So anyway, speaking of aging, I got to spend Sunday evening with a delightful old guy named Steve — a spry, perfectly adorable gentleman with a Mike Pence hairdo who plays the banjo and seems to have...
Jumper cables and stethoscopes
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 14, 2016
After posing questions ever since the bitter childhood discovery that I would never be an astronaut or Bobby Orr, I finally got my answer this week. Why do I exist? To be the guy with jumper cables.
Lessons from an orphan
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 30, 2016
It’s a disquieting visual I can’t quite get out of my mind — a single hiking boot hanging from a trail sign. Even you, a crisis-tested long-term care professional, might feel surprised and...
The long-term care Walk of Shame
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 16, 2016
I’m not aware of any formal, airline-style elite upgrade programs for long-term care residents, but when the time arrives, I hope they exist — and that I qualify.
Naïveté solves all LTC-related problems, studies do not show
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 03, 2016
Next to a cozy blanket or mug of cocoa, nothing quite soothes the soul like the calming embrace of pure naiveté. Perhaps that’s why more than one-third of Americans apparently believe Medicare will...
The angry hippo writes
By
Gary Tetz
May 19, 2016
Don’t you just hate it when you’re having a bad, horrible, rotten, unpleasant day, when you’re maybe feeling a little irritated or resentful or hurt or afraid, and then somebody comes...
Abilify vilified
By
Gary Tetz
May 05, 2016
It’s been a tough few years for antipsychotics. I feel a little bad for them. So maligned and stigmatized. Now the news comes out that they might produce compulsive or uncontrollable urges regarding...
Anonyholics Anonymous
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 21, 2016
It’s about time someone is pushing back against all the vitriolic nonsense and baseless accusations people are willing to spew when they think no one will know who they are. Illinois lawmakers are...
Gum control
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 07, 2016
I’m not surprised dementia is now being tied to gum disease. I have long believed the mouth offers a convenient and unflinching window to the soul, and that everything important about someone can...
Spring up, down or sideways
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 10, 2016
Benjamin Franklin didn’t work in long-term care. Look it up. It’s a historical fact. If he had, his hair-brained daylight saving scheme never would have seen the light of day.