Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • elder care servicesChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence

Ain’t No Sunshine…
…When She’s Gone.” Or how about, “You are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine?” or “Here Comes the Sun?” or...
Read more
February 21, 2023
0
0
Burn Calories to Reduce Dementia Risk
We most often think about exercise as a way to work off the calories that we may have consumed,...
Read more
August 30, 2022
0
0
Food Fight
When you hear the word cancer a lot can come to mind such as “cancer survivor,” “living with cancer,”...
Read more
August 23, 2022
0
0
Before or After the Fall
I came across an informative piece in the Washington Post about a week ago, and it brought to light...
Read more
July 26, 2022
0
0
Why a Flamingo Stands on One Leg
You’ve all probably heard the old joke about why a flamingo stands on one leg…and we have all seen...
Read more
June 28, 2022
0
0
When Being in Demand Isn’t Healthy
If you’re a musician, you want to be busy, because gigs represent a better living. If you’re an actor...
Read more
May 17, 2022
0
0
HDL Graduates from “Good” to Better
You may have had the conversation with your physician about your cholesterol levels during your annual physical; there are...
Read more
April 26, 2022
0
0
Respect and Inclusion
I was very pleased this past weekend that my son and his wife invited my husband and me along...
Read more
April 5, 2022
0
0
Consult Your Lifestyle Physician
You, or your older loved one, have a consistent pain in your hip, and you finally get a referral...
Read more
March 29, 2022
0
0
The Fear is Mutual: What Caregivers to Alzheimer’s Patients Need to Know
I’ve talked about this often in past posts: older adults have a greater fear of Alzheimer’s than of any...
Read more
January 25, 2022
0
0

In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

A caregiver to an older loved one or other person with special needs takes care of everything, right? A caregiver is the one who gets the call in the middle of the work day and in the middle of a night's sleep. A caregiver is the one who has the answers when everyone else in the family is asking. A caregiver is the person that everyone in the family - most especially the care receiver - knows they can count on. Everyone one except one, that is. It has been my experience that caregivers in the families with whom I work typically do not do a great job of taking care of themselves - the caregiver. So, be it resolved that if you are that caregiver - starting in 2015 you will take better care of the caregiver! But where do you start? Start with taking ten minutes for yourself on January 1. You may already know what you would do with ten "extra minutes" in your day, but if you don't, we have a page on our site called For the Caregiver. Consider it to be the caregiver's second opinion. A lot of what we offer on that series of tabs is about how to better leverage your time, how to get the whole family involved or how to take care of you. One of my favorite parts is in the Tips section: make time each day to do something that delights, relieves or distracts you. Try the ten minute timeout for you the first day of this new year. The second stage of this new year's resolution is to increase the time you give yourself each day...by as little as a minute. And don't think about this adding up to more than six hours by the end of the year. Work through the first couple months, and you will now be up to about an hour for yourself - which is still a modest self-indulgence. And continue to focus on yourself during these hour+ respites from the rigors of caregiving. And be prepared for the inevitable question that may come from your care receiver or someone else in your orbit. It may even evoke some guilt when you are asked why you are taking time away from caring for your care receiver, or why you are leaving them in the care of someone else whose time you are using to get your break. You will find your own way to say it, but work with this: "I can take better care of you if I take better care of me." It is very important to remember that these moments away from caregiving are not selfish; these moments are self-preserving! So, with your resolution resolutely in hand, prepare to put the "Happy" back in your New Year. Happy New Year. Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com.
“Charlotte was incredibly helpful to me yesterday and more so today. I'm delighted to have such a competent, caring partner. Also, Charlotte was instrumental in finding a new primary care physician for Margaret.”
Harriet Brandt, Faith in Action Evanston
When you hear the word cancer a lot can come to mind such as “cancer survivor,” “living with cancer,” and a host of “cancer treatments,” but eating our way to beating cancer may not be top of mind. We see on our media platforms a huge array of cancer therapies that claim ever-greater success in extending the lives of patients who’ve received this dreaded diagnosis. We don’t as often associate fighting cancer with what we’re planning for breakfast or lunch or dinner.
It's no one food that can take on cancer, but a host of foods actually offer a body a great deal of support in helping rid a person of a number of cancers. It starts with a simple formula: no more than one part animal-based food for every two parts plant-based nutrition. Here are some examples of what to include in the plant-based category.
1. Pick your plants based on their color, because the more colorful, the more nutrients in these fruits and vegetables. The best colors are deep green, red and orange fruits and vegetables. A great byproduct of these choices will be weight loss; too many of us are carrying around excess body weight that is unhealthy.
2. Foods rich in the folate in a Vitamin B supplement are very effective in protecting the digestive tract and breasts. Strawberries, melons and oranges as well as multi-grain and fortified breakfast foods are great sources of folate.
3. Folate is not just for breakfast. It is also abundant in beans and sunflower seeds as well as asparagus and leafy vegetables like spinach and romaine lettuce. Pregnant women have always been encouraged to take folic acid supplements, so you will readily find these in the nutrition aisle of your drug store.
4. It’s also important to avoid certain foods, especially those that are highly processed. But the deli counter is the big locus to avoid – cut out hot dogs, bologna, ham and other processed meats. While you’re in the passing lane, take a pass on sugar as well. Sugar is not so much a cause as a chemical that blocks other healthy foods.
5. Water also is in a strong supporting role, in part by diluting a lot of what we consume as well as simply cleansing our bladders. If you want to add green tea leaves to your water, there is evidence that it is helpful in fighting cancer in the colon as well as the liver, prostate and breast.
6. And as you shop for what you’ll take home to eat and live healthier look for food labels like antioxidants and phytochemicals. Antioxidants are abundant in foods like blueberries and phytochemicals are available in strawberries and raspberries and beans.
If you would like to peruse the entire list, visit this page on the WebMD site. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
Dementia is the condition that adult Americans fear the most, and tragically there are conditions that can give a false alarm to trigger that fear. What walks like dementia and quacks like dementia may not necessarily be dementia! There are a number of medical conditions that mimic dementia – quite convincingly – until the condition is examined more closely and treatment is administered. So, in a real sense, dementia is a diagnosis by exclusion…diagnosis by eliminating the “look alikes”. Did you know that…
1. Thyroid disease can mimic dementia– Physicians can readily diagnose when the thyroid gland is producing too much or too little hormone by calibrating the levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone in the blood. But it often takes a specialist, an endocrinologist to make the definitive call. They talk about “subclinical characteristics” such as fuzzy memory along with others like dry skin or fatigue or hair loss. Hypothyroidism is one that can be readily treated by a thyroid supplement and symptoms simply fade away.
2. Diabetes can mimic dementia – As if it is not difficult for a diabetic to manage sugar and carbohydrate intake to avoid “running high or low,” the condition can actually affect memory as well. In older adults who have not yet been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, they may appear irritable and confused or may have difficulty with recall. These mental states are caused by changes in the body’s blood vessels which may not give enough flow to the brain resulting in dementia-like symptoms. If diagnosed early the problems can be reversed and normal cognition restored.
3. Alcohol abuse can mimic dementia – We all have seen someone who has been “over-served,” and that person is not only an impaired driver, but their brains generally are not sharp. Well, the next day that same person recovered motor and cognitive functions, and life is normal again. Repeat offenders, however, will create more lasting effects on the brain and memory shortcomings. The memory issues may not be dementia, but they can only be reversed if a person stops the abusive behavior early enough, and for some the cure is to abstain entirely.
So these are three conditions in which dementia can be the wrong diagnosis, and they are also issues that can be remedied. There are more conditions that can pose as dementia, but they are not. They may not just go away on their own, but unlike dementia, they can, in fact, “go away.” More to come next week. Charlotte Bishop is a Caregiver Coach, an Aging Life Care Advisor, a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
In past postings I have talked about the very difficult conversation caregivers can have with their older parents or loved ones who are no longer safe behind the wheel. The rate of per mile casualties for drivers 75 and over escalates rapidly, approaching and then exceeding that of under 20 year old male drivers. How does one tactfully and sensitively talk with an older adult into giving up the keys of that four-wheel machine that is so entwined with their sense of independence. But should we feel safer after that awkward conversation and our older loved one is back to curbside as a full-time pedestrian? Not necessarily. According to recent national statistics, fully 19 percent of all pedestrian traffic fatalities involved adults 65 years of age or older. Translated, a 65+ year old's chances of being killed in traffic while walking is fifty percent higher than other younger pedestrians. Some of you may see that and jump to the conclusion that well, that is an urban problem...not a suburban or rural one. Not so. The data show that pedestrians in small towns are more likely to be killed or injured than those in more urban or metropolitan areas. And a majority of all pedestrian, auto or cycle fatalities occurred in rural areas. Every two hours a pedestrian in America is killed. There is an initiative in both national houses to introduce new legislation to address the issues in an law known as the Safe Streets Act. It is all about smarter planning of American's streets and sidewalks so that at least the new road or walkway construction will be safer for older adults. And there are new safe street policies being embraced by more than 600 city and county governances across the United States. While there are national and local governmental moves afoot to make streets and sidewalks safer for pedestrians, that alone may not make your older loved one safe enough. If you are a caregiver to an older loved one who is a full- or part-time pedestrian, you should not feel that you need to take your loved one off the sidewalk to protect them. But you can help them to improve their "pedestrian fitness." For starters, have their hearing checked as part of a regular physical exam. If your loved one can hear something coming from a roadway, they will have a much better chance of finding safe ground than if not. By the same token, have their visual acuity checked yearly to make sure the glasses they may wear are sufficient to see the number of seconds left on the crosswalk light. Finally, your loved one does not need to go through training to be an Olympic runner or walker, but they need to have the best gait possible. As adults age, they point decline from a slow walk to a shuffle which is an accidental fall waiting to happen or an inability to get out of the way of oncoming traffic waiting to happen. See if their physician can write a prescription for physical therapy. Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com.