Life Goes On, The Caregiver

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month:  Don’t Go Blind from Glaucoma Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the world today. More than 80,000 people go blind from glaucoma every year in the U.S., and it is the leading cause of preventable blindness in African-Americans and people from the Caribbean. Cataracts are the most identifiable cause of glaucoma.  New York City glaucoma specialist Dr. Daniel Laroche wants to remind all of us that protecting our eye health is imperative for our overall quality of life, particularly for those in high-risk groups and those with chronic ocular conditions. Dr. Laroche is also a passionate advocate for eliminating barriers to health care that exist for Black and Brown people.  It’s the new year and one of your resolutions should be to get your eyes checked, advises Dr. Daniel Laroche, Director of Glaucoma Services and President of Advanced Eyecare of New York. Despite the busyness of the new year, he says it’s still important to ...

Legal Documents Caregivers Must Have " A Durable POA (Power of Attorney) provides the legal permissions necessary for someone else to pay household bills, living expenses, taxes, investments, purchases, and other financial tasks " when they are unable to do it for themselves. ( FinancialHealth.net ) The article seems to be written for pre-planning for the individual who MAY need the assistance or for when the assistance is actually required and before a person may not have the mental capacity for making the choice (hence why it is DURABLE). A regular Power-of-Attorney will CANCEL if and when the principal becomes mentally incapacitated and cannot make their own decisions. Since MANY married couples already share property and bank accounts, there may be no need to designate a Durable Financial Power of Attorney on the chance of mental incapacitation unless there is property/accounts held in one name only; some states also restrict the complete sale of jointly ow...

Can Medicaid Really Seize Your Assets? (FinancialHealth.net) – Advances in medicine means people are living longer, but it’s also leading to the need for long term care. Even the best insurance only covers limited hospitalization and recovery periods. A major health event requiring long term care can trigger a series of events that can wipe a person out financially. To protect assets from seizure in the event that long term care is needed, estate planning must be done at least 5 years in advance. Why 5 years?  Medicare  and other related supplemental policies have limited coverage for short-term skilled nursing needs, but those programs don’t pay for long term care. The majority of long term care falls onto the shoulders of state Medicaid programs, for those who qualify for Medicaid and Medicare.  Medicaid  has a five-year lookback period when it comes to assets. READ MORE ...   FinancialHealth.net Back to HOME

Scientists once believed that the brain stopped developing after the first few years of life. They thought that connections formed between the brain’s nerve cells during an early “critical period” and then were permanent as we age. Scientists also thought that if a particular area of the adult brain was damaged, the nerve cells could not form new connections, and the functions controlled by that area of the brain would be lost... Read more on NeuroRehabDirectory.com Back to HOME

Think You're Too Young for a Stroke? Think Again ( An Informative Article from Every Day Health ) Find out about the causes of stroke in people younger than 45, and how to prevent it. For most young people, the chance of having a  stroke  seems like an impossibility — but there is no such thing as being too young for stroke. Your stroke risk increases with age, but stroke in young people, including infants, children, adolescents, and young adults, does happen. In general, however, most experts consider a young stroke age to be under 45. (... READ MORE ) Back to Home

Stroke Survivor's Guide to Getting Things Done I was recently made aware of a wonderful series of videos made by an actual Stroke Survivor (& filmed by his wife). Paul had a stroke in May 2017 and has worked very hard at "recovery", but he has been left with deficits which he continues to work hard at overcoming.  Paul's videos show in wonderful detail just how he is managing to do the "normal" things that many of us take for granted and he does so in a way that is both encouraging and instructive for other Stroke Survivors and their support systems. No Stroke Survivor is the same, but watching a real life Survivor mastering everyday life is inspirational for all of us going through this journey. I highly recommend subscribing to Paul's channel,  The Stroke Survivor's Guide to Getting Things Done . https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCo6Ji-wjeNiF6nKYsuw7EQ ( he continues to add new videos so check back regularly ) ...

Atrial fibrillation  ( AF  or  A-fib ) is an  abnormal heart rhythm  characterized by  rapid and irregular beating  of the  atria .  Often it starts as brief periods of abnormal  beating  which become longer and possibly constant over time.  Often episodes have no symptoms.  Occasionally there may be heart  palpitations ,  fainting ,  lightheadedness ,  shortness of breath , or  chest pain .  The disease is associated with an increased risk of  heart failure ,  dementia , and  stroke .  It is a type of  supraventricular tachycardia .   ( from Wikipedia ) See AFibAre you at risk?   AFib is linked with a 5x higher risk of stroke. Take a quiz from the American Heart Association Visit heart.org/AFibTools to learn more  about AFib symptoms and stroke risk.  Back to Home

" Medicaid Waivers help provide services to people who would otherwise be in a nursing home or hospital to receive long-term care in the community. Although there are waivers for many conditions, our focus is towards waivers for people who have intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, and autism. " ( http://medicaidwaiver.org/index.html ) SEE ELDERLY / SENIOR CARE WAIVERS " Many people who qualify for waiver services are not even aware that they exist. Families struggle alone, to provide care- creating economic, physical, and emotional strain. States do not educate people about these programs, and it is often only through crisis that people realize help is available. "  ( http://medicaidwaiver.org/index.html ) Find YOUR State for Available Resources Back to Home

3 clues to understanding your brain Vilayanur Ramachandran tells us what brain damage can reveal  about the connection between celebral tissue and the mind, using three startling delusions as examples. for more info ⇋ A look inside the brain in real time Neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity -- thoughts, emotions, pain -- while it is happening. In other words, you can actually see how you feel. for more info ⇋ My stroke of insight Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story. for more info Back to Home

Think F.A.S.T. FACE : Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? ARMS : Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? SPEECH : Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange? TIME : If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately. Think F.A.S.T. FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? ARMS: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange? TIME: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately. Think F.A.S.T. FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? ARMS: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange? TIME: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately. ...