CAREGIVING: I spent some of my birthday looking into funeral and cremation options for Kathy. It’s not something we want to think about or plan for. When I was a kid one of my friends lived in a funeral home. His mom and dad ran a funeral home in Fitchburg MA. I remember when he had a birthday party we went… Read more →
Tag: health care
When I’m 64
LIFE: On February 17th I turned 64. I’ve been waiting for that one Beatles song “When I’m 64” to actually apply to me. And I forgot about it: aka “senior moment.” Fortunately all of my friends on Facebook remembered it for me. Thanks to all of you, my friends and fauxs. Life never turns out exactly the way you imagined it… Read more →
Update on the Cheek
CAREGIVING: I guess after Kathy’s most recent close call we all deserve an update. She is doing much, much better. The antibiotics did their job and her cheek went from grapefruit sized down to normal. Now we wait to see if the same infection comes back. I did learn a lot from the process. For one thing, just because you are… Read more →
Things are swell.
CAREGIVING: The goal with our hospice care is to keep Kathy comfortable. Hospice care (from a health care cost standpoint) is limited to Kathy’s actual “diagnosis” of end stage Huntington’s Disease. When something else pops up (blood pressure, infections etc.) there are “conversations” about what to do next. Or not. They will support whatever decision I make. But I have to make decisions on how far to… Read more →
Part 2: The Social Worker and the Minister
The Social Worker: On Monday Steve the social worker came back. Even though he came for the information session, Medicare requires him to visit as a social worker. Kathy slept through the whole meeting. He complimented me on how well I was taking care of Kathy. I guess we are the talk of the office. I think the key thing is… Read more →
Part 1: The Rabbi and the Traveller
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 →
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 →