Seniors Situation Room Edition 7 by Dawn Ford


CFN – The price isn’t right for some seniors who need dental work. After seniors reach age sixty-five there are no dental benefits for them, much as there is no help for them with hearing aids and glasses.

People tell me about their dental woes such as loose dentures, broken partials, cusps worn down on their dentures or their own teeth. Some tell me they are having stomach problems because they don’t chew their food properly. Some are embarrassed to eat out because of chewing difficulties. Some people have trouble with their gums and need cleaning more often but the fees are too high.

Last time I had a cleaning it cost one hundred and ninety-five dollars for a hygienist at a periodontist’s office to clean half of my mouth. I have to have this done every three months so I understand how expensive it can be. An interesting site to find out more about bacteria in the mouth is available on the Internet: just search for Dental-cardiac.

Despite writing and talking to our government officials about these concerns for seniors’ needs, I have not come across a solution in over four years of trying. I am still waiting to meet with our local MPP, Jim McDonell, about these issues but it has been a long wait since I first contacted his office in late July. I wasn’t given an appointment but I had to see one of his staff first to outline what my intended visit would be about. I was given an appointment a few weeks ago which I was told would be twenty minutes in length but I was out of town that day and so I am waiting again for another. It was easier in the past to see Jim Brownell, our former MPP, for some reason.

No word yet from the Cornwall Transit Survey results. I am hoping a lot of people responded to this survey. I am also hoping there will be transportation on Sundays and holidays, even if limited, which would benefit so many people. I am grateful to Cornwall Transit for taking the time to make this survey available. It shows me that this is not just a service/business to them but that they care about our citizens. Kudos.

I was delighted to receive an e-mail from Dr. Zibin Guo , the Anthropologist at the University of Tennessee doing research into Armchair/wheelchair Tai Chi. He referred me to www.appliedtaiji.com which is a very informative site you might be interested in viewing for more data on this healthy exercise for people with disabilities or limited mobility. I am still trying to find a qualified instructor in this area to teach it.

I don’t know how you feel about men and women having to share a hospital room but it seems outrageous to me. I have talked with women who have had to endure this and they felt so embarrassed as well as annoyed. My guess is that some men don’t care for it either from what I have witnessed visiting friends having to be hospitalized in such a set up . I have heard it is across Ontario, not just here. I like Mrs. Despatie very much, but I can not see her having to share her hospital room with guys or even have her family have to do it. Nor can I envision Premier McGuinty’s wife or even son. …so why ours???

My sister told me that her late daughter, dying of cancer with only days to live, had three men in her room. And those days in that arrangement were very embarrassing for her. It was not a very nice way to spend her last days. Some people tell me I am an old fashioned nurse from the old school. There is nothing wrong with being old fashioned at all and when people are treated with respect and dignity, I have no quarrel. What are your thoughts on this???

Visiting the Lodge once a week to see my brother has brought me a new friend. In an earlier edition of the column I mentioned meeting Norma who is a sweet lady in a wheelchair who looks after the birds at the Lodge in cages on the first and fourth floor. Most of our visits take place on the first floor where ‘Yellow Rose’, a gorgeous canary and ‘Mr. Blue’, a magnificent budgie are housed together in their cage.

Norma cleans the cage, gets them fresh water, food and lots of love and attention. On the fourth floor were two lovely blue budgies who were also her pets. Of late, the female was on a little ‘nest’ in the cage on an egg but the egg did not hatch.

A few weeks ago, this female budgie who was quite old apparently, died and Norma was inconsolable for two days, she told me. Last week a new budgie had arrived and was in the cage with the older male budgie. The bird is beautiful with a yellow beak and jade green feathers. I thought Norma would be delighted, which she was, but with reservations. I asked what this new female was named. She told me that it was not a ‘her’ but a ‘him’. Apparently the older bird who Norma calls ‘Mr. Hot Tomato’ was a bit too amorous with the late female bird so the decision was made to put a male in with him this time. However, it seems ‘Mr. Hot Tomato’ has found out, according to Norma, that the newcomer is a male but is still trying to’ get his way’ with the newcomer anyway by giving lots of attempted kisses which the new bird is spurning. While I am listening to Norma tell me about Mr. Hot Tomato’s libido and seductive advances , I thought this must be a new version of the ‘Birds and the Bees.’; I better listen up!! She said she is going to maybe have to be a ‘referee’ for awhile. So cute. I will be anxious to find out how the ‘pair’ made out this week …or not… and how Norma is taking all this action in the bird cage on the fourth floor. I hope for her sake that it is all calmed down or as good as it is going to get. I am looking forward to my next visit with her.

Here is a great little fun video on Seniors’ synchronized swimming.

Have a great week, Dawn

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