Category Archives: CvilleVillage Blog
from Cville Village members and contributors
Read up on your annual vaccines!
Here’s a tidy summary from the New York Times about vaccines that everyone over 60 (or 50) should seriously consider getting. Besides flu and the new, up-updated COVID-19 vaccine, newly reformulated to be a better fit for the major circulating strain, there’s a new guy in town: The RSV vaccine.
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, has long been a scourge of childhood. It’s the major cause of bronchiolitis, an inflammation of the small airways of the lungs that is quite common in kids. If you’re a parent, chances are there was at least one winter where you called your kid’s pediatrician and they said, “take them into the bathroom, close the door and run the shower hot.” The steam helps open those airways. Many, if not most, kids get RSV by the time they’re 2, according to the CDC. Being a viral illness, treatment is symptomatic and supportive, hence the stint in the hot shower bathroom.
A lot of us knew all that, but what we maybe didn’t know was that older adults and those with immune compromise or poor heart or lung function are also at risk, says the CDC here. It’s all down to our immune systems, which do not work as well as they did when we were younger.
All of these vaccines should be free for everyone on Medicare. And it’s important not to wait until the virus season kicks into high gear because you need a couple of weeks for immunity to build after the shots. The practice at our house is to get them around Halloween. But speak with your health care provider for any questions.
While you’re at it, if you haven’t had the newer shingles vaccine, called Shingrix, think about getting that one too, although not at the same time as flu et al. Shingles can strike anyone who has ever had chickenpox, no matter how many decades ago it was. And it can appear on any part of the body, including facial structures. It’s uncomfortable, but the real problem with shingles is post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN hereafter), which follows an episode of shingles. The main risk factor for PHN is, drum roll: increasing age. Estimates of PHN incidence, in other words the number of new cases in a given time period, are up to 30% annually in those over 80 years old. Read more here. PHN can be incredibly painful and last a LONG time. Shingrix is a 2-dose series and, as of January 2023, it’s free for Medicare recipients. Again, this is something to bring up with your health care provider.
Please feel free to comment!
Senior living for everyone
Once again, the Rest of the World wins when it comes to dignified, inclusive care for older adults.
Yesterday’s New York Times had this fascinating story of dementia villages – green, communal, non-institutional ‘microtown’ living for olders with, but also without, dementia. In Netherlands and Norway. And Australia, which is hardly a socialist paradise. They have supervised housing, shops, a movie theater, cafés, all open to residents and nonresidents alike.
We read there’s one being built in New Jersey, but we know that only the very well-off will be able to afford it. The article even quotes the founder saying essentially that it won’t catch on in the US because costs will have to be borne entirely by individuals rather than using the Rest of the World model where the government partly or wholly funds these villages.
The comments are enlightening, too. Happy 4th!
Annual report 2022-23 is here!
It’s been a very promising year. We recently compiled our very first annual report for Cville Village! For those interested, you may read it in full below or download it.
We’re excited for what the coming year will bring: a new website and, we hope, our long-awaited launch!
We’re back. Sort of.
Not promising any sort of regular posting at this stage, but taking a moment at nearly 6 weeks post-op to check in with this interesting take on estrangement of children from parents. A reminder never to assume because someone has grown children, even in the same location, that said children are available to provide companionship or assistance to their parents.
Moral of the story: We still need a Village!
A little update: while we wait to hear if we will get funding to launch in August, we have 4, possibly 5, new Planning Committee members who are working on our Volunteer and Member policies. The next Planning Committee meeting will probably be in July for everyone to meet everyone else whom they haven’t met yet. And our new logo is just about ready for introduction!
Onward!
Up from the fog to post for you!
Excellent piece in WaPo yesterday about the importance of social connections, especially if you live alone.
What happened to America? Our cohort responds. And we take a break.
In today’s New York Times, a report of an interview with folks in their 70s and 80s about the country, aging, what has changed over their lifetimes. Worth a read.
We are taking a break starting this week for a long-awaited surgical procedure. We expect to come through it just fine, but rehab will take some time, and strong pain relief will be required, which affects the ability to write coherent sentences. We hope to return at the end of May or so.
Enjoy the rest of our wonderful spring!
Where are we supposed to go?
So, in our Google Alerts yesterday, or maybe Tuesday, who remembers, was this. The way I read it, apparently we boomers are irresponsibly aging in our homes and making it hard for younger families to become homeowners.
(We do empathize with younger families. They have no idea what it was like to live in a country where the top marginal tax rate was 90% and public goods and services were adequately funded. It wasn’t uncommon for a family to thrive on the equivalent of one full time income. States funded public education and university tuition was affordable for most.)
Our point here, though, is: where exactly are we supposed to go to age? There’s an implication that because younger people need the space we live in, we ought to go somewhere else for our declining years. Perhaps some of us will want to do that but a senior community – or silo – is not for everyone, besides which not everyone can afford to buy into one. Look, our communities should support us to be where we’re comfortable (albeit not necessarily the comfort of the older couple pictured). And that support must include the practical help that a Village – Cville Village! – will offer.
Last one for this weekend
But importantly, it’s the voice of a lesbian who is wondering what’s ahead for her aging journey. It’s a well-written and very moving read.
Sen. Gillibrand has a 5-point plan
Nice to see she’s aware that seniors are having some issues. However, the most important point about all of this is not the plan but the fact that the source is the website of WENY, Elmira, NY, the birthplace of Your Editor. This will give you, dear Readers, the opportunity to also read about Horseheads Man Stuck in Creek… and Bath Man Arrested… Enjoy!