My dad can perform no ADLs, is totally immobile, and yet, every few days he still manages to "fall." When he is finished eating (which is about 5 min. from when they take him to the d.r. in his wheelchair), he wants to go back to his room IMMEDIATELY. If they don't take him, he is able to scoot himself an inch at a time to the edge of the wheelchair, and he lands on the floor. If he hits his head, they have to take him to the ER. The hospice nurse told me that even though he is at "end of life" he's not at the final part, and she thinks he's many months from the end. They cannot use any sort of restraints because he is in an ALF, not a SNF and it is illegal. Isn't that special?

In our state, physical restraints are not allowed in SNFs, either. Nor in AZ.

Years ago they used to be able to put restraints on people and it was so overused that they finally made it something that couldn't be done. There were some studies on the subjuect that indicated the injuries from people with restraints were far more serious than the injuries from persons without restraints. Those studies were done a couple of decades ago.

Just imagine your LO inching down in his wheelchair underneath the restraint and then falling..the wheelchair comes down on top of the patient. The patient's ability to fall free is hampered by the restraint and they are actually more damaged than they would be otherwise.

I know it seems counterintuitive.

Here's to no falls....we had two here at home yesterday, but no injuries.
Dek is so at rist even using a walker that at his Adult Day Program they don't let him move without a two man assist. He calls it "going horizontal." His legs become rigid and the top of him keeps moving.

Pat, in another post you said you have two mornings a week off. Does your LO go to an adult day program? They are wonderful. Dr. Leverenz suggested Del go 5 days a week. Del has refused 5 but has agreed to up his once a week to 2 times a week. It is a start.

Nan -66- Del--74 dx, PD in '99 and PDD in '10

Nan, I wish we had an adult day care program here but we don't. I'm not sure my husband would consent to go, at any rate. When he was briefly in a dementia facility last summer he refused to participate in most of the activities and just stayed in his room.

I have a male caregiver from an agency who comes on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 8AM to 12noon. We pay $18/$20 per hour which I think is awfully high because I have him fed, showered and dressed before the cg arrives but I really need the time off for shopping [he's not able to go with me any more because he can't walk more than a few feet] and just to have some time to myself. If it's nice, I go hiking--that's my favorite!

We started having a woman come in 9-1:00 on Wednesdays, we pay $27.50 an hour. Frank is showered, dressed, has had breakfast and I have his lunch ready. They go for a walk and she tries to get him to exercise. She does offer to dust, do laundry, weed or do anything that would help me. I don't need any help not even with Frank, but I do need the break. I'm hoping I can claim this along with the massage theropy and the physical theropy on my tax return.

We were able to claim caregivers for my dad that he had for about 3 weeks before he landed in the hospital last year. Any co-pays for physical therapy were tax deductible too. So are adult "diapers" and other things that he has to have.

Do you have to have a doctor's Rx to make those diapers tax deductible?

Garnet

No, I didn't get a rx for those. We just deducted them, and so far, so good. There wouldn't be any problem getting a receipt, however. The waterproof pads are deductible too, but I don't think the wipes are, although the ALF requires us to have them. They don't want to wash the wash cloths, I guess. Other expenses, like wheelchair rental, walkers, etc. are tax deductible as far as I can tell. If anyone knows any different, please let me know! Lynn

Mfan, sorry for the late reply. Hope the surgery went well. My mum's fracture in May was a displaced hacetabular fracture. The orthopaedic doc said that there was no point to operate to put a screw in to stabilize the fracture and that the only meaningful operation would have been a hip replacement, which they advised against, essentially because of her conditions, short life expectancy and inability to do the physotherapy required after the surgery. However nothing was straightforward: the surgeons and the phisyotherapists kept having different views on what to do (surgery / non-surgery), on her prospects of recovery without the surgery (will she walk again, at least a little? will the bone heal?), and on what to do after finally leaving the hospital (should she start to try to walk/ should she not). It was a nightmare, especially for my dad. In the end we didn't do the surgery, the bone has healed by itself, and we have tried to make my mum stand a walk a little over the last month. She should start more intensive physio in September. I would love to see her regain some independence - but her cognitive conditions are so compromised that I don't know how much she can do.

Robin, thank you for your wishes. The visit in Italy went well. Mum is certainly more alert with the decreased dose of Valproate - a noticeable difference and a big relief. No falls nor convulsions, a few muscle jerks. Particularly in the afternoons (the least drowsy part of the day) I would sit with her: she would hardly talk but managed to say a few words every now and then (including my name, once). She would smile at me and I would read to her or tell her stories from our past. It was very nice. One of the first days, after we had tried to walk a little, we sat her down and she looked at me with sad eyes and said, twice, "I am not in good shape". My poor mum.