“While the population is growing older we’re finding that more people need help and assistance in living independently,” explained Val Halamandaris, president of the D.C-based National Association for Home Care, which represents 6,000 home care agencies of the estimated 30,000 nationwide. “More people do want to stay at home. To keep up with that need, the home care industry needs skilled help; and skilled on a level to take care of chronic illness as well as the tasks of day-to-day living.”

Christine Correnti is moving to a condo this month in the town next door to the city she’s lived in all her life. She takes leaving the home that she and her husband maintained for 61 years in stride, just as she has taken much of her 86 years of life in stride.
“My children have been pushing me to go to the condo, and I know they’re right,” said the Bridgeport, Conn., native. “I’m here alone, and I don’t like to bother them. It’ll be a big change, but I’m not a complainer. It’ll be all right once I get used to it. I hope so, anyway.”

Gail McCauley, decorating columnist, answers questions selected from message posts in our Interior Decorating (AOL only) and Interior Decorating (Web) folders.

The only disadvantages to surgery are possible bladder dysfunction and slight vaginal shortening that occurs because of the removal of the upper

two to three centimeters of vagina with the cervix.

The surgical procedure itself takes approximately two to five hours depending on multiple surgical factors. Occasionally, it requires blood transfusion because of blood loss. Hospitalization is usually two to five days, again depending on the length of surgery and the health of the patient.

Follow-up usually involves care of the bladder and many practitioners leave a catheter in the bladder for it to heal as much as possible. This often takes up to three weeks.

External radiation therapy, with an implant, may also be a part of the treatment process. Radiation therapy and surgical therapy for early stage disease have approximately the same cure rates, and depending on their medical condition, almost all early-stage patients are offered either choice.

The chief disadvantages to radiation therapy are the large number of treatments necessary, the need for a radiation implant and the long-term scarring effects of radiation. Although for early-stage disease these are minimal, patients who receive radiation therapy have a certain amount of scarring for life, and in rare circumstances, may have enough scarring to require additional surgery and medical therapy. Finally, for many young patients, the disadvantage of radiation therapy is that it always destroys ovarian function.

There is controversy over whether patients with more advanced stage IB cancers should have surgery, followed by specimen analysis and then radiation therapy, or whether they should initially have chemo-radiation therapy, with or without subsequent hysterectomy.

Patients who are given these choices, who have been told they have a relatively advanced disease confined to the cervix, should always participate in this decision-making process. If possible, these patients should be considered for treatment under scientific protocols, or clinical trials, which are rigidly controlled studies of new treatments, to see if they are safe and effective.

These trials may offer patients a chance to benefit from improved treatment methods. The trials are almost always of benefit to patients who have this problem later.

The patient with advanced early-stage disease should seek a second opinion from another gynecologic oncologist if there is any doubt that the treatment plan fits her expectation of what is best for her. The names of gynecologic oncologists can be obtained by calling the Society of

A gynecologic oncologist should almost always treat stage I cervical cancer.The treatment options are usually radiation and surgery. Patients should never go from a diagnosis, which can be made by any healthcare provider, directly to treatment by radiation therapy. This practice was common decades ago, but now does not allow the patient the opportunity to seek options that a gynecologic oncologist can provide.

Cheri Voisine, 28, of San Francisco, Calif., opted for surgery after her freshman year at the University of Maine. At the time, she had an upper S curve of about 45 degrees and a bottom curve of 39 degrees. Doctors said both would likely worsen if she were to gain weight or endure a pregnancy.
“I was shocked,” Voisine said of the post-operative pain. “It was very, very painful. One month of debilitating pain.”

Q.Where could I find a list of all the autoimmune diseases? I read there are about 24 of them. Is that correct? Someone once told me I have an autoimmune disease, and I always wondered which one he was talking about. I have not seen this person since to ask him what he meant. I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis and anemia. Are these immune diseases?

Breakfast
1 cup bran flakes
Fresh peach slices
8 oz fortified soymilk
1 English muffin with apple butter

I have been fascinated to watch the explosion in television and print advertising that the pharmaceutical companies are doing to get directly to the American public.

When Fitness Management was still in the concept stage, we envisioned it as “the magazine for professionals in adult physical fitness.” We saw the need for professionalism in the industry, and knew a few good examples of it. We also knew that the word “professional” was not the first to occur to the public mind when the word “health club” was mentioned.