Part 1 in a 3-part series in recognition of Health Literacy Month Before I became a caregiver for my dad, I had only peripheral knowledge of his medical challenges. I remember getting frustrated with him during conversations about his … Continue reading →
Does anyone else feel like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day? (For those unfamiliar with the movie, the main character gets caught in a blizzard and ends up trapped in a time warp, where the days endlessly repeat … Continue reading →
Less than 4 weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia’s new policy to deny Emergency Room visits later determined not to have been an emergency. At the end of last month, it … Continue reading →
When I became a caregiver to my dad, I quickly realized that I was not going to be able to keep all of his medical information in my head. After years of packing my brain with medical facts, in addition … Continue reading →
Everyday life can be stressful. There are pressures of personal, family, economic, and social responsibilities. Modern life encourages people to stay plugged in, turned on, and keyed up. Remaining healthy is a challenge. What happens when a health breakdown isn’t … Continue reading →
There are two extremes among my family and friends–those who go to the Emergency Room for paper cuts and those who would wait until their pinky finger was literally hanging by a “thread” before seeking medical care. I say this … Continue reading →
Have you ever heard the saying, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you?” It’s sometimes used to glorify the “ignorance is bliss” mentality. The idea is that we can’t worry about issues if we don’t know about them. It is … Continue reading →
I live in a metropolitan area with several renowned academic medical centers and high-quality community hospitals. When my mother was diagnosed with leukemia, she received top-notch care at a local university hospital’s cancer center. My father had open heart surgery … Continue reading →
My father was college-educated and had no obvious difficulty understanding medical advice in his earlier years. However, when he began to develop dementia there was a very noticeable change in his intellectual capacity. When I accompanied him to doctor visits, … Continue reading →
There have been numerous changes to the way health care is delivered in the United States. Regulatory agencies, electronic medical records and insurance companies have altered the way physicians practice medicine. One of the unfortunate consequences has been the erosion … Continue reading →
