Reasons for LTC Rejection

Well, I finally quit playing phone tag with the Long Term Care specialist we have been dealing with, so I now know what the red flag was, or maybe I should say the accumulation of little red flags were.

The main reason I can not get Long Term Care Insurance is not that I have Essential Myoclonus, but my family history. It doesn't look good on paper, that's for sure.

Mama had some form of Dementia for over 10 years, at first diagnosed as Senile Parkinson's, but eventually she was medicated and behaved like someone with Alzheimer's. Her brother died of ALS, Lou Gherig's Disease.

And my Granddaddy on the other side of the family probably had Alzheimer's, too. I was so angry with my Grandmother for years for treating him like a child. Hindsight, a little age on me, and lots of experience dealing with two parents (my Mama and hubby's Pop) with Alzheimer's, lets me look at the situation with different eyes, and I think I have been unfair to her all these years. He DID act like a child.

Plus ... Daddy's sister lived her whole life with what might be diagnosed today as bipolar disease, having long bouts of alcohol and drug abuse, punctuated with times of great artistic talent and happiness. I remember her being in the psychiatric ward on the top floor of a local hospital sometime during my early teens. She was what people used to call a mean drunk.

Add to that my own Movement Disorder, Mild Sleep Apnea, use of a cane in unsure territory, unstable gait, slight swallowing problems, major digestive system problems, including severe GERD, Osteopenia, and who knows what else, and I can see why an insurance company would consider me to be a bad risk. I am not mad about it, or even upset. It was worth trying, and the agent really thought it might be possible, so I did all I could do.

But we are proceeding with getting LTC for hubby. It might be the difference in being able to keep the two of us together "until death do us part", and that sounds good to me. It's creepy putting that on paper, really thinking about one of us dying, but it's going to happen unless Jesus comes again first!!!

We have our wills in order, Power of Attorney's and Health Care Proxies are in place, and cemetery plots were bought many years ago. So we have done what we can to make this time easier on our children and on the surviving one of us.

I am thankful that I can look forward to many good years with my wonderful sweet hubby, who is life itself for me. We complete each other in a way that really makes "and the two shall be one" make perfect sense. We have two loving daughters, great son-in-laws, and three precious grandchildren. We enjoy life and each other.

Living right now, today, this moment, to the fullest ... that's what it is all about. We have done what we can to be the wise virgins who bought oil, trimmed our wicks, and came prepared for the wedding feast. The future will take care of itself.