Nothing going as planned….what to do

LaneyG

My husband is the Type 1 diabetic who has been stuck in hospitals since mid July. He went from home to ER, to a GPU, to home for 2 days, back to ER, to IcU and has been in a med surg bed since, a couple of weeks now. No surprise that there has been mor decline during this time. They could not find a GPU placement. They all declined him because his diabetes was so out of control by that point. The plan was to get the dementia meds working with the assistance of a psychiatrist in the hospital, and the diabetes under control. My initial plan was to get him back home but I’ve been convinced that MC is the way to go. Here is the thing. It has been and still is a very rough road. The hospital is telling me he no longer needs a GPU and can go straight to MC and that it would be better for him to eliminate a step. They say that the remaining behavior issues are environmental because he is confined to a room and of course he want to leave. There are parts of the day where he is so belligerent about getting out that they have security hanging out with him. Well a nurse from memory went to do the assessment during his worst time of day. Now they are balking as they are concerned about combativeness. I should get a definitive decision today some time. I have one more assessment lined up. Of course I’m concerned about how that will go. The social worker at the hospital is saying that if one of these places don’t take him he will need a Nursing facility. I don’t want this for him. I’m rethinking bringing him home with lots of help. Anyone been through this scenario? I know many of you out there are dealing with difficult to manage LO’s at home. Does anyone have their LO’s in a nursing facility? Looking for any words of wisdom. THANK YOU!

M1

Laney what a nightmare. The type 1 diabetes complicates everything I'm sure. Ask if there's a nursing facility with a MC wing and if so go visit it. I would not agree to take him home, That's what the hospital wants just to get him off their plate.

marier

I agree with M1 I would not agree to take him home. I believe you will be left hanging with no help.

jfkoc

My gut would be to have time to carefully select a facility. This is no easy task.

If a MC accepts him be certain to read the contract looking for the clause saying under what grounds they can kick him out.

NOTE: nursing care is not trained in dementia care!!!

I would not move him until I had talked with the Dr who cared for him in the GPU.

If you can afford in home care then that is what I would seriously consider. I say that because it worked for us here.

Iris L.

Lady Texan cared for her DH at home after he was discharged from a geriatric psychiatric unit. If her posts are still available, you might review how she managed. Her DH did not have Type 1 DM, however.

Iris

Jazzma

Can the hospital do anything to reduce his agitation? My DH was in the ER for 4 days and was out of control; memory care was not a possibility. Once he was placed in a private room where it was quiet, the lights could be dimmed, and he had a more consistent care staff he improved within days. I took him home rather than straight to MC because he seemed so much calmer. It didn't work, but having him more relaxed in the hospital made him acceptable to the MC facility.

Nowhere

My husband was accepted into a nursing home with a memory care wing when we moved from the west coast to the midwest. He didn’t require any nursing care, but they had a speech pathologist and physical therapist work with him because his insurance would cover it and they said it would help him acclimate and reduce fall risk. I wanted to decline, as he and I walk up to a mile a day and his brain can’t learn/recall the speech lessons, but it was pointed out to me that he enjoyed the interactions, so I agreed. In the end, I was eager to move him as the nursing home felt more like hospital than a care home. Many of his fellow residents had medical issues on top of Alzheimer’s and for them, this memory care wing with RNs on round the clock duty made sense. I might mention that the nursing home monthly cost was double his new memory care home.
Good luck!