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 →
Tag: religion
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 →
Five Wishes
CAREGIVING: On Wednesday afternoon after the palliative care nurses left, I went over some more parts of Five Wishes, an advanced directive plan or living will. I’m sure there are a million living-will forms on-line but this is the one I found years ago. At the time that we started this, Kathy had not been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease although I suspected she… Read more →
Christmas @ YOUR house
Originally posted on OpenSalon.com March, 2011 MUSIC: I like Christmas as much as most people. I think. And I think the goal of keeping Christmas in our hearts the whole year round, is a nice touchy-feely goal. But do we have to keep Christmas ON our houses the whole year round? I know the winter was rough. Here in Western Massachusetts we were hammered… Read more →
Wrong Side of the Tracks
Originally posted at OpenSalon.com December 29, 2010 MUSIC: This is a song about Jesus. I’ve always been a little afraid to perform it. I believe in the power of faiths — but lots of different ones. I worry that it could hurt the feelings of very well-meaning and very kind people. It might make others angrier than they already are. So… Read more →