Thank you, President Obama

Like many Americans last night, I tuned in to President Obama's address to both houses of Congress. I had high hopes for that speech and I wasn't disappointed.
As I expected it would be, the speech was filled with hope and promise, encouragement and comfort, but also a call to our better selves. The President not only laid out a plan for him and our leaders but called to each American to do their part. When was the last time you heard your President ask parents to pay attention to their children? It's been a long time coming.
I was also interested, as a nurse and as a consumer, to hear what plans he had for the health care industry. I think his plans are good [streamlining health records by taking them into the digital age, curing cancer, etc].
Addressing education will also help healthcare because some of our problem lies not with a lack of health care students but with a lack of health care teachers.
Targeting the high cost of health care will also be a big boon to the economy because that is something that is going to get worse fast if we are not proactive. The Boomers are going to need lots of care very soon and it's not free. Whether it's private insurance, Medicare, or out of pocket, someone is going to have to pay for it.
All in all, the President nailed it with his Address.
As for the Republicans, what can I say? Same old, same old. They really need to buy a clue.

The Aging Boomers and Health Trends

Health care has been in the news a lot lately. President Obama had made it one of the rallying cries during his campaign and we are poised, it seems, to tackle that issue very soon now that the stimulus bill has passed. Tomorrow, he will address both houses of Congress and I will bet you that health care will be high on the list of the things he talks about.
Why is health care such a hot potato? Because it is a large part of the nation's budget and it's a large part of every household budget. And it promises to get bigger. Not only are we faced with dealing with people who currently have no insurance because of the job market, but the health demographics of this nation are about to change in ways we have never seen before.
Like it or not [and they don't], the Baby Boomers are aging. They are approaching retirement and that phase of life when health costs increase. Couple that with a system that no longer works and we have a problem that definitely needs to be addressed.
President Obama wants to computerize medical records in an effort to drive down costs and make health information more useable, decrease errors, and improve care.
That's a good start but I think we need to do more. Life expectancy is going to go up. The looming nursing shortage has to be tackled - now, before we're in trouble, not after. We need to encourage doctors to specialize in the field of geriatrics [The Gerontological Society of America (2008, April 25). Baby Boomer Health Care Crisis ]. But the need goes beyond that - nursing assistants, social workers, nursing homes, assisted living centers, agencies that offer oversight for meals and care - all of this needs to be revamped as the largest generation ever seen marches slowly into older life. It might seem to be an overwhelming problem but not if we start now.

Bob Madigan

I got an e-mail last night that has sent me spinning.
A friend of mine back in PA has died. Bob Madigan was a very nice man, kind, soft-spoken. He had some cardiac problems and underwent bypass surgery last Friday. He was conversing with his love just fifteen minutes before he died. He just went to sleep and didn't wake up. He wasn't that old, probably only a few years older than I am. They are thinking he had a blood clot that went to his lungs.
I hadn't seen him in a few years but we corresponded off and on via e-mail.
I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that he's gone.
Life is so precious. Hug those you love today.
Rest in peace, dear Bob.

Welcome to The Age of Aquarius!

According to some configurations, The Age of Aquarius dawned this morning at 0725. http://www.greatdreams.com/aquarius.htm
The Moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter and Mars have aligned as predicted in the song by the Fifth Dimension years ago.
When the Moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with Mars.
Then love will rule the planets
and peace will steer the stars

Let's hope the wish for peace and love will be as true.
Happy Valentine's Day!

The GA peanut factory responsible for the salmonella outbreak knowlingly shipped bad product

Apparently problems with this plant are not new.
My question is where was the oversight? Why was this plant allowed to continue operation?
What liability will there be now? What punishment will there be for the deaths they caused?
And how will this be prevented from happening again? Not only at that facility but in all the other facilities who process and prepare our food?
When you can't trust the food you eat, what can be done?

Doctor shortage in Japan caused a death

A man in Japan was injured in an accident and died while waiting for paramedics tried to find a hospital that would accept him. Their reason for refusal? They did not have the doctor staff to take care of him.
Could that happen elsewhere?
Could there conceivably be other reasons for refusal in days to come?
Is this an unusual case or a portend of things to come?
I don't know. I certainly don't have the answers to that but it definitely concerns me.
Our generation is aging. More health concerns and problems are going to crop up. More hospital days are going to be needed.
Who is going to be there to deliver the care?
I think a far more vexing problem, at least for this country, is not so much a doctor shortage as a nursing shortage. And the nursing shortage is not so much a function of a lack of people wanting to become nurses but a lack of people to teach them.
Nursing programs are feeling a crunch for lack of teachers. Lack of teachers translates into low student enrollment. Low student enrollment translates into a nursing shortage.
Do you see the problem here?

Evaluating Nursing Homes

Finding a nursing home for a loved one or [gasp!] for ourselves, should that day ever arrive, is a daunting task.
How do you rate them? How do youknow what to believe, what constitutes a "good" place froma "bad" one or even a so-so one.
Now there is a handy guide to help you. Medicare has a page chock full of information, including a rating system that allows you to look up any nursing home and see how they stacked up based on a 5 star system. You can search by many different methods.
There are also many valuable articles located here to assit you in this matter.
Arriving at the decision to place someone in a nursing home is an emotional experience, full of many conflicting thoughts. While it's probably never going to be an easy decision, it's nice to know there is information out there that will help you to make the decision. While it will still not probably be easier, at least you will be more confident of your decision.

Getting older is not for the faint of heart

I recently had a minor health issue that warranted a trip to the family doctor.
Turned out to be something, while not major, required some medication, some blood work, a trip to a specialist, and some follow up to be done next week.
Seemed like a lot to me just for one simple complaint/symptom.
And the exam I got [kudos to the doc, by the way] was quite thorough. She looked at all aspects of potential diagnoses and probably some that might have been obscure.
Why?
Because I am at "that age".
That age when things may start to break down.
That age when words like vascular problems, and stroke and cardiac disease get thrown around. Not for my situation, thank goodness, but I was painfully aware that had I been a few [OK, many] years younger, some of those thoughts wouldn't have entered her head.
It's not the doctor's fault.
But it was sobering to me to come face to face with the reality that we don't live forever.
Woodstock seems so far away.