The FirstLight Care Corner

National Family Caregivers Month

From our Care Blog

There are hundreds of thousand families in the United States that are currently the primary caregiver to aging parents, adult children with disabilities, family members of wounded soldiers, or adult children caring for parents with Alzheimer’s disease. We know caring for a parent, family member or loved one day in and day out takes its toll on the caregiver. It’s a tough job and sometimes caregivers need a break and should take time for themselves to rejuvenate their own body, mind, and soul. November is National Family Caregivers Month and throughout the month we will be honoring and celebrating the...

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Diabetes Awareness Month

From our Care Blog

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. Nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. Another 86 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association estimates that the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $245 billion. Staggering! If you are overweight, have high blood pressure, or are age 45 or older, you are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The good news is that making healthy changes...

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Avoid Spreading Flu Germs

From our Care Blog

Flu season is here (darn it). The single best way to avoid the flu is to get an annual flu vaccine and then hide in your home until flu season is over. Okay, that isn’t very practical. The flu is spread mainly from person to person in droplets that fly out when you cough or sneeze. These tiny drops from a sick person move through the air and land on the mouths or noses of others nearby. Germs are also passed along when you touch these droplets from someone else on a surface like a desk and then touch your...

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Staying Healthy: Why Do Some People Get Sick and Other's Don't?

From our Care Blog

Why is it that some people get sick and others don't? Why do some people get the cold and flu each year despite the fact they get all the right shots and vaccinations? What can we do to stay out of the doctor's office each year? How To Stay Healthy As flu season is upon us, I decided to consult the experts at WebMD. What are the characteristics of people who get sick less often? What can you do to stay healthy? Keep your stress at lower levels so it does not weaken your immune system. Enjoy sex on a...

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Benefits of Walking: Walk Your Way To a Better You

From our Care Blog

I have long ago passed the point in my life where I can jog. Two ACL surgeries have left my arthritic knees unable to take the impact. I don’t live anywhere near a swimming pool and I am too hyperactive to do yoga. Spin classes give me a headache just thinking about it. And because I am a work-a-holic who works out of my house, I need to get out and about for my own sanity and the sanity of my family. I have a million excuses NOT to exercise. “I’m too busy” is my favorite. “It’s too hot outside”...

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Make a Difference In The Life Of A Senior

From our Care Blog

October is the month that has the largest community support day called Make a Difference. Millions of people gather around the country to improve the lives of others. In its 24th year, this day is all about helping those less fortunate or people who just need a helping hand. Seniors often need help more than one day a year – it is often a life-long issue as they get older and less mobile. Many senior citizens need help because as they age, doing household chores or running errands can become more difficult. If you have a senior relative, neighbor or...

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What Do You Want Your Epitaph To Say?

From our Care Blog

Although I don’t like to think about death very often, I recently attended a 60-th birthday party where they “eulogized” the birthday girl. It was all done in fun, but it got me to thinking: what do I want to be remembered for? There are people who are very organized and plan their passing down to the minutest detail, including how they want their funeral, the “wake” afterwards, and even what they want their tombstone or grave marker to say. This is probably a good idea, because it makes it easier for the adult son or daughter not to have...

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Organization: Write Things Down

From our Care Blog

Life gets busy and we are inundated with a ton of noise coming from our cell phones, emails, text messages, videos, TV and more. When things get hectic, we can tend to get forgetful. A simple but powerful habit to get into your daily routine is to write things down. Why is it so important you ask? Time has a way of changing our memory: Writing things down as they happen or right after they happen will help you to memorialize the facts. Every time we remember something, we recreate what happened and each time we do this things change....

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Aging: Live Well & Happy

From our Care Blog

There’s no avoiding it. We’re all getting older. That doesn’t mean we have to feel like we’re getting older. There are many things you can do to impact the process of aging so that you will age well and be happy. Here are a few of our favorites. Keep Your Cool. It is said that some levels of stress can be good for us. “If you never have to react to anything demanding, the mechanisms in your brain that help you deal with taxing situations will atrophy,” says Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD., scientific director of the National Institute on Aging....

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Family: Traveling with your Aging Parents

From our Care Blog

Summer travel is in full swing. If you are like any families across the United States, your traveling and your trip mate might include traveling with a senior. They may not be as mobile without a wheelchair, or they may have a specific health condition such as Alzheimer’s disease or heart problems that may require you take the lead, not only as the tour guide, but as the caregiver. This may make your vacation much more complex, regardless of whether you’re traveling by plane, cruise ship or your own family car. We spoke with Nurse Gina and she put together...

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