Economy and General Discussion

Wendy,

You are very sweet in giving me encouragement and your compassion.  Thank you  :-)

 He is in a very good small home facility and I signed off on the hospice thinking that his  status of being "stable" was kind of sold to me as a positive thing.  Very soon, his facility notified me that someone was coming to pick up the equipment he uses!  OMG!  he'd been on hospice for quite a while and I literally forgot that they were the ones that supplied all the medical equipment and the skin care givers each week.   I tried to undo it, but it was done.  Fortunately, there is another hospice company available that has clients who are also in end stages of life, but who have been on hospice for 5-6 years and they have evaluated him and will be back soon to reevaluate him for any changes (the "changes" appear to be the main driver for services and must be documented so that government physicians can audit/evaluate the patient via their paperwork).

As luck would have it, the very first weekend that he had been removed from hospice, an unfamiliar weekend caregiver let him fall in the restroom and my father had a very large gash in his forehead that required 7 stitches.  In a hospice situatioin, they would have sent a doctor to the home and stitched him up and then sent a nurse in for wound care until the stitches needed removal, which they would do at home.   However, they had to call the ambulance and he went to the ER where he and I hung out for nearly 6 hours.  He tends to get cold and needs sips of liquid, etc...  that only a family member would be able to anticipate.   I have no idea what/if there are charges.  He gets medicare and I was under the impression that it might be taken care of that way. ER visits are tough on anyone, but I really hate that my dad has to go thru such a process... I was so relieved when he was put on hospice, b/c I was assured he would not be going to the hospital again.

Thanks for your words of concern and if anyone has any questions about how it is to oversee the care of a loved one for years, financial pitfalls, how to get a diagnosis and placement etc... I would be happy to share.   I even have some darker stories how my brother and sister were stopped from stealing his money .  Yikes!   ~j