“While it may be overwhelming at first, urinary incontinence is the most common type of incontinence among adults. Other common types of incontinence among adults include urge incontinence when you have a strong impulse to use the toilet but cannot get there in time; overflow incontinence, which involves urine leakage resulting Read more →

The focus of palliative care is to provide relief from the symptoms of the disease and even the treatment side effects, as well as help with emotional and spiritual issues. Read more →

Dear PK: Trying to work with someone who needs you all the time is tough. I’m sorry for you both that this is happening. For many, though, it’s part of the new reality of working from home, so you aren’t alone. Read more →

When sharing my personal opinion with this woman, I made it very clear that an informed decision includes information on what anesthetics can do to the aging body. Several studies have been done on the effects of anesthetics on the aging body; Read more →

Dear GT: This is a challenging spot for an older person to be in but choices like this might be even tougher for adult children to come to terms with. The fact is, while you and your siblings want the best for your dad, what “best” means for your dad is up to him. Read more →

ressure sores, sometimes called pressure ulcers, are caused by pressure from an object or a firm surface compressing the tissue over a bony prominence which leads to inadequate blood flow to the tissue being compressed. Ultimately, the skin begins to weaken and will Read more →

Dear PN: You are smart to consider these questions now since there’s time to create a plan with your parents’ input. Most people are limited caregivers long before they even consider this question and this is true in your case. From your note, I gather that you’ve at least been “on-call” for quite some time, and you and your husband have been available for some chores at the very least. However, you also show respect for your parents’ independence and I applaud you for that. Read more →

Dear Furious: Excuse me while I pry apart my clenched teeth and take a few deep breaths. There, that’s a little better. I think that in this case you might have done the right thing by simply protecting your dad’s dignity and leaving because this woman needs more than education: she needs a soul transplant. Read more →

Dear YT: I’m sorry about your mother’s poor health. She’s obviously a fighter to have survived so much. It makes sense that she wants to take charge of her own future so she can determine how much more she wants to continue to fight for what sounds... Read more →

Life-changing, yes! And perhaps a moment of divine intervention. An elderly man with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) was rushed to the cardiac cath lab after being diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (MI). He was struggling to breathe, yet pleaded with me to not insert the breathing tube Read more →