I Have a Relative With Dementia
Mom is back in the hospital after nearly a week of antibiotics for a UTI. Unfortunately, she wasn't getting any better. The manager at her facility said that Mom had made a break for the front door three times, quite an accomplishment for a 91-year-old with a walker who could barely stand up last week.
Further, more careful, testing has shown that she doesn't actually have a UTI, though. Her creatinine levels are moderately high, suggesting the problem may be her kidneys. Other blood numbers suggest that she may have a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is odd, as she takes a supplement for that. Her glucose levels, normally well controlled, are also high.
It's amazing to me. Some people scrap their ankles on a branch and — bam! — they're dead. Mom just keeps hanging on when I know she isn't happy and would rather just be done. She has a DNR, but we've never had an incident when that was a factor.
I'm likely going to have to see if I can get her qualified for Medicaid so we can move her to a skilled nursing facility, which may be problematic. She receives a stipend from the VA that only applies to assisted living facilities, so it goes away if she moves to skilled nursing, but what she has received counts toward her total income, so she may have made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. I've been trying to manage her finances, but there's only so much I can do. We'll have to see how it goes.
For most of the past week, Mom has been insisting that she wanted to go home. When told that she was at home, she insisted that she wasn't, even though all of her stuff was there. The other day, rather than pulling the cord to call the staff, she just lay in her bed yelling, "Help me! Help me!" When the staff came, she told them that she needed help getting into bed — while she was in bed.
And now the doctor wants to talk to me about hospice. All righty then....
Further, more careful, testing has shown that she doesn't actually have a UTI, though. Her creatinine levels are moderately high, suggesting the problem may be her kidneys. Other blood numbers suggest that she may have a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is odd, as she takes a supplement for that. Her glucose levels, normally well controlled, are also high.
It's amazing to me. Some people scrap their ankles on a branch and — bam! — they're dead. Mom just keeps hanging on when I know she isn't happy and would rather just be done. She has a DNR, but we've never had an incident when that was a factor.
I'm likely going to have to see if I can get her qualified for Medicaid so we can move her to a skilled nursing facility, which may be problematic. She receives a stipend from the VA that only applies to assisted living facilities, so it goes away if she moves to skilled nursing, but what she has received counts toward her total income, so she may have made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. I've been trying to manage her finances, but there's only so much I can do. We'll have to see how it goes.
For most of the past week, Mom has been insisting that she wanted to go home. When told that she was at home, she insisted that she wasn't, even though all of her stuff was there. The other day, rather than pulling the cord to call the staff, she just lay in her bed yelling, "Help me! Help me!" When the staff came, she told them that she needed help getting into bed — while she was in bed.
And now the doctor wants to talk to me about hospice. All righty then....
61-69, M
