Posted by Larry Hoover on June 5, 2006, at 14:10:46
In reply to Re: need » Larry Hoover, posted by TexasChic on June 3, 2006, at 19:13:32
> I'm sure you've given the details in the past, but I must have missed them. Do your parents live in the same town as you? And when you said the nurse said he didn't take all his pills, does that mean they have someone come by periodically, or are they in some type of monitored environment?
My dad lives alone, in subsidized housing. He has been a drunk for at least the last 63 of his 76 years. A grumpy old man. He must live alone, as long as that is possible. He would not be a good candidate for a nursing home. It's best that we keep him in his own little space, as long as we can.
We got it set up so a nurse comes in once a week. She lays out his meds in one of those organizer thingies, with the little cubbyholes. She'll draw blood, or check his blood sugar, or whatever. Assess his state of mind. Report back to his doctor (same family doctor I have, too, so we share info).
He lives an hour and a half drive away from me, slightly less from my sister. The only reason he's where he is is that there was a vacancy there. Either he took it, or he was homeless, until a spot closer in opened up.
The nurse called me, woke me up, last Wednesday. He had 3 of the 14 med cubbies still with pills in them. Two in a row, he missed, and one other. No wonder he felt sick. He had unexplained wounds on his legs and feet. He couldn't tell her how he got hurt. He falls. Hits his head, at least three times I know of. He's on coumadin (anti-coagulant), so if he bleeds inside his skull, they can't stop it. He had bleeding for three months, last year, inside his skull.
I think we caught him in time, now. The nurse was in every day, since that day last week. And a personal care worker every day, too. He sounds much better. He stabilized, with the extra care.
These services are free, in Ontario. You just have to squawk really loud, and they'll step up.
Chances are, he'll go back to once a week nursing, after he gets re-assessed by his case manager (also a nurse). When my sister gets home, we'll do that. And get the powers of attorney all set up. It's time, methinks.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:651018
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060604/msgs/653248.html