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PUMPING IRONY: Faulty Connections
By Craig CoxThe current pandemic has sparked a boom in telemedicine, but a new study notes the many reasons why it’s not a viable option for many seniors.
Department: Pumping Irony
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PUMPING IRONY: The Kids Are Alright?
By Craig CoxSome evidence suggests that young people are carrying the virus into their multigenerational households, triggering the pandemic’s recent surge. Does that mean we should cancel visits from our grandson?
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PUMPING IRONY: Calm Amid the Storm
By Craig CoxA pair of new studies suggests that my geezer compatriots — those of us who are still alive, anyway — are actually coping with the pandemic a lot better than you might expect.
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PUMPING IRONY: Wedding-Bell Blues
By Craig CoxOur daughter is planning a big wedding this fall, despite the surging pandemic. This is forcing her geezer parents to make some heartbreaking decisions.
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PUMPING IRONY: A Painful Transformation?
By Craig CoxMy neighbor’s long-sought surgery tempers my desire to see COVID-19 remodel the American healthcare system.
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Haunted Housing
By Craig CoxUnlike residents of government-regulated nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, seniors in public housing have had to deal with COVID-19 on their own. It’s not going well.
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PUMPING IRONY: Dwindling Options
By Craig CoxThe recent shuttering of the clinic we’ve relied upon for years reminds me of the many ways the pandemic has hindered access to healthcare across the country.
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PUMPING IRONY: What, Me Worry?
By Craig CoxRecent research suggests that guys my age and older need to ramp up our anxiety about the pandemic even though we’ve long been told that a carefree approach to life is what keeps us healthy.
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PUMPING IRONY: Hoping for the Best?
By Craig CoxYou’d think geezers like me could rest a lot easier once a COVID-19 vaccine comes down the pike, but experts suggest it may not work much better than the annual flu shot.
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PUMPING IRONY: Crime and Punishment
By Craig CoxWith our grandson suddenly testing boundaries — and challenging our rusty child-rearing skills — we find ourselves hearkening back to some time-tested wisdom.
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PUMPING IRONY: Risky Business
By Craig CoxAlready struggling before the pandemic struck, assisted-living facilities are hanging on for dear life — just like their residents.
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PUMPING IRONY: Distant Relations
By Craig CoxThe modern nuclear family liberated us from the stifling constraints of the traditional multi-generational household, but it has exacted a painful toll on the elderly and is gradually losing its luster.
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PUMPING IRONY: Safety First?
By Craig CoxRegular visits from our grandson have suddenly required more careful consideration even as the lessons he teaches us become increasingly more poignant.
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PUMPING IRONY: Coffee Klatch
By Craig CoxRitual can help ease our anxiety during uncertain times, even if it involves grinding your own beans.
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PUMPING IRONY: Season’s Greetings
By Craig CoxWho knew that our springtime of social isolation could spark so much conviviality?
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PUMPING IRONY: Falling Apart, Coming Together
By Craig CoxA brief outing to the grocery store demonstrates how the current pandemic can both test and heal us — if we remain open to all its lessons.
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PUMPING IRONY: The Confinement Conundrum
By Craig CoxThe COVID-19 pandemic is forcing millions of elderly Americans to stay at home, where they’re forced to confront another major health challenge: loneliness.
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PUMPING IRONY: Life, Death, and Language
By Craig CoxWords matter when you’re facing a serious illness, and the traditional “risk-versus-benefit” approach to treatment options doesn’t always lead to the healthiest choices.
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PUMPING IRONY: Drink to Your (Brain) Health?
By Craig CoxRecent research suggesting that poor hydration may be impairing cognitive function in older women has me wondering why thirst-averse geezers like me are somehow spared.
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PUMPING IRONY: Medicare Mischief
By Craig CoxA recent shift in Medicare reimbursement policies is roiling the home-healthcare industry. It should give pause to folks banking on a single-payer solution to our busted system.
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PUMPING IRONY: Life Everlasting?
By Craig CoxA renowned genetics pioneer argues that medical advances will someday allow humans to live well past 100 years. I can’t help wondering what would be lost in the process.