Baker Acted! Really need some advice/input or simply support

Caro_Lynne

Just to recap, my LO suffered vascular stroke March 2022, had craniotomy. Caused major cognitive decline, just like that!

I'm going to list the salient points. Last Sunday LO was trying to escape our house and go home. I tried to stop him, he became aggressive, neighbor heard me screaming and called police!

Police, EMS came out and as much as I begged them not to take him (he doesn't realize what he's doing) they Baker Acted him and took him to psyche floor of hospital. Broke my heart! Visiting hours are very limited; one hour twice a week. That's not where he belonged!

Fast forward to today; he was released and fetched him this morning. He is more confused than before; he needs assistance to walk; and generally is worse than before!

They stopped seroquel and put him on risperdal. Anyone have experience with risperdal and the effects on their LO? Are they zombie-like?

I'm so sad and no one really understands what I'm going through. I'm grateful my sons are close by and there for me. I hope this made sense as this group is my only outlet and source of real life information ❤️

M1

Oh Carol, I'm so sorry they released him so quickly; as hard as it is, in fact he may well have belonged there. Less than a week is not enough time for him to be stabilized on medication like that.

I had to hospitalize my partner last spring when she didn't recognize me and threatened violence. She stayed three weeks and was then transferred to memory care. The hospitalization itself was awful (they didn't give her her regular meds, but that's another story). So I empathize enormously. but: I would have a low threshold for taking him back, honestly. It may involve an ER stay, but I would strongly consider it. And don't agree to take him home until you are sure he is ready. Do you have POA? I hope so.

RickM

Carolynne,

A lot of people here understand what you're going through. I don't understand because this did not happen with my spouse but I did experience a similar situation with my father. I've learned that the emotions involved with caring for a spouse with dementia are very different from those when caring for parents. I'm so sorry for you and hope that you can stay strong.

I was fortunate that when we tried to move our father to memory care (he had agreed to do a trial period) and that "blew up" and we had to call the police, the small town that he was in did not have a psych unit. He was in the ER and, on advice from the Alzheimers Association's Help Line, which I can't recommend highly enough, I told the social worker at the hospital that I did not have a "safe discharge". They said "OK, we'll admit him for observation but you may have to pay out of pocket for caregivers to stay with him 24 hours. During this time I was able to get a second evaluation from a physician declaring him incapacitated and this activated our POA and I was able to identify and place him in a restrictive memory care facility directly from the hospital. (I have left out quite a few other "events" that weekend). BTW his Medicare Supplemental policy picked up the tab for the 3 days of observation.

I am not a physician so I cannot speak on the efficacy of various drugs. However, I do know that it's best to have a good geriatric psychiatrist evaluate and treat your DH...if you can find one. Over the years in memory care a number of atypical psychotics (as they are called) were "tried" with my dad. I think that they have varying positive effects and varying side effects which vary from patient to patient. It's best to work with a competent physician and hope that one of these medications can bring some comfort. Additionally, my dad was in a memory care facility that specialized in "difficult patients". They were very good at keeping my father comfortable and dealing with his difficult behaviors.

That being said, my father was very fortunate in that he could afford expensive memory care and even some out of pocket health care. But I've found if you are diligent you can find the care your DH needs. So don't give up. I remember feeling helpless and scared but I was able to find what he needed.

When he was just about to go in hospice care, to my surprise, he said: "thank you". It was surreal. This disease is crazy.

Best,

Rick

Caro_Lynne

Thank you both for your input as I know you can appreciate my situation. Fortunately I do have durable POA and am his HS. Few days before this incident, he had an MRI; have appt. at end of next week (that was the soonest time they could squeeze him in) to go over results and hopefully learn more about his condition.

It's just so difficult to understand how in five days of being in the psyche unit he is more confused, incoherent and talking nonsense than before. The neuro psychologist we visited is referring him to neuro psychiatrist that can adjust his meds if needed. So hard to know what the right thing to do is!

I'm not giving up on him and will exhaust all options available in order to keep him home. Ultimately I will do what is best for him. Thanks again for sharing your situations with me, it does help ❤️