Again, I am bringing you guest blogger, Gary Liska from QAS ( Quality Assured Services, Inc.) because his expertise is in Coumadin therapy, INR testing and Vitamin K regulation. When my father was placed on Coumadin, the physician’s instructions were to “decrease his intake of green leafy vegetables and don’t let him fall”. That was [...]
According to Dr. Sharon K. Inouye and her colleagues at Yale University School of Medicine, more than 2 million older Americans will develop develop delirium and functional decline during a hospitalization. This could result in increased mortality and morbidity, longer hospital stays due to complications or a transferred to a long-term care facility. With that in [...]
The following is a guest blog featuring Gary B. Liska from Quality Assured Services, Inc. He will be discussing Coumadin (or warfarin) therapy (which we spoke about in our members’ section recently). Although he is in the private sector, I wanted him to discuss QAS’s offerings because they offer in-home testing for blood levels that would [...]
A friend of mine received the following letter from an 80 year old friend of hers. Because of its message, we thought it was important to share. “Dear Kendra, We are very sad about our granddaughter and her husband. Her name is Jessica. She was our lst grandchild and we spoiled her the most. Since [...]
Blood thinners are used to prevent or slow down the formation of blood clots. They are prescribed to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis, heart attack or stroke in patients at risk for these problems. In addition, people with atrial fibrillation are often prescribed anti-coagulants because blood can potentially pool and start to clot [...]
I need to apologize for my lack of frequent blogging over the past month. Since my father’s passing, I have been struggling about my focus here. I absolutely want to continue to provide caregivers with education and encouragement so that I can empower them to be better caregivers. And I do realize that there are [...]
My father wasn’t living with me when I received the call to come pick him up because he had just totalled his car on the freeway by merging into a semi. Luckily no one was hurt …and he TOLD me that the semi had merged into him. It wasn’t until later did I learn the [...]
My father, who lives with me, has his own bathroom here. Unfortunately, it was a bathroom that contained a combination tub/shower with a glass door. Because my father has difficulty with his balance and also has some neuropathy, we knew we needed a different set-up for him. It was dangerous for him to step over [...]
My father has dementia that has progressed to a point between the 2nd and 3rd stages. As such I have been granted conservator/guardianship over him and his affairs. (Conservator/guardianship means that I have control of all his medical, financial, life decisions). As you know, with dementia, there are periods of seemingly complete lucidity ….and then [...]
I attended a class on dementia this week given by our local Alzheimer’s Association. It was a very informative class and I was priviledged to sit close to a lovely senior lady whose husband suffers from dementia and now lives in an assisted living facility.
