Category: Seek On Blog (Consumer)

When my dad’s heart failure finally caught up with his kidneys, his nephrologist recommended hemodialysis. So for the next two-plus years, three times a week, four hours at a pop, my dad would sit in a recliner while the dialyzer filtered his blood. Tedious and uncomfortable, but predicable. Except when his fistula would become completely […]

I was at work when I got the word that my mom had three months to live. I rushed to her house, entered without knocking, and joined her on the couch. There we sat. Not hugging. Not crying. (Those intimacies had never come easily to us.) Finally, Mom said, “In my will, you get Grandma’s […]

My parents expected to live out the rest of their lives in their beloved South Minneapolis home, exiting “feet first,” as my dad liked to say. Then life happened. My mom’s osteoarthritis made it hard to walk and my dad’s congestive heart failure left him exhausted. So we added banisters, stationed walkers on both floors, […]

The importance of addressing health care needs now Concerns about COVID-19 prompted us to delay my 89-year-old mother’s cataract surgery until she couldn’t tell the difference between her cat and a couch pillow. Finally, convinced that the infection-control measures implemented by her ophthalmology clinic were rigorous enough, we went ahead with the procedure. In hindsight, […]

At some point in our lives, nearly all of us will take a tumble—off a ladder, a curb, a bike—but rarely with lasting consequences. However, when older adults have a fall, the aftermath can be devastating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 30 million older adults fall each year, resulting in […]

If given the choice – hospital or home, it’s no surprise most people would opt to recover at home.  “No one takes care of you like a spouse or a close family member,” said Tina Belschner, LPN, Lifesprk Nurse Clinic Coordinator. “It’s not the same when you are surrounded by the things you love, in […]

A number of years ago, I found myself getting irritated for the most trivial reasons—road construction, a badly parked car, a cashier-in-training. I was increasingly short-tempered at work and testy with my husband. And then one day, I couldn’t get out of bed. That’s when a friend of mine suggested that maybe I was suffering […]

This past February, a month before Minnesota’s stay-at-home order, I took my 88-year-old mother for her annual Medicare wellness visit. She aced the usual battery of tests (blood pressure, oxygen levels, reflexes, strength, balance, BMI) with the exception of cognitive functioning. I knew my mom had trouble remembering things, but I was too close to […]

On the Road and Headed Your Way Human beings have always been stronger together. That’s why Lifesprk cares so deeply about building supportive social networks that connect us to each other and to our communities. The challenging events of the past six months have weakened some of those connections. The global COVID-19 pandemic has altered […]

While social distancing is the recommended practice for the foreseeable future, many of us may be finding ourselves at home alone with very limited contact with our loved ones. With seniors at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, they need to take all precautions during this pandemic.  “The biggest challenge with social […]