Aging Successfully ~ Aug. 14

[Steph]

I am sorry, fingers slipped. I pay privately for the AARP medigap. I just meant that I have never had a supplemental bill from any of my medical ins and outs. The medigap fills in between me and medicare. I love the fact that I can pick my doctor and hospital. I had another plan earlier and I could not pick.. Every single time I needed a specialist, there was not one convenient or only one whose English was questionable. I know it is not fair, but I will not go more than once to someone whose command of English is not very good. When I am sick, the last thing I need is trying to figure out what someone is saying.. Its a lot like pressing for English the other day and getting someone whose command of English was really awful. I was furious..

[jane]

That is the same reason we also chose traditional medicare and a supplement.

We have a senior center locally...but nobody we know goes to it.  Meals seem to be all they offer.

[ANNIE]

We are also in original Medicare and paying for company supplement that requires that we pay 90% of the monthly dues since my husband wasn't with Lockheed 10 years.  He had been employed in the aerospace world for 38 years, never without a job but the  last company to hire him required 10yrs and he only worked for them for 9 yrs and 8 months. He worked for three different companies, one for 24 yrs from which he received a very small lump sum.  His pension from the last company has been covering the monthly cost of the supplementary, at least up to this year.  
This occurence has made me a strong supporter of being given credit for all the employment you have had plus being able to bring one's 401K into the newest company and continuing to pay into it.

Cobra is the closest thing to remaining medically insured and its cost is monumental.  We have made use of it just once while jobs ended and started a month apart.

One thing that we made sure we bought was a Long Term Unemployment Insurance policy when the company offered it, if we wanted to pay for it.  They paid for short term unemployment.  When we had to use it, we were very happy that we had taken it out.  It lasted until until he was 65 (6yrs).  They subtract any moneies that are coming in from the monthly amount they are paying you.  So all social security and pension were subtracted and something else we were being paid. But it saved our lives.

I think its great to plan ahead if one has a chance but many people have similar situations like ours. Crud happens and you deal with it.

[PatH]

Steph, it's totally fair to refuse to go to a doctor you can't communicate with.  The chance of his misunderstanding you or you misunderstanding him is too great, and could lead to the wrong treatment.

[PatH]

Traude, your aphorism

"Our life is characterized not by what we experience but rather by how we deal with that experience."

 really blew me away, because it's so close to my own motto.  You'll probably recognize it:

"Und in dem 'Wie' da liegt der ganze unterschied."

Rough, inadequate translation: How we deal with it makes all the difference.

It's from a very moving scene in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier.  The aging Marschallin is musing about how she was once an innocent girl, fresh from the convent, is now a sophisticated middle aged woman, and will soon be the old princess.  How can this happen, when she is still the same person? (Wo ich doch immer die gleiche bin?)  And why does God let us see it so clearly?  But we are here, and we have to bear it, and how we do that makes all the difference.

She then practices what she preaches by sending her lover, her young cousin Octavian, off to meet the woman he will fall in love with.

[Steph]

Life throws curves. Some are great, some not so great and a few heartbreaking, but you must deal one way or another. That is my life lesson thus far.. I met yet another widow yesterday who rarely leaves her house,, has never entered a restaurant on her own..and fears almost everything.. It just breaks my heart. I want to grab them up and pull them along with me.. She sounded so wistful when I admitted I am learing for Scotland next Saturday and yes, I dont know a soul on the tour..

[straudetwo]

Nothing has dominated the new more than fierce hurricane Irene.  The path she took was unusual, all the way up the Northeast coastline. By the time she arrived over Mass.  this morning, she had weakened but still able to create heavy seas, high winds and destruction in the western part of the state.  We were lucky in this town, no major damage; only loss of power in the morning until mid-afternoon.  However, my son just reported that section in the north, south and downtown are still dark and, most important, the school where he teaches also does not have it power back yet.   I hope that those of you who live in the areas target by Irene had no damage.

This is our last day, but we can hardly close shop now, unceremoniously and without proper wrap-up, can we?  A few more things need to be answered and/or mentioned (specifically about Thalasso therapy). That's why I would like to continue for another day- at least.. Please let me know whether you agree.

PatH, I'm so glad von Eschenbach's adage struck a chord with you. Your motto, from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier,  expresses the same philosophy.
A comic opera, Der Rosenkavalier became very popular very quickly and is still being performed. In the sixties,  soprano Elisabeth Schwarzopf sang the role of the Marschallin in America (in Chicago, if memory serves). Richard Strauss wrote his first piece of mus at the age of six. His first Serenade for wind instruments composed when he was 16,  so impressed the conductor Hans von Bülow that he offered him a job as assistant conductor and decided Strauss would become his successor. Strauss continued to compose throughout his life almost until his death, leaving an enormous body of work : tone poems, orchestral music and operas.

[ANNIE]

Okay, Traude, I'll bite! What is Thalesso Therapy???  I can't wait!  I will now google it.
Well if it involves a spa and water, I'm there.  Here's a link to it:http://spas.about.com/od/hydrotherapy/a/thalassotherapy.htm

[straudetwo]

Annie, an excellent link to Thalassotherapy. The word comes from the Greek, Thalasso means 'sea, ocean.
It is based on the belief that sea water, mud and algae  contain potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium and various sulphates that are absorbed by the pores of the skin and contribute to wellness.

The belief in the curative powers of water and its healing powers is not new.  The Romans were the first to discoer and champion it.  Over centuries, mineral springs were discovered and drilled in several European countries : Switzerland France, Italy, The Czech Republic, and others, quite often in mountainous regions. The water erupts geysir-like at high temperatures and is harnessed and tempered in the spa facilities built over the springs.

Specific minerals have been found to be beneficial for certain maladies.  Foremost among these was gout,  believed to be an illness of the rich, and due to rich food. (Not so, says a new study.)  
But not only crowned heads took advantage of this natural remedy. These locations are accessible also to the working class. For employees needing treatment  a "Kur"is ordered, and his healh insurance pays  the treatment,  massages, inhalations as well as two visits to the Spa Doctor, before and after. visits.  Health insurance does not pay for the employee's accommodation, but there is a great variety from rented rooms in private homes, to pensions, to four-star hotels.

All of these resorts and the medical facilities are scrupulously controlled by the state; it takes a long time before a spai is officially elevated and put the coveted title "Bad" before its  name. The word for 'spa' is "Bad"  (the ouns afe all capitalized. , for example  Bad Salzach, a Ragaz. The German word Bad, the noun means 'bath'.  The word does not mean the opposite of "good"!
The usual length of such a  paid Kur-visit is four weeks .

In my traveling days I have 'taken the waters, as the saying goes,  in Bad Reichenhall in  SE Bavaria, just across the border with Austria, a short train or car ride to Salzburg.  Also in a relatively new location not far from Stuttgart,  where my sister lived, which is still waiting to become officially a Bad.  I have been to a Bad which practiced the recommendations of pastor Kneipp. Perhaps most of all I enjoyed t enjoyed a Swiss resort, Switzerland, half an hour from Zurich airport, which was known to the Romans and mentioned by Tacitus in the slim volume Germania.

Unfortunately, not enough is known here about the benefits of hydrotherapy (also known as balneology or for all manner of ailments. Package deals are available to foreign tourists, and can be for a weekend, or a week, or any period desired. (I usually had patience for only 3 weeks.  The Sundays were always hard for me. It's truly a day of rest when EVERYTHING is closed - except the newsstand in the  train station, which has paperbacks.  Coming home was wonderful, especially because departure and arrival are both during daytime because of the time difference; but jet lag would lingert.  With a companion I could do it again - but my working children don't have the time ...

Irene has done quite a bit of damage in several state, and I wonder if PatH in MD might be without power. My thoughts are with her.

Steph, You are probably already packing for your trip on Saturday.  I wish you a wonderful time and a good visit with Rosemary in Edinburgh.  I was distressed about the widow you recently met, who has withdrawn so completely from the world.

More later.

[ANNIE]

Traude,
Here's list of spas and spa resorts in the US and in the introduction they mention "balneology".  
http://www.spaindex.com/Lifestyles/hotsprings.htm


My granddaughter and her family who visited her in Portland made it to a place called Breitenbush in SW Oregon.  They truly enjoy the mineral springs.

[Steph]

I did the therapeutic mud in California once years ago.. But truthfully di dnot like it.

[ANNIE]

Steph,
Off topic here but do you
remember "Designing Women's" TV show at the mud baths??? Fuuuunnnny!

[straudetwo]

Annie,  thank you for the link to the spa index. It's certainly an interesting additional source.
There are mineral and hot springs in many other locations in the world; but my experience is limited to the places I have visited in European countries. It has always amazed me that few of my friends in this country had any interest.  Many are avy and avid travelers.  But th object is still to pack as many cities and towns into eight days or ten, in a constant rush.
 It reminds me of a 1969 movie with Suzanne Pleshette. Its title is  'If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" and Inever saw it. ut the title reflects what seems still to be the pratice of tour groups in this country.  I bet a good, well-informed advertising man or woman could persuade tour groups to  include  e.g. a wellness weekend at a spa as a special offering.
In an Italy tour that might be Abano Terme in the Veneto region, and Montecatini Terme in Tuscany.

Never having been to Oregon or Washington State, I'd love the idea and will check things out on the computer and do wsome arm-chair traveling. 

Steph, some years ago, on a visit to my daughter, who was then working in SF, we toured the Napa Valley for a few days and, while she had to return to work,  I stayed in Calistoga, where I took two mud baths - found them slightly different from he fango packs I had in Switzerland.

I'm glad to have had the chance to speak about this aspect of well, which really is part of our topic.
Thank you for participating in this session of TH.

[ANNIE]

And thanks to you, Traude.  This has been informative discussion with folks telling about their lives and how they have learned to handle what comes to them as they have aged. We have all had different experiences and it was interesting to share our ideas of taking care of ourselves so we can enjoy. 
And thanks for telling us about the spas of Europe where one can really relax and enjoy just being!

[Steph]

I think that you are overestimating the number of people who do the six country type stuff. I travel a good deal and many many people do a tour of just one country or region at a time. MDH and I always did a countrywide thing , generally a two week type, then when we would decide whether to return and rent a car, we knew the areas we wanted to explore., but I will say that I would not be interested in a spa experience being part of the tour.

[bellemere]

I think it all boils down to health , wealth and friends, doesn't it?
I am also a Massachusetts resident.  We are hopelessly progressive, with universal health care that has , as a benefit,m a plan for those withoy employer gased insurance and not yet eligible for Medicare  As a supplement to Medicare, we have one ofr those probleatic Medicare Advantage plans, acutlly private insurance.  Today we got a notice that our monthly premium has been LOWERED  from 108 a month to  86! nI(t's l9ike ngetting a raise.

I worked full time until age 66; then part time until 71.  I favor raising the age of eligibility by one year as a means of trying to save Medicare for the future, what do you all think?   And what about a pro-rated "means" test for Medicare for those with high incomes?   
Besides insurance, I have a reat primary care doctor, and my local Y, part of the membership paid by Medicare Advantage.  My only proble , and it
s a doozy, is macular degeneration, requiring constant adaptations in daily living - only driving during daytime, velcro dots all over my appliances, and more reliance on a willing husband.  If I am alone some day, i't independent living for me.  Anyone doing that now? 

[ANNIE]

Have you ever wondered who else is paying for that Advantage policy?I think its those who stuck with original Medicare and a supplement.  Our bill for the supplement is $700 a month and yours is only $86?  Hmmmm, see what I mean??