Help how to help a family member get the care needed and where they want to go.
Posted , 2 users are following.
I need some advice my brother is hospitalized in a midwest rural county hospital. He is in a skilled unit with a plan to transfer him to a skilled nursing facility in 3 to 4 days once he meets a medicare requirement so Medicare will pay for the needed skilled nursing service. He is diabetic, has peripheral neuropathy, cerebral amoloyd angiopathy and has had strokes. The MRI he had on Monday which resulted in the hospitalization showed additional brain damage. I have concerns about him remaining at this hospital. This morning his blood sugar was 34 and then again this afternoon it hit 36 people interacting with him don't recognize his behavior as blood sugar related and waste time before checking it out.
.. I'm worried that there is nothing in place in case this happens again. An original plan was for him to be hospitalized at a local hospital with a stroke center. He is also in need of diabetic care to stabilize blood sugars and he needs wound care. The current hospital has no expertise in these areas and don't even carry the aqua gel that he needs for current open wounds. When I asked about a transfer to a hospital with a stroke center I was told "that should have happened yesterday." He can't transfer now because Medicare won't pay for his hospital care. I'm worried he won't make it out alive. I guess I wonder who can be contacted to make sure he is getting the care he needs for all of the health issues. Should i call every 4 hours to see how he is and remind them to test his blood. ?
Is there a way to push the issue of transfer to the hospital that will be taking over his care that is also a stroke center?
0 likes, 1 reply
MtViewCatherine 55nash
Posted
Hello Nash, my mother was hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis. While in the hospital, they were so negligent and stupid that the care caused her to relapse into diabetic ketoacidosis and she had a cardiac arrest. Its obvious she had ar least mini strokes because her (normally) dominant was weaker than the other side. Docs ran tons of tests but couldnt be bothered to notice this simple telltale sign of a stroke. The hospital was highly rated, however, my though after staying three nights with her were: ‘this is how you’d treat someone if you wanted to torture them, and if I’m this exhausted after three nights, she must be feeling horrible after two weeks!’
She went from hospital to a rehab facility.
We did everything right. My sister investigated rehab facilities and selected the one she felt was best. Upon arrival, my mother was served a lunch of a huge plate of pasta, garlic bread, ice cream bar, juice... pretty much everything a diabetic shouldn’t touch. I had to constantly send food back, as it was inappropriate for a diabetic.
She needed a ton of therapy and had to relearn mist everything. It would take her several minutes to answer even a simple question. She could not advocate for herself and could not make any sort of proper food choices. I had to buy foid and prepare it for her. I’d come back from the store and they'd gave fone anither TB test, or flue shot which she’d already had done in the hospital. They would give her fruit juice after her PT that would spike her blood sugar to 400. Seriously couldn’t leave her for a half hour! They had some of her neds wrong, (who takes 5mg of melatonin?!) and woukdnt change them untul the doctor was onsite on Thursdays. Then it took another 4 days for the meds to get changed. They dole out tons of pills to control pee, poo, everything, because they get paid by the pill. They want to flippin’ control everything! It was exhausting to try and keep up with the stupidity.
ANYONE WHO IS UNABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT ALONE IN A “CARE” FACILITY!!
The best things you can do are:
1) Research rehab facilities and find a reputable one. Visit and mske sure there isn't a lot of urin or other smells.
2) Stay with him. You will learn how care facilities work, this will help you navigate a lot of the medical pitfalls later, and you’ll learn a lot about hiw to best care for him.
3) While there, regulate his food. Make sure he’s getting lots of greens and lean protein.
I was told my mother would likely never be off insulin and would be lucky if she could get onto oral meds. Diabetes meds are insanely expensive. A month of meds supply after medicare and a secondary insurance still costs over $400!
I was incredibly fortunate that I have a good friend who constantly talks about carb counting, glycemic indexes, and other important factors for a diabetic diet. I made sure my mother followed a very strict dietary regimen, as needed to stabilize blood sugar.
The rehab facility refused to follow diabetic guidelines and tried to convince me that controlling diabetes with diet is ‘so old fashioned’ and that restricting food interferes with their quality of life. In reality, restricting food us a lot better quality if life than having to get poked 20 tines a day.
When my mother was tekeased, she came to live with me. The first thing I did was make her a big pot of kamb soup!
It was hard going. But I kept her on a modified gluten free Paleo diet. The gluten free is very strict. The Paleo was more flexible. With diet, herbs. Acupuncture and chiropractic, I got her off all the diabetes meds completely in six months! Its shocking how easy it was to get her bood sugar stabilized, and off the meds.
I eventually was able to get her off all the meds and her health is drastically better for the lack of meds!