first visit to inpatient geri psych hospital to see Dad today

jen ht

Hello dear community,

This afternoon I get to see Dad for the 1st time at the geri psych hospital. I am glad to get to see him and much like going to MC I am wondering what might be awaiting me on the other side of that door.

He went Thursday during the night by ems transport from his MC. I scheduled this appt by speaking with his social worker Friday afternoon. She suggested that I ask to speak with his nurse today to ask what we are looking at in terms of his behaviors. So I called. She said he has been calm today and took his meds okay today. She added that the overnight nurse had to give him a shot of haldol because he was getting aggressive with staff. That was hard to hear.

The visits are only during specific times on 3 days (Sun, Wed, Fri) and for 20 minutes. Another social worker is present for the visits. I go this afternoon for our 1st visit.

Tomorrow will be my 1st conversation with his providers to hear about his current meds and an estimated discharge date.

I learned that they go through a med wash initially.

I hope he is doing as well as can be. I hope they are able to help him. I hope I can get through this visit okay.

Thanks for listening. Ugh. This is so hard. I have been managing mostly okay-ish so far, I think. I am definitely stressed though.

If you have helpful insights that you'd like to share, I would welcome your experiences. I know each pwd is different. I just feel like I am operating in the dark here.

I'm also thinking my notes here could someday give someone else in my current situation an example of a story of how one experience went.

Deep breaths. I will leave home to drive there in about an hour. It's in another city about 40 minutes away.

May we be well 💜

jht

April23

Oh goodness, I am holding a good thought for you today. Let us know how it went when you're ready to share. *hugs*

hhen

I hope things went well with your visit and that your dad is doing well. My mom was in two different behavioral health units, including geriatric psych. The limited visiting hours are tough for sure!

JulietteBee

Oh, @jen ht, I am so sorry to hear of your upcoming visit and the stress it is causing you. Know that you are in my thoughts today and, as already stated, please let us know how your dear Daddy is doing.

cdgbdr

Sending hugs. Please share here. I have always feared this with DH.

harshedbuzz

I hope the visit is reassuring for you both.

kath1054

I’m so glad you get to see him! Wishing you the best! I’ve recently moved my DH back to memory care after 2 weeks in the hospital and again experiencing issues with proper meds. What do you mean by med wash? I’m wondering if the our MC is doing that vs. saying his chart wasn’t pulling up, so the meds were skipped & his pain was sky high. This happened right after I moved him from home to MC in May, and again from the hospital to MC 2 days ago. BTW-I was caregiving for 6 years. When my DH had pain or had several strangers (fear) surround him, it sparked his aggression.

ARIL

Right here rooting for you and your dear father. ❤️

jen ht

Thank you all,

He was pretty out of it during our visit. He said a few phrases here and there. He has been that way off and on for a while now during our regular visits.

He was clean, which has not been the case at his MC on the weekends recently. I was thankful for that. (I changed him the other day bc the CNAs couldn't)

I will be anxious to hear the providers thoughts tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate your support.

@kath1054

for the med wash question - I also did not know at first and googled it: A psychiatric medication washout (or "med wash") is a medically supervised process of slowly tapering off current psychiatric medications to establish a true baseline of symptoms, clear drug interactions, or prepare for a new medication regimen. It must be done slowly under professional care to minimize severe withdrawal and destabilization risks.

Take care,

jht

jen ht

Hi,

2nd visit today (they are extremely limited on visiting)

Dad could not stay awake and is using a wheelchair now. 

They called me yesterday about a fall. I would imagine the new meds make him sleepy and unsteady. 

It's hard to know if this is an adjustment to meds that might fade or a new step in disease progression.

He wanted to tell me something, but as we've seen recently, he couldn't express himself. I just acted like I could understand him. 🥺

It's hard. 

Take care,

Jen 

ARIL

So hard. Thank you for letting us know how you and your dad are doing. We are with you.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276651#Comment_276651

Thank you 💜 *hugs*

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276656#Comment_276656

Two - that's hard. I hope they found something that helped her.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276666#Comment_276666

Thank you. I know you have a lot on your plate with your mom's recovery and recent move too. 🙏

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276667#Comment_276667

Sending hugs right back.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276674#Comment_276674

Thank you HB. Thinking of you and your mom too.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276675#Comment_276675

I hope he is doing better.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/276945#Comment_276945

Thank you, ARIL, for both replies. You are close in my thoughts too.

jen ht

Adding another update after yesterday's visit.

Dad was feeling so much better this visit.

He was walking with assistance from a caregiver and he knew me today. I could understand a few phrases here and there too. One that he said was "that's my daughter" 🥹

Monday is the discharge date plan.

His memory care has suggested that he may need a smaller environment now. Sounds like I need to add him to some waitlists. That will be a task for another week.

The constantly shifting sands of Alzheimer's.

I think this may mean that they think it is time for skilled nursing. The exchange was via email and at the end of the workday, so I decided I will figure that part out next week.

I was so glad to see him feeling better. And I also feel like I have another big "assignment" now.

As always, I appreciate you all.

I can visit him at the geri psych hospital again tomorrow.

Take care,

Jen

hhen

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/277113#Comment_277113

It's great to hear that he was doing better the other day! That must have been a relief. Sorry to hear about needing to find a different environment, shifting sands indeed.