Monday.....arrived to mom snoozing - let her sleep a little then I woke her with a Starbucks carmel machiato..she was excited. She seemed clearer today than yesterday, very refreshing as I was feeling a bit discouraged yesterday. She did look at the clock and say "I don't want to go at 10" I asked where and she said "therapy"...I reminded her that this was her ticket to get out of here. She reminded me that she gets therapy 2x a day and it is a lot of work. Before long in walked the therapist and my mom was not happy but got up anyways.
Today I did not hear her say "am I done", "can I be done" very often - I reminded her that she sounded like her grandson complaining so she stopped (after rolling her eyes at me). The therapist was good about pushing her a bit past her comfort zone. She lasted longer today....25 minutes versus 10 yesterday. Also this therapist tested her ability to be without the oxygen. My mom has been on quite a bit of oxygen and she will have to wean herself before she can go home....this therapist turn it off and challenged my mom to keep her O2 number above 91...once she got the hang of it she did get it up there. Then she had her walk...wow my mom walked the equivalent of about 1/2 a block with a walker. Way to go mom. The therapist was happy too. We wheeled her back to her room and she rang for the CNA to help her climb back in bed. I thought it was fair for her to have a nap and then she would be up again for lunch and afternoon therapy and then up again for dinner. Talked to Sonia and she said that mom ate a little at dinner. My mom told me that most of the food turns her stomach just by sight. I can appreciate that it doesn't look too appetizing. I think we have to find the stuff she will eat besides yoghurt...she did tell Sonia that danish cheese sounded good.
I talked with Deborah tonight, she is the clinical nurse specialist for geriatrics at Kaiser and a good friend. She asked how things were going at the nursing home - so I told her about what I had observed and been told from Sonia - how my mom can ring her buzzer and no one comes or they stop by and then go away with out helping her. She asked me if I had talked to the dietician about my moms lack of food consumption....she said that it is wrong that she is not on a liquid protein drink by now, that her call button isn't always within reach, that the staff mistakes my mom for past patients. We talked about how this is a "good" nursing home how must the others be? Again it is like the job of childcare workers...pay very little for the love and care of someone else's most precious cargo - it is almost a crime how little CNA's and childcare workers get paid...and benefits -hahahahahahahahahaha She told me that I should talk with the manager or the ombudsmen. I told her that I would be worried about talking negatively because I would be afraid that they would take it out on my mom. But it is sad. Another thing I thought was interesting when I was checking their website - they do not take long-term insurance.....my insurance guy made it sound like you could go anywhere as long as you had long-term insurance and this place doesn't take it....then where do you go????? Just think if the supreme court decides not to support the healthcare plan...then millions more will be uninsured then what will happen to our nursing homes....?? With no money to help people pay for nursing care...where will they live? Scary. I know that I want the best for my family and believe that we all deserve to be taken care of in a dignified maner.
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