a bummer

[DCJenn]

I just had to tell you guys that over the weekend one of our favorites of the residents that I support fell. She apparently fell and then hit her head. This is really unusual for her. My staff called the nurse who then paged the doctor. They then took her to one of our local hospitals and while they've ruled out a stroke, they're pretty sure it's her heart.



I'm also pretty sure that the social workers are going to recommend that she be discharged to a nursing home. She doesn't want to ever live in a nursing home (she saw her mother in one) and it's such a bummer. If she does have serious medical needs, I can't provde for her in the group home though. My nurses are on-call 24 hours a day, but they each have 18 people to be responsible for. So, obviously, we don't have anyone with any really complicated medical issues.



Oh well, just another example of why I wish I could be the person in charge of the big pots of money.



Her housemates are going to be really upset, too. Everytime one of their house mates has gone to a nursing home, they've died shortly afterwards (they were very sick people, too)



UGH- it just stinks sometimes.



Jenn

[houseelf]

Jenn,



This is really tough. I'm under the impression that people tend to not last very long under nursing home care. Perhaps they give up because they don't want to be there. Maybe it is the fact that nursing homes care for the sickest of individuals. It just seems like people don't thrive in that environment. My grandma declined VERY quickly at the nursing home. It was quite shocking, actually.



I, too, have to work extremely hard to separate my emotions from work. (I still cry at some proceedings, believe it or not!) I love that my job can help people in the very core of their lives but I hate that they are in this situation in the first place.

I always joke that in my next life, I'm going to be a hard a**.

Really.



Kelly

[DCJenn]

I hear ya!



I am pretty hard on the staff, and even some of the people we support (I hate it when they pull the "feel sorry for me because I'm retarded but I just stole $300 worth of stuff from the department store and thought I could get away with it" routine) but this kind of stuff just gets me. Mad more than anything else.



I mean, I'm all for military spending (sure, give my husband a raise!) but can we please have a little bit more in Health and Human Services? just a little!!)



Oh well, the good news is that she's been released back to us. Now I have to beg Texas for more money so that I can provide 1:1 services for her. (It usually takes a good 5 pounds of paper per request...and I'm not kidding)



Jenn

OH gosh, Jenn....I'm glad that it worked out that she was discharged back to you. Did she have any type of an injury from the fall?



I all support our military spending, but I can't think about the idea of rebuilding other countries or investing so much money to create new weapons when we have such a healthcare crisis in this country (over 40 million uninsured...and many with insurance have crappy benefits, high co-pays and have to fight for chemotherapy, etc.). My mom is turning 58 next week, and she lost her insurance after my parents divorced...unfortunately, she can't afford $600/month for health insurance...especially one that won't cover any pre-existing conditions...good grief..she's 58...of course she has pre-existing conditions!!! So I really think that we should be diverting some more money into healthcare and education....



I'm so glad things worked out for your patient....and I hope that the paperwork goes through without a hitch...a nursing home is a terrible place to end, I think.....



Good for you for caring so much and taking the time to fight for her!



Kris