Special Sections

1777-A Capitola Road, Santa Cruz 95062 www.seniornetworkservices.org A Nonprofit Community Agency Santa Cruz County's Official Information & Assistance Provider call: 831-462-1433 email: info@seniornetworkservices.org Unbiased, No Cost Medicare Counseling Santa Cruz call: 831-462-5510 San Benito call: 831-637-0630 email: hicap@seniornetworkservices.org Shared Housing I Housing Navigation I Home Help call: 831-462-6788 email: housing@seniornetworkservices.org Respite Registry I Respite Grants call: 831-462-0880 email: respite@seniornetworkservices.org SENIOR NETWORK SERVICES Peggy Pollard, Teacher www.PeggyDance.weebly.com Santa Cruz Waltz & Swing In-Person & Online Dances & Lessons Waltz Tribe membership Grow your mind, body & soul Dance to music you love Sign up Now for upcoming Classes! S N O I T C E J N I C I G O L O I B www.trilogymedical.net Soquel: (831) 600-8117 4105 Soquel Drive Home With A Reverse Mortgage By Donald Dimitruk, RFC ® RMA Reverse Mortgages have become better under- stood and more consumer friendly over the past 15 years so don't be surprised if you or someone you know is confronted with the situation of settling the family estate and inherit- ing the family home that has had a Reverse Mort- gage on it. There are many factors that are unique to each family but there are really only three options available when it comes to what to do about the Reverse Mortgage. You can pay off the mortgage with the other holdings in the estate or your own funds. You can pay off the bal- ance of the Reverse Mort- gage with a new forward mortgage. You can pay off the balance with the proceeds from selling the house. The option you pick largely depends on whether or not you want to keep the home in the family or if the home would make a good investment for generating rental income, an alter- native retirement plan for yourself. If the house is in very good shape the first two options would be your focus and a standard for- ward mortgage should be in reach because Reverse Mortgage loan balances are generally low compared to the overall home value. That is because the original loan amount started below 50% of the total property value to begin with and remember that all the re- maining equity and all the future equity belongs to the homeowner. This can make the refinance to a forward mortgage easy weather you will occupy it yourself or you plan to make it a rental. If the property has not had the necessary upkeep and is in need of expensive upgrades or repairs then selling is really the only option that makes sense. A unique aspect of the Reverse Mortgage Note is that it is a non-recourse loan. This means that the mortgage repayment amount can't exceed the proceeds from the sale of the property. If there is a mortgage balance remaining after the sale of the property, the estate of the homeowner isn't held responsible for that amount. There is no hurry to make this sale as you will have six months to sell and if you are having a difficult time because of some unforeseen bad housing market, just as Murphy's Law would have it, you may request a three- month extension (twice) with proof of a listing agreement with a Real Estate Broker and continue to do your best to find a buyer. You may not end up with the house but you will not inherit any debt either. Here is an interesting twist. With good health and active lifestyles many seniors are living well into their 90s and beyond. This means that their children could be in their 60s and could possibly get a Reverse Mortgage of their own to replace that of their parents. They would have to move into it as their primary residence but then they would be inheriting not only their family home but one with "No monthly payment for life" as well and turn their existing home into a rental to subsidize the tax and insurance expense and build a larger Real Estate portfolio for retirement. What a concept! Donald Dimitruk is a Registered Financial Consultant ® and a Reg- istered Mortgage Advisor and is available for a FREE consultation about how a Reverse Mort- gage may benefit you at 831.464.6464 Can Allergies Be Cured? By Dr. Jeff Lester, D.O., Medical Director of Trilogy Medical, Inc It's springtime and along with all of its beauty comes the notorious pol- len associated with allergy season. The sneezing, blowing, coughing, head congestion and eye water- ing can cause many peo- ple to feel miserable. But why do many people not react at all? It has to do with an immune threshold. The lower the threshold, the more symptoms get triggered. The higher the threshold, the less reactive the immune system is, leading to minimal to no allergy symptoms. Breaking through the im- mune threshold can lead to the body's release of histamines, cytokines and leukotrienes, resulting in the allergy symptoms. Any medical system that can raise the immune threshold can reduce the tendency for allergies, often for many years. Allergy shots try to stop the immune system from reacting to specific types of pollen by desensitizing the reaction. While it can lower the immune response to allergens, it also requires years of weekly or monthly shots. Allergy medications subdue the histamine-type chemicals that have already been released. Because they suppress the system, they often come with side effects like fatigue and grogginess. At Trilogy Medical we use two time-tested systems that are gentle yet effective: Constitutional Homeopath- ic Medicine and Classical Chinese Medicine. These can both raise the immune threshold to alleviate the tendency to have any allergy at all, whether from pollen, tree spores, food, dust or animal dander. Imagine never reacting to the allergen in the first place. Then there is no need for suppression with a drug or desensitization with hundreds of immune injections. Our approach is natural and long-term, leaving you with a cleaner, sharper, more balanced system. The word "constitutional" refers to treating a person at a deeper level, affecting and powerfully tuning both the nervous system and immune system so that they work in better har- mony. At our office, your allergy treatment would start with a thorough consultation to find the homeopathic medicine that best matches your symptoms and your underlying constitution. Homeopathic medicines are all natural, FDA ap- proved, easy to take, and inexpensive. Anywhere from 4-6 homeopathic medicines will often be tried in sequence until the strongest one is found to raise your threshold the highest. Once found, we keep you on the same homeopathic medication for 6-12 months until the immune threshold remains in the highest state. At that point, your tolerance for many things improves significantly. The healed state can last for many years, and in many cases permanently. In a similar way, acupunc- ture and Chinese herbs can bring balance and clarity to the immune system, thereby reducing allergy symptoms and healing the system organically. The same principle can be used for asthma, chronic sinusitis, migraine head- aches, eczema, dermatitis and even mild cases of seizure disorder. When the threshold of the immune system and nervous system is raised, these conditions do not get triggered. This becomes the cleanest and most elegant way to work with the body to achieve excellent health. Athletes often greatly appreciate this type of treatment since the effect is so clean. Men- tal sharpness and stamina improve as physical symp- toms disappear. Children can perform better in school when the brain and head are clear. People often become less irritable, more productive and easier to get along with when they feel better. Sleep can improve when nasal congestion is reduced by reducing the tendency for the immune system to respond to an allergen. Neuro-immune balance through Constitutional Homeopathy or Classical Chinese Medicine just makes life better. Dr. Jeff Lester, DO and Amber Weiss, PA-C, LAc provide these services at Trilogy Medical in Santa Cruz. Check out our services at www.trilogy- medical.net and watch our videos under Resources "Watch Trilogy Talks" (or www.trilogytalks.net) to hear our patients' amazing results. To see if we'd be a good match to work to- gether, call us at 831-600- 8117 for a free 10 minute consultation or come visit us at our beautiful office at the corner of Soquel and 41st Avenue.

• Cover