Dr. Marion Comes to Denver

We had the pleasure this past week of meeting Dr. Marion Somers, experienced geriatrician and care manager,who has provided care for more than 2,000 elderly clients while she owned and operated a thriving Geriatric Care Management practice. Dr. Marion is an accomplished lecturer who has presented the following seminars: “Care of an Aging Parent;” “Caring for the Caretaker;” “Counseling Skills;” “Dying, Death, and Bereavement;” “Geriatrics; Retirement Planning;” and “Stress Management for the Elderly.”

It is now Dr. Marion's goal to help caregivers everywhere by providing valuable insights and information. Her book, Elder Care Made Easier, helps caregivers maneuver through everything from the basics to some of the thornier decisions caregivers must make for their loved ones. It’s the kind of book you can pick up and choose a relevant chapter right in the middle, if it suits you. And it is easy to make your way through. While there is plenty of science and experience behind it, you don’t have to wade through all that to find practical information about caring for your aging parents or relatives.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Marion set out on a cross-country tour, visiting bookstores, recreation centers, assisted living centers, retirement communities, churches, libraries, bringing her message of caring and community building. She bought a 1960 something Greyhound bus that had been outfitted as a camper. She fixed it up, got a couple of great guys to do the driving and filming, and off she went. She’s making her way East from California. Denver and Capabilities were on the way! We felt honored to host her and show her our store. She interviewed us as part of the documentary she is making as she wends her way across America.

One of the most impressive qualities of Dr. Marion is her curiosity. Although she has spent a career understanding the aging process, she looks at each circumstance and each person with freshness and patience. It’s as if she is uncovering something new all the time. We were delighted, for example, to show her some things she had not yet discovered. Like the unique Xtenex Knoty Boy shoe laces that have knots to adjust a perfect fit at each set of eyelets. It’s an elastic lace that gives you complete ease slipping your shoes on and off. In fact, she bought a couple of pairs for the two excellent men who are her road crew on this great journey of hers. And our wonderful Chillow, especially great as the thermometer goes up this summer. Dr. Marion likes how we blend traditional products with a host of new and unique items that anyone can use.

We’ll be writing more about Dr. Marion. She has agreed to write a guest blog for us while on the road. Stay tuned. In the meantime you can visit her website at drmarion.com. Sign up for her newsletter and read about her discoveries on the road. She is truly inspirational.

Be Conscious of Your Energy

It is my pleasure this week to introduce you to Ingrid Elfver, a personal discovery author, artist, and teacher. As founder of Simply Authentic™, Ingrid helps others empower their unique and powerful Authentic Self. Originally from Sweden, Ingrid began her inspirational ministry after a life-transforming awakening. Simply Authentic™ is based on 16 years of research and life-transforming change with thousands of clients in the USA and abroad: celebrities, executives, entrepreneurs, spiritual seekers, parents, teenagers and children. Ingrid says, “Our personal energy is powerful, affecting not only our Self but also everyone around us. Everything we experience in our being--every thought, feeling, and belief--is visible to others.” Please note in Events that Ingrid will conduct one of her Simply Healing classes on June 19, free of charge. You can find more information at simplyauthentic.com.

Our personal energy is powerful, affecting not only our Self but also everyone around us. Everything we experience in our being--every thought, feeling, and belief--is visible to others. Positive or negative, every emotion that passes through our conscious or unconscious being is seen by (and has a powerful effect on) others.

Although we might sometimes like to think differently, there is nothing we can hide from anyone. In one way or another--sometimes subtle, sometimes profound--we all sense and feel each other. So it is important that we become more aware of, and learn to better manage, our negative energy: Stress, fear, and worry, as well as other limiting thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

Be more conscious of your energy. Use the Simple Tools for Authentic Living in this weekly column (Exercises, Mantra, Affirmation, Visualization, Meditation, Prayer, and Message from Source) to clear and refocus your energy. Have a positive, empowering effect upon your Self and everyone you encounter. Remember each moment that you are a positive, sparkling light Source. Ever and always, a brilliant being... Beaming out into the Universe.

Exercises:

• Know your Self. Are you feeling tension or stress, having negative thoughts, or otherwise limiting your Self? Pay attention to what you are feeling. Then ask your Self why you are feeling it. Take some deep relaxing breaths.
• Center your Self. You now know that you are feeling, you know what you are feeling, and you are breathing deeply. Reconnect with your Authentic Self. Align with your power, peace, and wholeness. Breathe out, releasing your tension. Breathe in the center of your Self: Your love and your light.
• Be conscious. Know that you can slow down and breathe your Self back in. Visualize your energy as loving, compassionate, and present. Decide to be a positive and conscious energy, in your life and in other people's lives.
  

Mantra:

• "I am conscious and embrace my positive energy."

Affirmations:

• "I am aware and conscious."
• "I know my Self."
• "I am positive energy."
  

Visualization:

• Visualize your Self at peace with every part of your Self. See your personal energy being conscious and positive. Say to your Self, "I am the light". See and embrace your true and pure Authentic Self. Visualize your Self letting go of any negative thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Visualize your Self right now, consciously replacing them with positive, empowering, light-filled energy. Feel strong and at peace with your Authentic Self. You are conscious, filled with enthusiasm and positivity, every moment of this day.

Meditation:

• Close your eyes. Take deep breaths. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Turn your focus inward, reconnecting your Self with Source. Feel the love and light coming from Source, entering your body, heart, soul, spirit, and mind. Now breathe that positive and infinite flow into your Self, and know that this is your true energy. Feel this positive light healing and replacing all negativity. Take a deep breath and accept your Self, as a conscious and positive energy. Breathe in your light. Feel your Self emanating brilliant, loving, infinite light. You are shining with positive, compassionate energy, from the inside out.

Interfaith Prayer

• My Source... Guide me to my Authentic Self... Show me how to stay connected with my true and empowered energy... Positive infinity... Help me choose what is good for me... And always be positive and conscious about what I need and feel... So I can always reconnect with my Authentic Self... And know that I truly am One with You... Ever and always... Blissed be...

Message from Source

• “Choose to be a positive and empowered energy and force. You are my reflection."

Saturday At The Air Show

Pam and I attended the open house for the newly named Rocky Mountain Airport (formerly Jefferson County Airport) over the weekend. In addition to all the usual open house festivities, the organizers hosted a big air show with vintage planes and a few surprises. We brought scooters and back cushions and all things comfortable. Pilots work hard, especially those that fly those smaller planes. One of the big hits was the Travel John. One pilot said those things have saved him many an unnecessary stop! It was a different venue for us and we liked it. Among the surprises were some impressive machines flown overhead courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

At one point, Pam looked towards the horizon and noted something unusual approaching. As thin as paper, this object emerged as the Stealth Bomber. What a unique airplane! It’s huge, bat-like, and almost silent. Its wafer thinness ensures its ability to approach without warning. We followed its daring moves as it flew low, soared upward and looped its way around the airport. How long had it been since we stared with necks bent upward, thrilled and curious!

The afternoon continued to awe us as more military marvels flew above us. The F-16 roared in as if propelled by a giant slingshot. It shot straight up into the heavens, disappearing for a second, looping around and around, upside down, inside out. A pilot nearby explained just what would be happening physically for that pilot were he not securely wrapped in a G-suit and helmet. Not a pretty sight to imagine!

Technology surprises and amazes us all the time. No sooner did this spectacle subside, leaving everyone in a chatting mood, than up drives someone to our canopy in a honey colored scooter. It looked familiar…and then, so did the man driving it, as did his family around him. All smiles, he asked how he looked in this riding machine. He had come into the store a while back, finally ready to get mobile again. He said, “I cannot imagine how I ever managed without this beauty!” His family agreed. “We would not be here together today,” they said. “He would have been home in front of the TV.” He was out and about in ways he had not been in ages. He even got to his grandson’s graduation recently.

So, in the same day, we experienced the jaw-dropping site of Air Force planes that are changing the way war and peace happen and the heart-warming scene of how this electric scooter that we picked out for our inventory months ago is changing the way one man and his family live. How lucky can you get!

Please tell us about a technology that is changing your life. We love your stories and are happy to put them on our website.

Words We Don’t Use At Capabilities

Recently, someone made the comment after reading one of our brochures how interesting it was that we don’t speak about people of a certain age as “seniors,” “elderly,” or the “geriatric” crowd. Others have remarked that we also don’t often speak about Capabilities as being a “medical equipment” store, or a place with “durable medical equipment.” Why is that? While there is nothing inherently wrong with those words, or others that describe physical disabilities or the aging process, we are in the process of reinventing not only the language to describe all this, but the ways to manage the changes that occur with time and circumstance.

As we planned Capabilities, we envisioned something very different. We imagined a place with something for everyone, regardless of age and ability, a place where we did not categorize people into age groups or disabilities. We pictured rather a place where all would feel welcomed and where we would offer a broad array of products for health, mobility and comfort. We also did a bit of our own research and found that many people don’t enjoy being called “seniors,” even though they accept fully their own aging process. Our own mothers, for example, shrieked at anyone calling them “elderly.” Maybe it’s that our culture stopped appreciating and honoring “elders” at some point. Other cultures, for example, hold the older generation in a place of high esteem, respecting the wisdom that comes from many years. Our culture, it seems, devalues us as we grow older. So, common words that should not be so full of potentially negative meaning, such as “senior,” “elder,” “older adult” have taken on too much symbolism that makes many of us feel not so comfortable.

We thought a lot about this as we put our plans for Capabilities together. We wanted to create a space where everyone would feel welcomed. As a result, when it came time to print brochures and describe Capabilities, we did not feel comfortable using some of the common words you will find others using. In fact, our name alone – Capabilities – came from the passion we felt about focusing on the abilities we all have, regardless of circumstance. Our tag line, “Be Unlimited,” came from the inspiration we both got from having known so many diverse people, some of whom have overcome great challenges.

We meet business people all the time who are struggling with what to call their services, having originally chose to put the word, “senior,” in their business name. AARP, for example, just uses the acronym. They no longer describe the organization as the American Association of Retired Persons. They also have changed their newsletter and magazine, featuring people of all ages, including those still in their 40s. Other organizations, too, are experiencing push back as people resist some of the labels that have grown up around them. As Baby Boomers age (one wonders if those of us in this generation will always be called “Boomers?”), it is a certainty that they do not want to have the stereotypes that have emerged about growing old foisted upon them. (Who does, we ask?) So, teams of marketers and others are sitting around conference tables dreaming up commercials like the ones you are seeing now. You know, like the one with Dennis Hopper, holding the dictionary, reading the definition of “retirement.” He flings that dictionary and says that this generation is reinventing retirement. And so it is that we are reinventing the type of place where you can shop for all kinds of products that bring relief, comfort and independence. We call them “lifestyle” products to accommodate all kinds of ways our lives change. You’ll feel the difference whether you come into our store, or go online.

It’s clearly time to create some new words, don’t you think? What are some of your thoughts about how we refer to the various generations, and whether we can invent new ways to talk about aging? How do we create ways to soften the edges between the generations, in reality and in the language we use? It’s unlikely we will all live together as generations did in earlier times and in other cultures. So, what will be our equivalent of blending families and generations?

Please tell us your thoughts.

Take a Bath Again!

We hear all the time how hard it is for many to give up taking a bath. We also know that the bathroom becomes one of the most dangerous places in the house. My own mother years ago had the frightening experience one day of not being able to get out of the tub. She worked and worked at it, finally managing to get up and out without falling. It changed her life! She was finally convinced that it was time to stop taking baths. Begrudgingly, she agreed to a shower bench, shower hose attachment, bathmats and grab bars. But it was never the same for her again. She loved soaking in a long, luxurious bath at the end of the day. We did not know then about some of the incredible options that exist…And, I doubt that some of them existed, at least in the form they do today.

We’ve written before about the Safety Bath. If you are planning a remodel, that is still the way to go to ensure a safe and wonderful bathing experience. We are also impressed with the Tub Lift, a comfy chair with a battery pack that sits inside the tub, rises to the edge to allow for easy transfer onto the seat, and gently lowers you into the water. It will take you to within a couple of inches of the bottom of the tub. It’s a dream! The chair even reclines a bit, allowing you even more comfort while you bathe. You can get a few weeks’ worth of bathing on a single charge of the battery pack. The cover is machine washable and easy to manage. We highly endorse this product and so do a number of our customers.

Complete the safety experience of bathing by adding a Tub Bar, designed especially to clamp onto the edge of the tub. Its sturdy design and easy to grab handle provide exactly the help that many need when entering or exiting the tub or tub lift.

If you have experiences overcoming the challenges of taking a bath, please tell us. Post a comment below.

Mobility and Medicare: A Practical Guide, Part II

Last week we discussed the guidelines Medicare uses when considering coverage for electric scooters and power wheelchairs. This week, we will look at the process for purchasing canes and walkers through Medicare.

As you saw last time with the series of questions the physician must respond to when charting your case, Medicare will cover the equipment needed for mobility related aids for daily livings (MRADLs). If a cane or walker will respond to the need, Medicare will cover the appropriate one and not a manual wheelchair or power operated vehicle.

The critical documentation needed before you can obtain a cane or walker is a written, dated and signed order by the physician. You must present that order to the provider of the cane or walker, although a faxed copy will often suffice. The key is that this order must be dated BEFORE the purchase. At Capabilities, we do complimentary billing for Medicare, so you will typically pay for your cane or walker up front and we will submit the billing to Medicare.

As with the case of power operated vehicles, however, the physician’s records must reflect why you are in need of a mobility device. A clear diagnosis must be included in this documentation. Our billing office is in contact with the physician’s office to complete the documentation required before the claim can be submitted.

Be advised that Medicare has reimbursable limits for each item. In the case of a cane, for example, that reimbursement is $21.07. This amount usually represents only a percentage of the true price of a cane. A quad cane (with a four-pronged base) has a slightly higher allowable of $47.55. (Remember that these are current figures and are subject to change.)

Walkers are slightly more complex as there are many varieties. Medicare is most likely to cover a standard walker, or a standard walker with wheels, typically 3-inch or 5-inch wheels. There are rare circumstances when Medicare will cover a “rolling walker,” the type with four wheels, a seat and hand brakes. If your physician believes this is the only type of walker that will work with your condition, s/he will have to be very specific about the condition and why this is the only option. As with canes, the order must be written, dated and signed by your physician. We need the order in hand before we can sell you the piece of equipment.

It’s important to keep in mind that once Medicare covers one piece of mobility equipment, there must be a significant change in condition for Medicare to approve another claim for more mobility equipment. There are, of course, conditions whose symptoms progress dramatically, and in these cases the diagnosis and medical chart will clearly reveal the need.

Check future blogs for more information about Medicare.

Please email us or post your questions or comments regarding Medicare in general or if you have a specific question.

Count Me In

You see from our Breaking News headline today that we have great news about Capabilities. It was an incredible honor to represent Pam and our store in Atlanta at this huge Count Me In, Make Mine a Million $ Business event. The finalists, chosen from an applicant pool of 200, presented in front of several hundred women business owners, including judges from the Small Business Administration and other corporations. I am so proud of all that we have accomplished since our Grand Opening in September 2005.
Of course, we could not have done it, nor can we continue to be successful without all of you as our wonderful customers and supporters.

I want to tell you a bit more about the Count Me In organization. It’s the leading not-for-profit provider of online business loans and resources for women to grow their micro businesses into million dollar enterprises. Inspired by the passion of Nell Merlino, CEO, the organization sponsors other programs. Nell launched the Make Mine a Million $ Business program in 2005 with founding partner, OPEN from American Express, with the intent to help a million women entrepreneurs grow their businesses to $1 million or more within the next three years. In 2006 several leading corporations joined the effort: AIG, Cisco Systems, FedEx, Intuit and QVC.

There are over 10 million women-owned businesses fueling the American economy, employing almost 13 million people and generating $1.9 trillion in sales. The number of majority women-owned firms grows at around two times the rate of all businesses. However, when compared with men who start their own businesses, women’s businesses do not typically grow as fast or as large. While there are many factors, business experts site finding mentors and role models, and securing enough capital are the two major road blocks.

Nell Merlino, a successful entrepreneur in her own right and long-time advocate of women entrepreneurs, decided it was time to put a plan in place to help women break through to the next level. This is the third year Make Mine a Million $ Business has awarded women entrepreneurs mentoring, marketing and financial packages. The results are already impressive. For example, eight of the 2006 awardees already have reached the million dollar mark within one year of receiving their award package.

Much has been written over the years about the similarities and differences between men and women entrepreneurs. Our economy and society need plenty of both to ensure a constant supply of employment opportunities, innovation, and imagination. With organizations such as Count Me In, women entrepreneurs can get the leg up they often need to access resources and information so valuable to the process of building a business.

We are grateful and proud to be part of this growing number of women. We are committed, too, to continuing and strengthening our line up of products and services that support your needs and wish lists. Please email us with your ideas as we are always eager for your feedback.

Many thanks, too, to the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) for its support of the Make Mine a Million $ Business. As incoming Vice President of the Denver Chapter, I am honored to be surrounded locally with so many supportive and smart women entrepreneurs.