While health care holds center stage nationwide, a disturbing, troubling and emotionally devastating drama is being played out in families that I profess to be part of through decades of deep friendships. The media hasn't quite recognized the impact of this medical crisis; it's not the sexy factoid that the baby boomers are clustering around the 'golden years' campfire (come together now) pressing social security into extinction,uh, it's the other little secret that doesn't quite seem to get up enough steam for headlines: aging parents and the management of their health care issues..more frequently than not, accompanied by the insidious, ravaging dementia. If you're lucky, a parent drops unexpectedly. But, if you're like the majority of us, flower power children who, well, never saw this curve ball coming, and didn't know shit about aging before it beaned us...we know something now. Learning on the fly is painful. Judgement becomes clouded. The med that looked good today might belong in the loo tomorrow. Daughters and sons grope their way to first base. Questions of dementia care are fraught with anxiety as parents slip further and further into the abyss. No one has ever said that this was going to be easy. But, the more disturbing issue is that hardly anyone has said anything about this publicly before. If knowledge is power, share the wealth, educate your children. It's time to take the gloves off and lift the shroud because we're almost on deck.
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