Economy and General Discussion

Wendy and Peter,

I can appreciate your personal stories.  As Peter's story shows, there is a lot of money grabbing going on by individuals and situations which you might never suspect... and that can be a nasty suprise as you are dealing with someone in a health crisis.

My father has been ill with this disease for over 10 years.  When it was first diagnosed, they said... your father will live another 7-12 years.  And so far they are right.  So my dad has had some mini-crises (like the stitches) from time to time, but his decline has been in progress for many years.  The trick for me is to make sure I get him in the best facility for care, as possible as his needs changed.  He is now at this very quiet "home" near my house with 5 other residents and a couple of caregivers who are very dedicated.  The weekend staff changed, and when that happens, there are sometimes accidents .... So i try to find out about staff changes and give extra time to hang out and help them understand my dad's needs.  Hooking up with other residents' family members has also been a good strategy.  I love getting a call from one of them saying.... I stopped by today and I saw your dad doing such and such...  And I know they appreciate it when I return the favor.  In one instance, I got a heads up call that our facility would be closing down the alzheimer's wing and we would all have to find placements for our loved ones.   That call gave me a chance to start looking into a new place, while fighting with the facility to give us all more time to look.

The best resource was the Alzheimer's association.  Even if your loved one is totally sharp, the Alzheimer's association has free consultations with counselors who know EVERYTHING about eldercare issues and have a variety of community resources that you may not have even known about.  They also have moderated meetings in the community (like AA or other support groups) that meet on a monthly basis where you can get support and ideas from other families who are dealing with caring for a loved one.

The book "The 36 hour day"  was a helpful book for me in the begining.  It had a lot of the issues spelled out and i just remember referring to it a lot.  Things have settled down now, so as soon as I get this Hospice thing hooked back up, it will be quiet again until the next mini crisis  ;-)

It's a lot like having a very small child.  You have to constantly communicate with whoever is supervising them, you have to make sure they are safe, you have to know if they are getting themselves into trouble/in over their head etc....   I hope this helps a bit  ~julie