7-23-2021 Move to skilled nursing facility - starting a new chapter

 

(Marilyn's perspective)


We have spent several weeks of fighting with the insurance company and rehab facilities about where Linda should go to continue her recovery after being discharged from the hospital. The doctors wanted to send Linda to a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH), but the insurance company would only pay for a short-term stay at a skilled nursing facility. At the same time, we were turned down by one skilled nursing facility after another. They all said that they did not have the staff available to meet Linda's many needs. We weren't certain what our next steps were going to be--likely an expedited appeal to the insurance company to pay for an LTACH. 

However, we finally had some luck. One skilled nursing facility in St. Charles, Missouri--NHC Healthcare St. Charles--agreed to admit Linda. She was discharged from St. Luke's after nearly three weeks there, to the nursing facility yesterday afternoon. She spent the rest of the day resting while the facility staff completed her intake and initial assessments.  

Tricia, Ed and I spent some time making her room more "homey," with some of her things. The good news is that the nursing facility that accepted her happens to be only about 10 minutes from my house, which will make it so easy to visit her. 

When we left the facility around 7:00 p.m., we decided it was a good time to take a break after being immersed for so long in the whirlwind that is long-term healthcare. We went to dinner at a nearby restaurant, Gingham's, and it was nice to be doing something "normal" again, even if for an hour or two. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12-25-2022 Merry Christmas to all!

Image
(Tricia) Since Linda came home from the hospital in November, it has been much quieter than it was before she went in.  No more physical therapy, very few nursing visits. Hospice started up again two weeks ago, but Linda has turned down most services (such as the bath aide and chaplain). She has been telling us that she wants to rest, so we are giving her that. She does get up in her wheelchair almost every day, which at least gives her a change of scenery. Last Tuesday, we did take Linda to a previously scheduled doctor's appointment with a neurologist specializing in cognitive issues such as brain injury and dementia, at a practice is called the St. Louis Center for Cognitive Health. I almost canceled the appointment, because I didn't think much would come of it. But this was an appointment I had rescheduled after canceling one in July the last time she was in hospice (and I had made that appointment in March-- the joys of American healthcare). When I canceled the July appoin
Read more

3-24-2023 "Never Roger, always Ed!"

Linda's brain injury has brought with it a host of maddening symptoms, but one of the most prevalent is that it has made her not just unable to remember people's correct names, but at times seemingly unwilling to. This has been especially true for Ed's name.  For some reason, her brain is convinced that there are actually two males living in this house--one named Roger and one named Ed. When we ask her what each one looks like, she points to Ed and says, "They both look like him!"  And, of course, when we ask the obvious follow-up question, "Then why do you think they're two people?" she will respond with some version of "Their hair is different" or "They wear different clothes." We don't know where this comes from. We don't think she's connecting Ed to her neighbor in Mountain View or our cousin in Indianapolis (hello to both of you!).  But the mix-up has been there since she first started talking after coming out of
Read more

4-28-2022 Hospice is NOT "like a party"

(Tricia)   We are still struggling to establish a routine in our care for Linda at home. One hospice nurse told me that it is "like caring for a baby." I never had children, but it seems to me that elder care is a harder responsibility, primarily because of the emotional toll it takes. I would think that taking care of a child most often follows a hopeful trajectory, in which the child grows and becomes stronger. Taking care of an elderly adult in hospice is absent that same sense of hope because the trajectory is in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, the hospice nurse assigned to us told me with a smile, "I always say 'Hospice is like a party.'"  When I asked her to explain, she said, "It's a party because it's all about making your loved one comfortable." I know she was trying to be upbeat, but I respectfully disagree. Hospice is many things, but it is not a party.   Linda has been hanging in there, but she very much hates having to be &
Read more