges, you can still enjoy an active, happy and fulfilling retirement with the right attitude and thoughtful preparation.”

For more specifics on thriving as single retirees

Dave Hughes is the founder of Retire Fabulously.

Build humor into your day

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humor
kaiser health news

Laughing Until You Die

Humor May Be Antidote For Pain Of Death For Patients, Survivors

By Bruce Horovitz, For Kaiser Health News,

“Just weeks before Christmas some years ago, Shirley Rapp and her family faced the devastating news that she had what appeared to be a terminal illness.

But that didn’t stop Rapp from wanting to do one last round of Christmas shopping for her kids. Her daughter, Karyn Buxman, a self-described neurohumorist and RN, went along. When the mother-daughter duo stepped into a St. Louis-area stationery store, Rapp picked up a day planner that she admired, turned to her daughter and quipped: ‘If I make it past Jan. 1, will you buy this one for me?’

That’s when Mom and daughter burst into laughter that attracted every eye in the store.

For some folks, the process of dying comes with less stress when it’s something of a laughing matter. Not a yuk-yuk laughing matter. But, at its simplest, a willingness to occasionally make light of the peculiarities — if not absurdities — that often go hand-in-hand with end-of-life situations.

An aging generation of boomers, the oldest of whom are now 70, grew up to the background sounds of TV laugh tracks and are accustomed to laughing at things that might not always seem so funny. There’s even a non-profit organization funded by donors, conference revenue and membership dues, whose mission is simply reminding people that laughter is a core ingredient of all facets of life — even end of life (emphasis added).

‘Laughter is the best medicine,’ says Mary Kay Morrison, president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, ‘unless you have diarrhea.'”

On its website, the National Cancer Institute urges patients to build humor into their day-to-day lives, in ways as small as buying a funny desk calendar and watching comic films and TV shows.

Read more about building humor into your day