I’m glad I decided to go ahead with my plan to attend the just-concluded Asia Pacific Conference on Ageing organized by the Gerontological Society of Singapore in conjunction with its 25th anniversary celebrations. Given my mother’s condition, I was particularly interested in the presentations on dementia and caregiving of the elderly with dementia. I picked up […]
DEMENTIA – ARE WE AT RISK? Read More »
My mother was discharged on Monday evening 21 March. The final bill for 15 days of hospitalization, angioplasty and bipolar hemiarthoplasty came to RM45,532.90. There’s still weeks if not months of follow-up medical examinations and physiotherapy, not to mention a supply of expensive pills for the rest of her life. By no means is the
IT TAKES THE WHOLE FAMILY Read More »
Here’s another personal encounter with age discrimination. Early this month I heard that UniSIM was offering a Master of Gerontology course commencing this July. It was the first university in Singapore to do so. I was excited as for the past two years I had been looking for just such a course of study. A
NO SCHOLARSHIPS FOR RETIREES Read More »
My mother hasn’t been discharged yet, but every few days, the hospital would contact me and request for a RM8000 top-up. So far, the cost of her 12-day hospitalization, angioplasty and hip surgery has exceeded RM31,000. She has at least another 4-5 days to go before she can go home. I dread to receive the
ENCOUNTERING AGE DISCRIMINATION AT THE BANK Read More »
My mom’s hip operation was a success. She was wheeled into the operation theatre at 1.30pm yesterday, and by 5pm she was out and transferred to ICU. As I am writing this, she has just been moved back to the general ward – a sign that she is doing well post-surgery. The doctors say she should be
POST-SURGERY CHEER Read More »
In an hour or so, Mom will be wheeled into the operation theatre for her hip surgery. Right now she’s fast asleep after a light breakfast early this morning. Dr Gan has come by for a final check on her, and has given the thumbs up to go ahead with the surgery scheduled for 12pm.
TAKING PRECAUTIONS AGAINST FALLS Read More »
Today is Day 7 of my mother’s hospitalization. She had an angioplasty done on her last Tuesday. She’s doing fine, eating well and enjoys being pampered by her visitors and the nurses. Still, she is impatient to go home. She has been lying in bed 24/7, unable to move much as her right leg is
MARKING TIME IN HOSPITAL… Read More »
My mom’s hip surgery scheduled for yesterday afternoon had to be postponed when tests showed that she had suffered a heart attack earlier. She has no recollection of it at all. It could have been the cause of her fall. I’ll have to find out more from her cardiologist, Dr Tiang Soon Wee. (Left: Xray
WHEN COMPLICATIONS SET IN… Read More »
Source: Straits Times 5 March 2011 Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore’s Minister of Health, announced on Friday that geriatric medicine will be a ‘core competency’ for all doctors and nurses. A far-sighted move, given the fact that by 2030, one-fifth of the population will be aged 65 and above. The government is making sure
MOM FELL AND BROKE HER RIGHT HIP… Read More »
Source: Straits Times 2 March 2011 “…We can each live our dreams, with or without help. If there is help, we get there faster. But if there isn’t, we should keep trying anyway.” This was what Mr Sam Tan (Tanjong Pagar GRC) said in Parliament on Tuesday when he took the floor
DON’T LET YOUR DREAMS DIE WITH YOU Read More »
