Every once in a while even a caregiver needs help…..choose wisely!
Tag Archives: funny
It Ain’t Gettin’ Any Easier!
Pretty much every day, I am alarmed by little stories I find by scanning information about Elder issues.
My new friend Joanne Giardini-Russell, a true Medicare Guru, wrote an article this week about one of her clients who continued to go to work up to age 71. That, in itself, wasn’t a big surprise to me. If 60 is the new 40, working to age 70 or older, is bound to happen more and more. Many of us actually like working. Sure, many must keep working, and that is another article, for sure. But many people do work well into their 70’s and even 80’s. And those same hard-working people are often horrified about seemingly innocuous decisions they made (or didn’t make, by omission) and how they have placed themselves or their spouse into true fear of imminent destitution. Because of runaway health care costs.
You see, this guy’s venial sin was working too long and not retiring…..his mortal sin was not getting good information about how this affected his health insurance….more specifically Medicare. Suffice it to say that Joanne is trying to help this couple who have blown through more than $30,000…YES, THAT IS THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS…. of their own money, even though he had group insurance at work.
I don’t know this unfortunate couple’s story. But my guess is, they were not educated at work, they did not know how to use Medicare to their advantage at age 65, they did not take advantage of all the options at work for short-term disability and long-term disability, even if it required a contribution, and so on.
Those of us in this field are trying hard to get everyone to see the advantage of advanced planning instead of crisis planning. We are trying to work with your Financial Advisors, your HR people at work, and quite frankly, anyone else who will listen, including you.
Find us. Ask us to come to your work and speak. Ask us questions on the internet machine!
Buy our books, yeah I said it. But let me ask you a question, if anyone could have saved thirty dollars, three thousand dollars, or thirty thousand dollars, by buying a book for fifteen dollars, would that be worth it? Yes, my friends, I think it would. #WhoMovedMyTeeth?
There is tons of good information out there. But you must find the experts, read things, ask questions and take action. Now is the time if you are a Baby Boomer, now is the time if your parents are in their 50’s and 60’s.
Oh, and to you Millennials and Gen-Xers….it’s never too late!
“You Just Have to…… Get Your Sh%$#@# Together…..and then you can Laugh all the way to the bank!”
Joanne doesn’t even know I’m telling you about her….so she will see this when you do. If If you have any inkling that you want to discuss what you should do about signing up for Medicare:
Check out my friend Joanne at :
Boomer Health Group
Joanne Giardini-Russell, Medicare Guru
http://www.boomerhealthgroup.com/
Hot Fun In the Summertime…..
Yay! It’s summer…..
If you are a Baby Boomer, or a baby, or anyone…..it’s summer and you want to take a vacation! But guess what?!? People get sick on vacation, too!
I attended a Medicare seminar with my Mom the other day…and that is so another story…but one little-unnoticed tidbit stood out for me….Medicare won’t pay for your vacation illness, sort of.
Did you ever notice that everything we need to care about in aging is ‘sort of?’ I sort of have a knee problem; Insurance sort of covers that; Eggs are sort of good for you; You sort of shouldn’t drink with that medication. I digress, sort of.
We finally reach the age where we want to travel, travel, travel and there’s a big ol’ mousetrap in the middle of it. You will be entering a Rube Goldberg universe of obstacles if you don’t prepare.
If you go on vacation with Medicare all by itself and don’t take any of its friends…nope, no good, won’t pay if you trip on the gangplank of the water taxi in Venice, or puke your way through the Galapagos Islands. Certain Medigap policies will cover you for 80% of the cost in your first two months of travel. Medicare Advantage might cover some aspects of an emergency, sort of.
So it’s all kinda’ sorta’. You want to have a vacation and not just in the summer. You want to travel for fun and fun and more fun, while you’re healthy and can pay for it. C’mon universe…I earned this!
So what can you do?
- Call your insurance provider and ask…Do you cover travel? Domestically and abroad? Believe it or not, some Medicare Advantage will not cover you from state-to-state, so if you’re a snowbird….yikes! Check it out.
- Do you pay for airlifting? Getting me home from the Machu Picchu where I fell climbing the Stairs of Death on Wayna Picchu cause I forgot I wasn’t a Millennial? Do you?
- How do I file a claim for unexpected medical expenses when I get home?
- What if my preexisting condition requires some unexpected medical care while I’m traveling, do you cover that? Presumably, if you have a preexisting condition, your health insurance carrier already knows that.
But what can you do that’s best?
Dig down deep in your heart and your pocketbook and buy travel insurance. Make sure it covers all these possibilities. Because the truth of the matter is, it’s a few extra hundred dollars. If you’re paying thousands to take a glorious trip, don’t be cheap or chintzy now. Rest assured, you will probably not use it. And then thank your lucky stars, if you need it.
Bon Voyage! Love ya’, mean it!
“You Just have to Laugh…..”
©2018 Cathy Sikorski
For a good time, read…”Rats, Mice and Other Things You Can’t Take to the Bank.”
Doesn’t this look fun?! It is, but it is so much more. Join Leslie Handler in her journey of essays from a smitten young college student (I would love to hear so much more about her love story with Marty) to her journey through cancer, her willingness to walk a mile in your shoes, her true discovery to the key to incredible weight loss, and her wish to enter the elusive heaven of menopause (yep…she wants it, she wants it bad)!
Leslie keeps you smiling, laughing, crying, astounded and astonished with her stories of seemingly every-day-life. But is it? Is this your life or mine? Well if it is, everyone should write a book because the jaunt of Leslie’s life is remarkable.
I started to write about which chapters are my favorite, and when I went back through the book, that I literally just finished reading, I started reading each chapter all over again. I can’t pick a favorite. But what I can tell you is that Leslie’s honesty will roundhouse you like a 2×4, sometimes in a fun way and sometimes in a Jewish Bubbie’s , “What? You think only you have all the fakakta problems?”
A perfect book to give as a gift, take on a plane ride, a beach, or put in the bathroom. Leslie would be okay with that, I’m sure. It’s honest and heartfelt, just like her and her book.
Full disclosure, Leslie and I share an extraordinary Publisher, Donna Cavanagh and HumorOutcasts Press. We thank our lucky stars…we both say so in our books!
Just go click on this and order:
High School Never Ends…………..
I thought perhaps I should give you a tip for caregivers once a month. But then I did a Story Slam where I totally relived a humiliating experience. That seemed like so much more fun….for you!
Hope you enjoyed!
“You Just have to Laugh…………”
©2018 Cathy Sikorski
Come Join Me In My Kind of Town…..
My husband said this WAS bold….because of the ‘after gym’ glow. I think he meant, don’t quit your day makeup.
Let’s Twist Again, and other Cool Things…..
I’m at a girls’ week where the average age is 67.8, okay, a mature women’s week. We are on a beach watching young families, teens and just a sprinkling of our demographic. We are the ones who are talking about these things….. You’ve heard that we can’t hear. You’ve seen where we are squinting at everything. You’ve watched as we fall down, misplace our glasses on our own heads, and look for the mayonnaise, the iPad, and the super-secret book with all our passwords while each one was right in front of us every time.
But I decided we need a twist on aging.
Did you know we have secret skills?
1. We are fluent in a rare foreign language. E-Way an-cay eak-spay ig-pay atin-Lay!
2. We can sing old commercials that were full-length songs:
Does your shoe have a boy inside?
What a funny place for a boy to hide?
Does your shoe have a dog there, too?
A boy and a dog and a foot in a shoe!
Well, the boy is Buster Brown
And the dog is Tige is his friend.
They’re really just a picture
But it’s fun to play pretend!
So…look, look, look
In your telephone book for the store that sells the shoe
With the picture of the boy and the dog inside
That you can put your foot into!
Woof Woof
Buster Brown Shoes!
(I did not look that up…and yes, I can sing it.)
3. We have colorful histories about World War II, Korea, the Vietnam War, Woodstock, hippies, The Democratic National Convention…in 1968, life before computers, color TV, telephone lines, ‘party lines’, that you shared with your neighbors (or listened to with your best hold-your-breath-eavesdropping.)
4. Modern kids did not start the drug culture…just sayin’.
5. Today, on National Coffee Day, we too celebrate the joys of coffee that we drank at home for much cheaper.
6. Our music was considered revolutionary, rebellious and obscene….too.
7. We loved long hair on boys, although we, too seem to have forgotten that…… as we used to use Jesus as our answer to all those ‘squares’ who didn’t think long hair was cool.
So ask a person who you think is old this question:
“Can you tell me something cool about when you were young?”
The answer may intrigue and surprise you.
Woof Woof!
You Just have to Laugh….
©2017 Cathy Sikorski
Mistakes are Fun!
Today you get to see one of my mistakes……..I made a video for the National Caregiving Conference, but as I’ve done since first grade in St. Aloysious Catholic School, I did not follow directions. So, I’m making another one………..but for a screw-up, it’s not bad. And the #NCC17 #NationalCaregivingConference said, “Hey, ……share it, anyway!” So, I am…because if there’s anything I do too much, it’s share!
P.S. I also think they said under their breath, “next time, read the directions.” But Sister Marie Genevieve said that a billion times and it never worked.
“You Just have to Laugh……” ©2017 Cathy Sikorski
You’ve Come A Long Way Baby……
My mom has become obsessed with creating photo albums for her six children from the hundreds of photos in her treasure chest. She must make 6 copies of almost every photo, or at least as the photos progress and a child is added to the history books. I have no idea why this project might be frustrating for her 88-year-old self, do you? Duh, comes to mind.
Every once in awhile, when I’m in the mood for a little frustration myself, I stop over to my mom’s house to call the VA, or fix her iPad, or fight with Verizon. Invariably, we start to look at the pictures together.
Yesterday, she showed me this photo.
My Nana is the one circled in yellow. She is about 35 years old in this picture. Her name wasn’t even Nana yet, as my mom is the cutest little 8-year-old circled in pink. I made my mom go find a photo of herself at around the age of 35.
Then I came home and looked for one of me around the same age.
I would like to posit the following: Rather than continuing to punish women for adopting a youth culture look, perhaps we are actually just trying to enjoy life, look like we are having fun, and present a ‘picture’ to the world of what we actually look like, at the age we are at. Perhaps over the last 50 years, we started rebelling against being portrayed as “Nana” before we were even done having children. Perhaps, just because we have children doesn’t mean we have to wear orthopedic shoes, bras with no support, dresses made from tablecloths, or a hairstyle that would confuse us with Grandma Moses.
Perhaps my mother’s generation actually clandestinely started a revolution where women got to enjoy their youth, even if they had 6 youths of their own running around. Maybe that’s what began way back in the ’50’s and ‘ 60’s when no one was paying attention to the everyday housewife. And maybe that’s what’s still happening today to women in their ’50’s and ’60’s when no one is still paying attention.
Just sayin………
My Nana apparently didn’t change her look for 60 years. My mom, on the other hand, created generations of hot tomatoes! Yay, Mary Ann!
“You Just have to Laugh…………..”
©2017 Cathy Sikorski
Peace and Love to all Caregivers…………
Yesterday, I had the privilege of consulting with an attorney and his clients, who are dealing with the death of their elderly father and the need to place their mother in a dementia facility.
I just want to reiterate here how precious each and every true caregiver is. If you are caring for a parent, a spouse, a child, a relative or a friend, you are an unsung hero. You are likely losing time from work, money from Social Security, work, or retirement benefits. You are probably tired, angry, frustrated, exhausted, confused, and sad at least some bit of every day. I saw this in these clients. And I recognized it in myself from days gone by.
You are also filled with joy, comfort, love, and solace that you have the opportunity to provide so deeply for someone you love. Those emotions aren’t always on the surface. But you know they are there. Because these clients were now former caregivers for their Dad and current caregivers for their Mom they were experiencing all of this simultaneously.
All the hard work they were doing was right in front of us. Our conversation was complex and detailed. The wife had a file 5 inches thick with paperwork.
And yet… at some point….we were discussing very difficult decisions and how their Mom was ready to die as well. So I told them my constant conversation with my mother-in-law:
“Marie would say to me often, ‘Just bring the box, I’m ready,’ I related.
“And I would say to her, ‘Marie, I would, but the problem is, you can’t climb in the box, someone has to put you in, and with my bad back, I just can’t do that.’
Marie and I would chuckle and the conversation would change.
Which is just what happened here. One chuckle was enough for all of us to keep moving forward in our quest to help them and their elder with difficult decisions.
To all you caregivers, may today bring you a bit of laughter, a smile from someone or just a full heart, for you are certainly doing that for someone else. And for that, I thank you.
Maybe laughter is the best medicine.
“You Just have to Laugh……………..”
©2017 Cathy Sikorski