Seniors face health care, residential challenges By Laurelle Walsh The hard facts indicate that most of us will grow old. For the aging population, living in the Methow Valley presents unique challenges along with the blessings of being in this special place. “We didn’t think much about aging,” said former valley resident Suzanne Follis. “We were just happily living our lives.” Suzanne and Bob Follis moved to Winthrop in 1998, built a house in Wolf Creek, developed friendships and became actively involved in the community. Former performing artists, both Follises sat on the board of the Merc Playhouse and were instrumental in the formation of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Their lives transformed when in 2009 Bob was told he had Parkinson’s disease, followed shortly thereafter by a diagnosis of prostate cancer. “My life got smaller and smaller,” Suzanne said. “Everything was about focusing on Bob.” That winter, the two spent six weeks at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Hospital, where Bob endured daily radiation treatments. After they returned
home to Wolf Creek, Bob’s followup care demanded frequent trips to Wenatchee to see medical specialists. Driving home from one of those appointments in May of 2010, Suzanne fell asleep at the wheel and “ran into a rock wall,” landing them both in the emergency room in Brewster. “We survived it,” said Suzanne, but her crushed ankle would require two surgeries by an orthopedic specialist in Seattle, from which she is still recovering. “That,” along with growing concern from their two adult sons in the Seattle area, “was the beginning of the last straw,” Suzanne said. The Follises made the difficult decision to leave the Methow Valley. They sold their home in August 2010 and moved into an apartment community in Woodinville, Wash.
Helping seniors stay independent
Raleigh Bowden, physician and founder of the nonprofit Lookout Coalition – a Room One program designed to help people facing difficult health challenges stay in their homes – acknowledges the “gap” in specialty care for valley residents living with
chronic disease. “The health care scene is a real challenge here,” Bowden said. For people who have to make the drive to Wenatchee or Seattle, “sometimes it’s easier just to leave the valley.” More specialists now have office hours at the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Omak, and a cardiologist sees patients twice a month at Winthrop Physical Therapy, “but it’s not for emergencies,” Bowden said. “There is no after-hour care available in the Methow Valley, so people end up calling Aero Methow,” Bowden said, and often get the care they need in the emergency room. “I think more people could stay [in the Methow] … if we had a 24hour clinic,” a facility that is likely to develop in the next couple of years, Bowden said. Even procedures that most of us take for granted become complicated for the elderly and infirm. “I’m about to send a diabetic client to a podiatrist in Wenatchee just to get his toenails cut,” said Bowden. Bowden and two other health professionals donate their services to the Lookout Coalition, making home
Photo by Laurelle Walsh
Nursing assistant Heather Smith listens to Mountain View resident Doris Mack. calls and assessing clients’ needs, supporting the treatment plans of their physicians, and collaborating with other organizations. “We look out for people,” and
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10 HEALTH & WELLNESS