Other Side of 50

It always surprises me when new information about the aging process comes my way and a previously puzzling situation suddenly makes sense. I call it the “aha” moment. This week’s “aha” moment, which involved my father-in-law, occurred as I read an article titled “Hearing Loss, Undiagnosed and Undertreated,” in a journal called Today’s Geriatric Medicine. [...]

While caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease, my friend Andrea used to host “happy hour” every Wednesday night for friends and neighbors at her Westlake Village home. Andrea’s mom, Fran, attended happy hour too. Fran shared her artwork with visitors and thrived on the interaction with others. Andrea began happy hour to give her [...]

My mother-in-law passed away a few weeks ago. I’ve written about Mary in the past. You may remember that strong, stubborn Irish woman who depleted her savings caring for her Alzheimer’s-stricken husband, or the woman whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and made a fresh start with some new friends and a few prized [...]

At a recent senior services visioning meeting for the City of Thousand Oaks, our table group came up with our future vision: “A community that provides easy-to-navigate and ongoing support of quality of life throughout the aging process.” I think about this vision a lot as it pertains to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors. [...]

My dad recently went through a difficult transition: from the ER to the hospital to rehab and then home, all as a result of passing out due to orthostatic hypotension (falling blood pressure when standing or stretching). These movements from place to place and practitioner to practitioner are called “care transitions” and occur as a [...]

A few Saturday mornings ago I was jolted awake by a phone call at 6:15. “Is this Andrea Gallagher?” “Yes, who’s this?” “This is Lifeline, Mrs. Gallagher. Your mother pushed her Lifeline button a little while ago and asked us to call an ambulance. Your father passed out. He and your mom are on their [...]

As a child, I used to think teeth were the most important part of the human body. Can you blame me? So much attention was paid to them. In first grade, I can remember the teacher demonstrating proper brushing methods using a huge set of molars and an oversized toothbrush. One year we were asked [...]

Are adult children legally responsible to pay for their parents’ care? You may be surprised to learn that in 30 states, including California, there’s a law on the books that declares adult children have a duty to pay for care for their impoverished parents. Filial responsibility statutes, as they are called, require an adult child [...]

For Mary, it was when she began taking her dad to doctor visits. For Janice, it was when she began helping her mom in the bathroom. For John, it was when his parent’s overdrawn bank account forced him to start handling their financial affairs. For my sister, it was when my mom needed help showering [...]

This November, for the first time in 25 years, my husband and I traveled back east for Thanksgiving. It’s not that we don’t visit family a few times a year, but it always seemed that traveling from Los Angeles to Boston on one of the most heavily traveled weekends of the year was a recipe [...]