The Truth About Caregiving

Carol O'dell had a great post today on her blog, Mothering Mother and More. I urge you to read it here, http://caroldodell.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/the-truth-about-caregiving/.

Ezekiel Emanuel on the End of Life

Ezekiel Emanuel, the top healthcare adviser at Obama's Budget Office and brother of his chief of staff has stated repeatedly that he feels that those who have dementia should not receive medical care. I have done a search, but have found that most of the documents are not available to the public, but I did find several references that might give you a place to start if you would like to research this.
Lancet Article
Medscape Today
Project Muse
He has also written a book, A Time to Die: The Place for Physician Assistance.

I have heard repeatedly in recent weeks that the changes in our health care system will allow all to keep the insurance that they currently have, and that the congress and administration want all to be insured, but does it include the elderly? It appears that senior Obama advisors do not think so.

Mr. Emanuel also is an advocate of living wills, as am I, but he wants it written into these documents that one should be denied care if they become incompetent.

Our culture used to abandon babies who were disabled, institutionalized those who were determined to be incompetent, and sterilized those whom others determined should not reproduce. The Kennedy administration worked hard to free those who had been oppressed by this system, and one of my first jobs was in an early group home for individuals with disabilities. I was proud that as a society we had recognized that all people had worth. Never did I expect that I would see an administration in my lifetime that not only would not treat the disabled with respect, but advocate euthanasia. My heart is breaking. How could this have happened? What has happened to our country that an individual with a disability no longer has the right to live?

My parents both had dementia. They would sit, not talking, just holding hands most of the day. They could not tell you where they were, the date, or the name of the president, but they still loved each other, and they brought joy to all those around them. They had worth, joy in living, and deserved medical care.

Extravagant Impatience at Walk With Me

One of my favorite blogs is the Walk with Me blog at Christianity Today. Renae Bottom had a great blog entry on aging. Please take the time to read it.
http://blog.todayschristianwoman.com/walkwithme/2009/05/extravagant_impatience.html

Before I started caring for my parents full time, I would get totally frustrated when I would try to help them, but would get only complaints. Renae's article helped me understand for the first time why they were not happy with my efforts.

I am getting set in my ways. This article was a real wake-up call to be more flexible.

New Christmas Traditions

Christmas has always been an important time of the year in my family. We had many traditions that are now impossible, due to my father's poor health. So now, we have new Christmas traditions that we celebrate at my father's nursing home.

Each year the nursing home has a dinner to which all family members are invited. For the last three years, they have had a guest musician, who plays the clarinet, Andrew Kendle, with Suncoast Jazz Legends. His knowledge of music is amazing to me. He takes requests from the residents, and he always knows the tune. Dad's favorite instrument has always been the clarinet , so as soon as he hears the music he perks up, and starts moving in time to the music.

My father was always the primary photographer in the family. This year I gave him the digital camera to see if he could still use a camera. He has Parkinson's Disease and has trouble moving his hands. Here is a comparison of my photograph of him, and his photograph of me. I think he did the better job in spite of his physical limitations

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