Change your lifestyle and change your lifespan. John Part 1
Take advantage of your Medicare Advantage plan to maximize your benefits and improve your health on Medicare.
I spoke with a good friend who lives out of state in New Mexico about changing his lifestyle at 69 to help maximize his time left on this earth for his family and kids.
Like many of us at retirement, he just planted himself and let life take over. We stopped being in charge of your mental and physical health.
John is overweight and has bad knees and hips. His balance sucks. He drives for a ride-share service to have something to do, so he sits all day in his car.
In his two-story house, John has to go up and down stairs backward due to the lack of core stability and leg strength. He must use the handrail to climb stairs for stability.
He rides an indoor recumbent bike but hesitates to bike outdoors due to the fear of falling. He has zero flexibility in his back, neck, and hips. He cannot stand next to a bike and swing his leg over to mount it due to the lack of strength and loss of hip flexibility.
We had not talked in a few months when he mentioned he had lost 50 lbs. by eating one Mexican Food meal a day.
I asked him if he was serious about getting healthy. He confirmed he was, so I had him pick up a fitness tracker, a Garmin VivoActive 5, that also measures and tracks health metrics, including sleep, steps, HRV(heart rate variability), resting heart rate, SPO2(oxygen saturation—can be an insight into sleep apnea), respirations, and more. See my separate post on Fitness Trackers.
Below are current totals from a few metrics my Garmin tracks yearly.
He received that watch, and I walked him through setting it up over the phone and using it to track exercise, such as an outdoor walk with GPS tracking and an indoor bike ride without GPS and data connection to his bike from the watch.
I reviewed the Garmin Connect app with him so he understands the “Garmin Vivoactive 5 System” and how to review his health metrics.
He has information on a Paleo lifestyle diet but has yet to commit.
Next, I gave him homework to review his Medicare Advantage plan online to familiarize him with his portal. From there, I will Zoom with him to review his plan and see how to get the most out of it from both a Service and a Reward standpoint.
To see how to maximize your monetary rewards(free money), this link to DHS https://downhillslide.life/2024/07/30/free-money-in-retirement-for-being-good-medicare-may-pay-you-up-to-170-to-be-healthy/
So, John’s main issue stopping him from being more active is his lack of strength, flexibility, and balance. From a Medicare standpoint, he is having problems with some of his Activities of Daily Living.
His issues with “Activities of Daily Living” are on the Mobility Ambulatory front.
Here are the five main areas of ADL as explained by WebMD:
Ambulating. This includes the ability to walk, sit, stand, lie down and get up, and climb up and down stairs, both inside and outside your home.
Grooming. This includes all activities necessary to maintain personal hygiene, like brushing your teeth, bathing, shaving, and hair and nail care.
Toileting. This includes the ability to control your bladder and bowels (continence), use the toilet safely, and clean yourself after use.
Dressing. This involves the ability to dress yourself properly, including using buttons and zippers.
Eating. This includes the ability to use cutlery and feed yourself.
(https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-are-activities-of-daily-living )
Now, we are working on getting him to review his Medicare Advantage plan to see what physical therapy benefits he has and getting him into physical therapy for strength and flexibility training.
With his Medicare plan, he has free gym access, but he needs help gaining the ability to work out independently.
The goal for John is to get referred for 6-8 weeks in PT (paid for by Medicare – minus his CoPay amount per visit) to help him make safe, guided advances in his physical fitness, Strength, and Flexibility at Physical Therapy.
For those unfamiliar with Physical Therapy, it is based on what your PCP has written as the issue(s) to work on, e.g., balance, stair climbing strength, or flexibility to help you tie your shoes.
Your PCP can write up to 3 days a week for several weeks. Mine have always been 6-8 weeks, 2X a week.
Every time I went, if there was still work to do on me (documented range of motion, strength, not back to normal), after the first 6-8 weeks, they could request that Medicare extend treatment, giving you almost double (an additional 6-8 weeks) if approved.
The physical therapist will take your history and evaluate you in many different ways. They may (depending on your issues) measure your range of motion(angles) of both arms/shoulders and hip flexion…. Then, compare this data to the general population of your age group. Show Hip Range of Motion from Spooner if possible.
Starting with stretches and strength exercises, concentrating on the target areas, they will add more reps/weight and new exercises to build strength and stability in the areas of need. Most of these exercises will be body weight, large rubber band, simple hand $10-$30 hand weight, or even a whole “can” of soup can be your weight.
Depending on your PT facility, they may have free weights and some machines, including bikes, steppers, and treadmills. Tell your PT what exercises you are doing or plan to do, both in the gym and outdoors, and they will make sure you have a plan down to sets/reps for a specific piece of equipment in your local gym that Medicare covers under your Renew Rewards Program.
This is the road map for navigating this sometimes-daunting process.
START HERE:
1. Make an appointment with your PCP(Primary Care Physician) for your annual physical if you are due. (You should have a standing appointment EVERY YEAR for your physical) See my article about why yearly exams are critical: https://downhillslide.life/2023/09/14/your-health-past-50-and-beyond-bad-news-does-not-get-better-with-age/
2. Come in ready with a list of Daily Activities you are having issues with, such as walking, Stairs, Biking, Falling, and Balance. Strength, Balance, and Flexibility are the major causes of injury in older adults, leading to falls.
Easy Right?
Activities of Daily Living are a big issue for Medicare and should be for each of us as we age.
Many PT programs can help with all those issues, but they require work on your part.
TINSTAAFL(Tin-Snaffle) = There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
This is NOT “take a pill” for that. It’s hard work, pushing yourself, and probably some pain. You did not get out of shape overnight, so don’t expect overnight success.
It takes dedication to make health the most essential thing in one’s life. Without health, nothing else matters.
Make that appointment with your Primary Care physician today. After you hang it up, make that list of activities of daily living you are having issues with.
#MAHA