The Agewyz Podcast

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Jennifer Schosheim is one of America’s low-profile but critical pieces of the healthcare puzzle delivering person-centered care outside the operating room. In today’s show, Jennifer tells us about her work counseling cancer patients and their caregivers, including parents of children who don’t know how to talk to their children about mom or dad’s cancer. A millennial in her early thirties, Jen has had conversations both with her patients and her parents about end-of-life issues. She tells us how to start the conversation, provides listeners with coping strategies and tells us what she does to seek balance in her own life amid the difficulties of her work. A Boca Raton, Florida native, Jen’s passion for oncology social work was sparked at a hospital in New York City, where she lived for several years before returning to Florida to be closer to her family.

Get free one-on-one support through the Cancer Hope Network: https://bit.ly/2I7jG

American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org

Lift chair recliners: https://amzn.to/2tcX8VN

Contact Jennifer: [email protected]

Music: “Dryness (wet mix)” by Ketsa | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive

Director and Creator Nell Bang-Jensen talks about her play “The Caregivers,” created in collaboration with Philadelphia-area home health aides, hospice workers and family caregivers, several who performed in the play. Part fantasy, part reenacted stories based on the caregivers’ experiences, the social practice performance piece recently ran at Philly’s Pig Iron Theater Company where it sold out all shows. Nell tells us what was fun and what was challenging about creating the piece, why it was important for her to pay the caregivers who performed in the show and how the audience responded. Her current focus: finding the next artistic home for “The Caregivers” now that the run has ended.

This episode is a follow-up to an earlier conversation with Nell; if you missed it, tune in here: https://bit.ly/2DMlRqK.

Learn more about “The Caregivers” - https://nellbangjensen.com

Watch the play’s post-show Q&A: https://bit.ly/2HPN9dA

Music: “Astrisx” by Blue Dot Sessions | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

In his new Young Adult (YA) novel, “No Sad Songs,” author Frank Morelli explores youth caregiving through the character Gabe LoScuda, an eighteen-year-old thrust into the role of caregiver for his grandfather when tragedy strikes the family. Gabe’s grandfather is a World War II veteran who has Pick’s disease, a form of dementia similar to Alzheimer’s. On the show, Frank tells us how watching his parents care for his own grandfather influenced the novel and about the deep impression left on him as a teenager witnessing the effects of his grandfather’s dementia. He talks about the humor, poetry and baseball woven into the novel, and about its big theme of repaying a debt. When he’s not writing Frank teaches eighth graders in Greensboro, North Carolina; although his goal with “No Sad Songs” was to connect with students everywhere on the issue of caregiving, he was especially pleased when one of his students arrived in class not with Frank’s book but with a book of Robert Frost poems.

Frank’s website: https://frankmorelliwrites.com

Connect with Frank on Twitter: @frankmoewriter

Connect on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2JkcaPM

Resources for youth caregivers: http://aacy.org

More about Pick’s disease: https://bit.ly/2JygWwg

Music: “Arashi” by Kakurenbo | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

Why are conversations about death so hard? And how can we learn to say goodbye in a healthy way? Author Julie Saeger Nierenberg explores these and other tough questions in her book “Daddy, This Is It: Being-With My Dying Dad.” On today’s show, Julie tells us how her father’s terminal cancer forced her to confront a host of end-of-life issues and led her to think differently about hospice care. She tells us why she believes the last chapter of life is as important as each chapter along the way, and about how she learned to say goodbye to her father in a healthy way in the last days of his life. Note: this episode originally aired March 9, 2017.

Julie’s latest book, “Journey’s End: Death, Dying and the End of Life” is available here: https://amzn.to/2x1sbsj

Explore her book, “Daddy This is It”: https://amzn.to/2mpE9V1

Julie’s website: https://bit.ly/2KMqD7c

What is metastatic cancer? https://bit.ly/2KLDK8P

Music: “Always Late” by Ketsa | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive

Filmmaker and visual journalist Sky Dylan-Robbins talks about her documentary short for NBC Left Field, “Millennials Stepping Up: How Will We Take Care of Our Parents?” At this pivotal moment in society, where in the next thirty years the population of Americans over age 65 will double, the video poses the question: Where do millennials fit in? It’s a topic that feels close to home for 29-year-old Sky; besides being intimidated by the prospect of preparing for her own aging, Sky wants make sure her mother is well cared for as she ages. Sky Dylan-Robbins is the founder of The Video Consortium; in In 2018, she was chosen as one of Forbes Magazine's “30 Under 30” in Media.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Millennials Stepping Up (NBC Left Field) 

Sky’s website 

Check out The Video Consortium 

Music: “Floppy Memories” by Dlay | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive

In 2007, television, film and social media producer Jen Vargas made a short film for Relay for Life, the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. A year later, the economy tanked and so did Jen’s career. Then her mother was diagnosed with stage one uterine cancer. Jen moved in with her mother and became her full-time caregiver, shepherding her through daily chemotherapy sessions when her mom (Pam) was later diagnosed with breast cancer. In today’s show Jen tells us what she’s sacrificed for the mom she calls her hero, why she started the #HiPam Twitter campaign and how her mother has inspired others. She reflects on the value of wandering around big box stores and finding like-minded friends who can help you out, and she tells us where her mom—who is recovering well—needs to be health-wise for Jen to feel comfortable taking a job out of state. Though Jen’s life is in many ways still on hold, she works on local film productions and has made some short films of her own. Three years ago, she became the first female Latina host of FilmSlam at Enzian Theater, a monthly competition featuring student, independent, low-budget and no-budget short movies made by Florida filmmakers. Tune in and get inspired.

Jen Vargas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenvargas

Facebook page for FilmSlam at Enzian Theater - https://bit.ly/2FZTlyV

FilmSlam ticketing: https://enzian.org

Jen’s short film “Relay For Life: St. Cloud” - https://vimeo.com/2734031

80-year-old Dr. Maxine Borowsky Junge explains why she co-wrote “Dear Myra, Dear Max: A Conversation on Aging” with her friend and colleague Dr. Myra Levick, who at age 93 now lives in an independent living community in South Florida while Max lives alone on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Born and raised in Los Angeles during the Hollywood Blacklist period, Max moved to Whidbey after retiring from Loyola Marymount University, where she was a faculty member and Chair of the Marital and Family Therapy/Clinical Art Therapy Department. In the show Max confronts aging stereotypes, she tells us why she has a problem with senior communities, why “life review” isn’t satisfying for a lot of older adults and why she gave up mirrors. Tune in for a compelling interview with this fierce, accomplished woman as she contemplates the next phase of her aging journey, which will involve leaving Whidbey Island but continuing to write and produce art.

For a transcript of this episode click here: Transcript

Explore the book: “Dear Myra, Dear Max”

Also mentioned in the show: Rollo May

Rudolph Steiner Inter-Generational Care Community

Music: “Discovery” by Jon Luc Hefferman | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

President Trump’s nominee to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, Dr. Ronny Jackson, just withdrew his name from consideration. But as the VA remains leaderless, the needs of military veterans and their families continue to mount. In today’s show we revisit an interview with Rosalinda Babin, the mother of one of those military veterans. Rosie’s son, Alan “Doc” Babin, sustained a near-fatal gunshot wound serving on the front lines as a paratrooper medic in the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division. Rosie shares the powerful story of how Doc clawed his way back to life after his catastrophic injury, how her family’s life changed and how advocating for Doc affected her own health. She also tells us about Help Our Wounded (HOW), the non-profit she founded, which grew out of her experience with Doc during his seven-month stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Rosie saw firsthand the many roadblocks military members faced in trying to get veterans benefits, and about how—fourteen years after his injury—her son Doc has defied medical expectations. Note: this episode originally aired August 17, 2017.

After eight years of service, HOW recently and reluctantly closed its doors; if you need help now, Rosie urges you to visit the National Resource Directory https://nrd.gov.

Music: “Burning Light” by Ketsa | CC BY NC ND | Free Music Archive

In an era when women were often defined by the work of their husbands, art psychotherapist Dr. Myra Levick earned three degrees, she helped found the American Art Therapy Association and she developed the widely-used Levick Emotional and Cognitive Art Therapy Assessment (LECATA). Now 93 years old, Myra recently co-authored the book “Dear Myra, Dear Max: A Conversation About Aging” with her longtime friend and colleague, 80-year-old Dr. Maxine Junge. In today’s show Myra talks about the book and about finding her way in a male-dominated professional world long before the birth of “Ms. Magazine.” She tells us why she declined the offer to live with her adult children after her husband’s death and about her life in an independent living community where she paints, edits a resident journal and has a group of friends who have become her surrogate family. Myra weighs in on how her generation is experiencing the aging process, she debunks some myths about post-75-year-olds and she tells us about her daughters, who are accomplished in their own rights and actively engaged in Myra’s life.

“Dear Myra, Dear Max" website

Also mentioned in the show:

“Being Mortal” by Atul Guwande

National League of American Pen Women: NLAPW

Juvenile Law Center: JLC

Music: “Turning On The Lights” by Blue Dot Sessions | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive

Los Angeles-based writer Lauren DePino has always had a soft spot for older adults. The death of her beloved grandmother hit her especially hard, but Lauren didn’t realize how hard until years later when she met 91-year-old Gloria Kessler, the grandmother of her ex-boyfriend’s wife. In today’s show, Lauren tells us about the weekend getaway to San Diego that began her unexpected friendship with Gloria and why meeting her felt like finding her grandmother all over again. She shares her story of escorting Gloria on a flight east at Thanksgiving, she tells us how people react to seeing them together and how Gloria wound up taking care of Lauren when Lauren was supposed to be caring for Gloria. Lauren wrote about her experience in an article for The Washington Post titled, “I Became Friends With My Ex‘s Grandmother-In-Law” (link below).

Article for The Washington Post

Lauren’s website

Music: “Welcome Home Sonny” by Blue Dot Sessions | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive