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: VNA
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 →
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 →
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 →
Busy Friday
CAREGIVING: Friday was a busy day. It was Whitney’s first day back from her Arizona baseball vacation. Her father’s team played in a senior baseball tournament. Apparently, the coach left one pitcher in too long (11 walks) and they missed getting into the playoffs by one run. But, she had a lot of fun. As she was leaving Britney arrived to… Read more →