The Oppenheimer Report 2/25/13

Last Thursday we sat in our SUV, along  with the tens of thousands of Toronto commuters heading home, racing up Hwy 400 at a snail's pace to our place up north. It was with a certain amount of trepidation that Shauna and I left her parents in Toronto, having lived with them at that point for well over 2 months. For the sake of our sanity and because we had bills to pay and business to attend to at home, we packed up the car and headed up. I am somewhat comforted with the idea that the three women we have on rotation to assist Shauna’s parents are trustworthy and competent, but we still need a reliever in the mix for scheduling SNAFUs. Of course the big hurdle, which I hope we have cleared, was to make it apparent, especially to Shauna’s mom, that the assistance was necessary. She is once again making noises about driving, and this stubborn grip on eroding independence is ongoing and problematic. Now that we are gone, the caregivers will have much more to do, and hopefully Mom Taylor will understand this and accept the help willingly. Shauna will keep in touch via Skype, a land line, and by text. This is when advances in technology pay off for us. All of our caregivers have smart phones and laptops, so we can actually see what is going on in the house. I know Shauna will be in constant contact. When my parents were at this stage in their lives, I spoke to them or their nurses every day, sometimes two or three times per day. Now that they are both gone, I still find myself reaching for the phone for a progress report.

My rant du jour involves salt. Having just spent the past two months or more shopping and cooking for elders, it was my job, among other things, to ensure that I was mindful of their salt intake. As much as I have had the evils of salt drummed into my head, it never occurred to me how much of it is in all the food we eat. From my research, a typical low sodium diet, prescribed for those with high blood pressure, is around 2000mg per day, and less for those who are more at risk. That’s not much. I tasted one of those low sodium meals once when I had a leftover from a Meals on Wheels delivery one day, and it was horrible, virtually tasteless. When I started looking at the labels on the foods I was buying, I was shocked at some of the foods containing a lot of salt. Kellogg’s Raison Bran has over 250 mg for a typical serving. Wheat Chex has even more, and a lot of sugar to boot. One sixth of a loaf of store bought pound cake - 320mg of salt. One slice of bread can have as much as 250mg of salt in it. There is salt in everything, and while I knew this, I just didn‘t realize how much. A couple of hot dogs and you’re over the limit. The real culprits are all the pre-packaged-pop-in-the-microwave-package-to-plate-in-two-minute frozen dinners. Check out the salt in a typical Stouffer’s frozen entry. Rule of thumb, if it tastes good, it has too much salt in it. So I figured I’d make meals from scratch and use the “No Salt” salt substitute. Not so fast. It turns out that the no salt substitute can interfere with the efficacy of some of the medications the Taylors both take. This is one of the problems we have had and one of the reasons to consult a pharmacist with a list in hand of all medications, vitamins, etc. the elder takes. Drug interactions become a larger issue when one is taking ten or twenty pills in a day. I understand some vitamins taken at the wrong time can render vital medications ineffective.

The Academy Awards ceremony was last night, and I watched along with the rest of the star struck world. I only watch to see who’s wearing who. Once again we have not seen any of the movies nominated. Argo won for best picture. Predictably, Daniel Day Lewis won best male actor for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln. My friend Bob saw the movie and described it as follows: Lincoln talks a lot and then gets shot. Typical cut-to-the-chase Bob. Silver Linings Playbook looks like it might be good, and I’d like to see Life of Pi, having enjoyed the book. I am a little behind in my movie “to see” list. I finally saw Desperately Seeking Susan last week, which I recall wanting to watch when it came out, back in 1985. It is my ongoing quest to see a Madonna movie that does not completely suck. I enjoy movies from the 70s and 80s for the time capsule effect, because they are dated and reflect our evolving culture … big hair, glam rock, trendy music, giant cell phones, obsolete computers. Shauna hates Quentin Tarantino, probably because he is rather neurotic and a little creepy, and because his films tend to be bloody and violent. I like what he does and can’t wait to see his latest homage to the spaghetti western, Jango, Unchained, for which he received the Oscar for best original screenplay. I set the bar pretty low - Bride of Chucky is one of my favorites.

Time to begin putting my tax receipts in order. Make hay while the phone isn’t ringing.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED