A rabbi, a social worker and a minister walk into a house….. Mercy Hospice and other VNAs provide a lot of extra services besides skilled nursing. Annie, our nurse told me that the hospice chaplain and social worker would be paying us a visit. Medicare requires them to make a visit to see if there is anything we need. I asked if it was a… Read more →
Tag: caregiving
H is for hospice (and hump day)
CAREGIVING: The roller-coaster of care-giving continues on its merry way. I put off posting because Kathy was going to start getting hospice services a week or two ago. At least I thought so. I want Kathy to be comfortable. Apparently, they need to have a prognosis of six months before you start hospice. My guess is that it has something to do with money: insurance or MediCare. If you… Read more →
Life is not a Hallmark movie
LIFE: With Kathy being bed bound, our television is on a lot. We have the news and old movies playing in the background. The Hallmark channel has been on fairly often this holiday season. On the Hallmark Channel Christmas starts around Halloween and goes on and on until Valentines. As far as I can tell, it is just Christmas; no alternative feast days; no Hanukkah; no… Read more →
Another visit to the ER
CAREGIVING: Friday started out pretty normal. We ended up making a trip to the hospital for a new feeding tube. Normal means I got to run out and buy Marty some dog food down at Brown’s, our local dog and feed store. Normal means on the way home I got a call from home that aide #2 had not arrived… Read more →
“Work?!”
“Work?!” ~ Maynard G. Krebs LIFE: Many of the musicians or artists I know have one or more “day jobs.” Those are the jobs that pay most of the bills, put the food on the table, buy health insurance and let them make some art or play some songs. My day job, besides taking care of Kathy, is graphic design. Lehndorff… Read more →
Updates on the follow-ups
CAREGIVING: After Kathy’s appointment with Dr. Jackson a lot of ‘stuff’ has started happening. Or not, depending on how you look at it. A referral call was made to Baystate Hospice. The nurse left a message and was going to come over to do the intake. I called her back and told her that we were requesting palliative care, first. Also I told her,… Read more →
the Followup Visit and other news
CAREGIVING: Yesterday was Kathy’s followup visit with Dr. Jackson, her new primary doctor at Riverbend. The ambulance guys arrived on time. It was drizzling a little. I guess the ambulances are all equipped differently. This one used a tiny “stair chair” that looked more like an uncomfortable beach chair than medical equipment. It was similar to this blue one except I… Read more →