I am 34 and as my readers are well aware , I am battling with a very serious lung condition which leaves me on constant oxygen both day and night.  I have been admitted to the ICU at least 7 times in the last four months, during which one time I almost flat-lined and needed intubation.

 I have been out the hospital this time two weeks and counting and am on a very heavy dose of steroids to keep me from going back in. Hopefully I will make it to the 28th February at which point I will be receiving my third course of cytoxan, a chemotherapeutic drug, which may just be what keeps me alive.

I have accepted my fate as best as I can, but want to use my experience to reach out to others and let them know how lucky and privileged I was when my company offered me free long term care insurance as part of my salary package. It has made the difference between total poverty and family ruin to choices that I am able to make with regard to hospitals and doctors I see. 

Not everyone will be fortunate enough to receive long term healthcare for free and being honest , if I would have had to pay for it I wouldn’t have, because I would have associated long term health insurance with the 55 and over, not a healthy mountain climbing 33 year old without a health concern since he was born………That’s why I urge you, as someone who one day woke up and couldn’t walk the stairs without severe panting, I know that things could be so much worse if I didn’t have this safety net of two thirds of my salary for the rest of my life…….

 I am enclosing a great video from a LTC sales man. It is very powerful. Please get yourselves insured.

As many as 5.2 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s

10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime.

Every 71 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is the seventh-leading cause of death.

The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.

(more…)

Yes, today I was checking on ebay, looking for an office desk that is more comfortable than the one I have, one that might give me relief from back pain that starts its thing if I am on the chair for more than half an hour.

 I was not prepared for the chair I came across. It will blow your minds  my friends!! And a wicked sound track to go along with it too. Seeing is believing!!

I am sure that when the people behind Second Life dreamt up their idea of a virtual online life, they had no idea how wildly successful it would become. Nor, i am guessing did they realise to what extent it could help give a real life to those with severe disabilities.

In real life Alice Kreuger has severe multiple sclerosis and is unable to walk without the use of crutches. She rarely leaves her home except for trips to see her doctor. In the virtual world of Second Life she leads a radically different existence.

Here, she is the avatar Gentle Heron, the co-founder of the Heron Sanctuary – a self-described “support community” for others facing similar situations. In this clip she takes us on an eye opening and moving tour of her world.

One particularly moving story is that of a girl who could not talk to people due to a nervous disorder, yet in Second Life, was given gentle tasks to start off with and gradually became part of the community as she built up her social skills. Truly inspiring!! 

According to  a report released by Reuters, people are living longer in the United States but those with no more than a high school education are not sharing in the trend, researchers said on Tuesday.The education gap in expected lifespan dramatically widened in the 1980s and 1990s, in part because of smoking, according to the study by Harvard University researchers.

From 1990 to 2000, life expectancy for people with at least some college education rose 1.6 years while remaining static for less-educated people.

In 2000, those in the less-educated group could be expected at age 25 to live to about age 75 while those in the more-educated group could be expected to reach 82. (more…)