Prostate Cancer Awareness

Categories: Active Senior Living, Cancer, Medical, Prevention

Gentlemen, listen up!  We want to remind you that last week was Prostate Cancer Awareness Week.

The chance of developing prostate cancer increases as men get older. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there are 217,730 estimated new cases and 32,050 deaths from prostate cancer in the United States so far in 2010. The NCI recommends avoiding cancer risk factors such as smoking, being overweight, and lack of exercise.

Not every patient experiences symptoms of prostate cancer. Many times, signs of prostate cancer are first detected by a doctor during a routine check-up.

Take charge of your health! Help spread cancer awareness by eating healthy, exercising and seeing your doctor regularly. Make sure to encourage your friends and loved ones to do the same. Improve yourself not only as because September is Self Improvement Month, but every day of every month. You keeping you healthy and happy makes for a much richer life.

Ask yourself, “Am I doing everything I can to stay healthy?” Spread what you are doing to keep yourself healthy and help others!

Asbestosis Hits Close to Home for Advocate on Aging

Categories: Asbestosis, Cancer, Medical, Mesothelioma

In March of this year, Merlin Olsen, a star football and sportscaster, died of mesothelioma.  Reading his story reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad about asbestosis and some sort of legal action against the Milwaukee Railroad where he worked for over 30 years.  After learning more about mesothelioma from visiting the Mesothelioma Foundation’s website, I decided I needed to know more about my dad’s condition.

What is asbestosis and mesothelioma?  Asbestosis is an inflammation of the lungs resulting from chronic inhalation of asbestos¹ particles. Mesothelioma is a tumor of the mesothelium, which is the tissue made up of a layer of cells called mesothelial cells that line the chest cavity, abdominal cavity, and the sac around the heart². The malignant form is often the result of exposure to asbestos and may take more than 30 years to develop.

In 2000, my dad was contacted by the Moody Law Firm, the designated Asbestos Counsel for NARVRE (National Association of Retired & Veteran Railway Employees, Inc.), concerning a class action lawsuit filed against the manufacturers of asbestos on behalf of retired railroad workers.  At first my dad was skeptical because he didn’t want to get involved in medical testing and court hearings for something he didn’t believe had affected him.  He knew he had been exposed to asbestos, and he had a chronic cough and minor bouts of bronchitis. He preferred to think of it as a genetic predisposition, since his own father had emphysema at the time of his death. Grandpa, too, had worked around steam engines that fired on steam boilers containing asbestos.  One major difference in their exposure was my grandfather often performed his job inside the roundhouse, making him a captive audience for the asbestos particles.

Following a phone call from the attorney’s office encouraging him to at least have a chest x-ray, Dad agreed.  He first received a chest x-ray at a nearby clinic followed by a physical examination by a pulmonologist, an expert in the field of asbestosis.  My father was very surprised to learn the tests confirmed the presence of asbestosis in his lungs.

My father was interviewed by the attorneys to determine the places he may have worked around asbestos.  He named several different locations:

• He worked near the steam lines on passenger train cars, which were insulated with asbestos.
• He laid steam pipes wrapped in asbestos.
• A major function of his job was to change brake shoes, which contained asbestos
• Train derailments exposed and broke up asbestos, contaminating the surrounding air.
• The wreckers he used at derailments to upright train cars were powered by steam, and he often stood next to those asbestos lined pipes.

As was previously mentioned, my grandfather had emphysema at the time of his death.  He struggled with wheezing, shortness of breath, and unbelievable coughing spasms during the last years of his life, which were symptoms of asbestosis.  Knowing what we know now about asbestosis and mesothelioma, my grandfather surely had at least one of these conditions.

Through the years while this class action lawsuit was developing, asbestos manufacturers went bankrupt and the Milwaukee Railroad (my father and grandfather’s employer) was sold to the Soo Line Railroad Company. Later the Soo Line was sold to the Canadian National Railway.  The awards continue to dribble in at a snail’s pace as the remaining assets of manufacturer by manufacturer are doled out at pennies on the dollar.

My father continues to fare well without sign of catastrophic health issues, and we are grateful.  However, thousands of others exposed to asbestos have suffered irreparable harm.

We are often upset by the time and cost of proving products safe for the environment and humans.  We even wonder if such efforts are necessary.  Just ask one person affected by mesothelioma if they wish they had known the inherent perils of asbestos.  My guess would be that there is a resounding roar of affirmation.

Understanding Medicare Part A

Categories: Health Insurance, Medicare, Medicare Part A

Medicare does not cover everything, nor does it cover the total cost for many of the supposedly “covered” services and medical supplies. Coverage amounts are based on which Medicare plan you have.

Most Americans do not have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A.  All those Medicare taxes that you or your spouse paid during your working years will cover this. Claims for the Medicare Part A plan are covered by private insurance companies that act as agents for the federal government in processing and paying Medicare claims.

Think of Medicare Part A as a type of hospital insurance provided by Medicare. This coverage includes inpatient care in hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and critical access hospitals.

However, Part A does not include long-term or custodial care.

Medicare Part A helps cover only medically necessary services, including hospital stays. That includes a semi-private room, meals, general nursing, and miscellaneous hospital services and supplies. Inpatient care in critical access hospitals and mental health care (up to 190 days lifetime maximum) are also covered and hospital stays must be at least 3 days (72 hours). The time for the hospital stay begins the first midnight after admission and does not include any hours on the discharge date.

Nursing home or skilled nursing facility stays must be related to a diagnosis during the hospital stay. The coverage is limited to a maximum of 100 days in a benefit period. The first 20 days are paid in full, and the remaining 80 days require a co-payment. Medicare Part A will not cover long-term care, non-skilled, daily living, or custodial activities.

If you meet specific requirements, you may also be eligible for hospice or home health care. Home health services include skilled nursing care, physical or occupational therapy, home health aide service, speech language pathology, and medical social services. It can also includes certain home-use medical equipment, like wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers, and oxygen.

Hospice care is for the terminally ill who have six months or less to live. Medicare does not cover all Hospice care services, but does cover some, including pain relief and symptom control drugs, medical and support services, and grief counseling. Care is provided by a nearby, Medicare-approved Hospice caregiver who makes home visits.

This blog is meant to give some insight into Part A of the Medicare plan and does not mean that everything stated will be covered in all circumstances.  For consulting on your situation and to gain a better understand of Medicare and what action to take, I welcome to opportunity to assist you, deborah@seniorlifemn.com!

Advocacy is keeping the puzzle intact…

Categories: Aging Advocacy, Caring For Elderly, Hospitalization

I think of my role as advocate as the person who takes all the pieces of my client’s healthcare jigsaw puzzle and makes sure they fit together to create a cohesive and complete picture.  With so many health issues and sometimes so many physicians and caregivers involved, the pieces become scrambled, and it’s my job to put them back together.

Example:

Recently a client went to the hospital due to a fall.  After determining there were no broken bones or lacerations, the central concerns became her balance (since she’s complaining of being dizzy) and the neuropathy in her feet.  A hospitalist, a wonderful doctor with a compassionate bedside manner, sees my client for 10 minutes each of the next three days she is hospitalized – as an inpatient I might add.  Following the issue at hand, he looks for ways to decrease her falling risk, and something he can do immediately is “adjust” my client’s medication.

So the hospitalist takes away one of her blood pressure medications, adds on another drug to help with the neuropathy (although admits that one of the side effects is dizziness), and for some unknown reason, cuts her depression medication in half.  Three days later when this lovely ady arrives at transitional care, she is crying, upset and refusing therapy.  Thirty minutes with a doctor has just undone years of seeking a delicate balance of high blood pressure and depression.

My job as her advocate is to begin unraveling why her medications were changed, which changes do we keep and which do we undo.  Remember I’m non-medical; but my role requires me to become educated about the medications involved and then be willing to ask the questions of her medical caregivers to return the puzzle to a cohesive and complete picture.