Psychiatric hospitalization

Merla · April 9

so long story short I'm with my parent at a room in the er in the behavioral area. They are going to admit her. I'm wondering when is the best time for me to leave. I was waiting on the decision of the hospital on what they were going to decide to do with her and speak with the county crisis worker. I did this and now we're waiting for her to be admitted. It's the middle of the night. She ia sleeping And I am exhausted and honestly would like to leave and sleep. However I'm worried about her being disoriented when she wakes up. However maybe it is what it is and she is going to be irate and confused regardless of my presence at some point bc I will need to leave at some point. I'm just not sure what the compassionate thing is to do.

harshedbuzz · April 9

@Merla

I am so sorry you and your mom are at this place. You can't seem to catch a break. I sincerely hope the psych stay will lead to an effective plan to manage her anxiety and the behavior it's driving.

You've probably made your decision, but I would opt for getting sleep. It would not be an entirely bad thing if the hospital staff saw the confusion and agitation on waking up— it's useful information. It's kind of like when your car is making a funny sound— you want it to make the sound when you take it into the shop.

HB

pamu · April 9

Although you want to be there to support you mom when she wakes up - if it were me, I would go home for a little bit to rest. It's possible you could be waiting a long time for her to be admitted. Get some rest then either call or go back. This may be a long road so you'll need to pace yourself so you don't burn out.

Merla · April 9

I went home as they weren't going to have a room for her until the morning and as it turned out she still doesn't have a room. I just wanted to see her through the whole admission process and know the outcome of where she would be placed. So I accomplished this.

I already feel burnt out especially bc the hospital she is in the city so the drive needs to be well timed if it isn't going to be terrible and i also have my kids activities to be mindful of.

Quilting brings calm · April 9

The hospital may want you to curtail your visits while they adjust her medications. I’d ask before you drive in there.

Merla · April 9

yeah I am going to wait until she is transfer to the unit to consider visiting. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to visit her in the er. And they are actually really good about allowing me to talk with her compared to the last hospital. I feel pretty confident that this hospitalization will be more productive than the last one and I'm hoping it's not a terrible experience for her. It's good that I was able to take her to the hospital and see what it looked like and how the staff is and they all seemed good.

Merla · April 9

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/269941#Comment_269941

the er drs first examination was that she was not in crisis because it's not like she isn 24/7 crisis and she actually has a decent public persona when meeting people which cannot be held up for too long but long enough for a few minutes an er dr would see her.

the memory care director told me that I should try to leave her room for 15 minutes for them to see what the situation really is. And this worked like a charm in revealing the situation the memory care is dealing with. I did want to stay the night bc waking up is probably the most disorienting part of the day when in a new place but I was way too tired to sit in a chair all night and be able to drive home safely the next day. Supposedly the bar is high for someone to enter a psychiatric unit in my state but it seems like having an Alzheimer's diagnosis, the care facility saying they won't accept her back until seen by a psychiatrist and going ballistic on the er and demonstrating acute need for medication management is enough.

H1235 · April 9

So sorry you and your mom are going through this. I hope they are able to figure out some appropriate medication for her. What a way to start the move.

harshedbuzz · April 10

@Merla

Thinking of you and your mom today.

HB

Merla · April 19

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/270016#Comment_270016

Thanks! She is doing so much better. And the hospital doctors are amazing and the geripsych unit is as good as one can be given the population.

Psychiatric hospitalization

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