Yesterday I had a conference of sorts with my doctor and my daughter because she, my doctor, was concerned about one of my prescriptions and whether to renew it. Should I substitute one drug that could cover two I had been taking? Should we renew another of my meds for 90 pills or leave it at 30? Should I renew my anti-depressant though I risk increasing my propensity to forget stuff? I am still not sure we came to any conclusions. We later picked up four prescriptions at CVS including one no one admits renewing at all.
The Medicare Advantage plan that subsidizes my drugs also uses a mail order source that differs from CVS in that it mails the meds and generally in 90 pill increments. It sorts medicines by what they call tiers and that determines the price. Fortunately, I only have one in the expensive tier. I guess all together I take five or six regularly, a couple for emergencies, etc. I am lucky, taking meds can take up lots of time: maintaining connection with the doc and the pharmacist to get the med, making sure you keep your supply adequate, take the med after determining the day of the week and the time of the day it is due. And whether you take it before, after or with food!
I gave up driving last year when I turned 87 and realized that I was becoming that annoying driver who turned every trip into a slow moving parade of crawling cars in the fast lane. There wasn’t much doubt it was time. And I told myself it was no big deal, I’d spent the first 20 years of my life without a car. But not driving is not just not driving. It is finding substitute transportation. Rides with friends is helpful but you have to avoid overuse and are locked into their schedule. In San Mateo the city sponsors something called Get Around which is great; cabs for five dollars a ride for seniors. You can only do six rides a month and are limited to the local surrounding cities. And of course there is Lyft and Uber. If you do the math they are definitely cheaper than a car, gas, insurance and maintenance but it takes a while to get into that mind set. I am not there yet. Do I really believe I spent $300 plus a month to drive. I may have to set up a special account and verify.
Walking is good from most perspectives but problematic with back pain. Canes are useful but not dependable for balance. If you don’t have the kind that stand on their own, you risk creating a hazard for others and yourself to trip over. But they do announce your dependence and I find most people will give you a helping hand. The local senior center actually gives classes on how to fall without breaking something like a leg. I use my grocery cart for a substitute walker though I may need something sturdier soon. And the gizmos for walking make the car availability sometimes problematic. Not everyone has room in their car or trunk for your walker/rollator. I also find that my long dead mother walks with me to remind me to stand up straight as she did when I was a teen growing taller by the day. She is annoying and when I tell her to shut up, I get strange looks from passersby.
As your memory starts sliding your tasks become more time consuming, my meds now live in a shoe box. I could use pliers to open some of them. And I don’t like the ones that come in the bubbles. The best I can do is stab them with my letter opener but it is messy.
I don’t think I am whining, just pointing out some of the challenges of aging I hadn’t thought about before. Mostly it comes down to time. Aging tends to sap your energy and what took ten minutes now takes an hour and more preparation than before. That’s okay but I think I am going to get a credit card for idle transportation and take a cab once or twice a month somewhere I haven’t been in a while. Or maybe a bus trip to the city, I hear there is a great new park. Leave Mom at home! That’s the ticket.