More Poppy News (already)

Poppy has overtaken my life…

DOD, aka Poppy, aka Dad, has as you might have read before, some healthcare issues.  We were so glad he got transferred from the hospital to the skilled-nursing/rehabilitation center last week, and thought (as we still do) things would be looking up for him.

Health-wise, of course that is still true.

However, I am fairly disappointed/frustrated/dismayed/et al, at both the hospital where he stayed for a week, and the skilled nursing center.

I promise this is the short side of the story—

After hearing my wrath at learning that POPPY stayed in the hospital three days before attempting to administer physical therapy (previous post) or try to help him regain strength on his left side, the medical staff began in earnest to help him.  

When he got transferred to the Rehab hospital, it was (again) on a Friday.  There were two pieces of information I thought I knew, and asked about, but was told not to worry.  As somebody else has inferred, when an organization tells you “not to worry,” it’s definitely time to worry.

I knew that,
A) Poppy’s Medicare benefits for skilled nursing facilities would end soon, if they haven’t ended already.  He had not spent 60 days out of a hospital in the last year. This is a rule of Medicare’s—if a person goes to skilled nursing and has not been out of a hospital for sixty consecutive days, Medicare does not pay skilled nursing fees; and

B) three days without physical therapy is detrimental to a stroke patient, as it gives time for the body to get used to its new condition, and then doesn’t want to work to regain its original strength.

Poppy was transferred on a Friday.  I mentioned to the doctor that Saturday and Sunday would be days without physical therapy—wouldn’t that be kind of bad for Dad?  Doc said, “I will make sure the nurses work with his arm to keep it moving.”  Yeah, right, as if that’s going to happen.

Regarding point B first:  When I visited him again on Monday morning (yesterday), I noticed that his left arm already started turning inward—his fingers curled in, his wrist bent, you’ve seen it before.  I worked his arm in what small ways I knew how, and internally got upset again at the doctor for not insisting that some PT got done over the weekend.  The longer a patient waits for PT, the less chance of regaining strength exists.  

Now we address point A:  The social worker for the skilled nursing facility found me and let me know that my father “came in” with only three days of  Medicare coverage (Poppy had been there, you guessed it, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and this was now Monday).
As I’m told this, I begin to internally fume again.  What are my options?  I could pay $200/day for him to stay at the skilled nursing place. That is not reasonable, on an artist’s salary, plus a one income family.

I could let him go home as he is, hoping that home care PT is enough…oh but wait, he has to be able to put weight on his left leg. Without use of his left arm to lean on something, that’s not going to happen.  So that option won’t work yet.  

I phone the doctor, letting him know the situation, asking him to reconsider sending him to the better, bigger hospital that has in-patient, acute physical therapy available.  

Thankfully, in the afternoon, I got a call from the good-hearted doctor, saying he got Poppy into St. Mary’s Hospital just a little further away, but with a great reputation.  He will get transferred “tomorrow” before noon.  I was so relieved I nearly fainted (which would not have been good at all since I was driving at the time).

However, now, I’ll be faced with certain other decisions, which in time, I’m sure I’ll be able to make.  Do I apply him now for MediCAL, which takes 3-6 months to get the approval or denial?  Do I just wait and see what happens in the next month or so?  Do I contact the VA to find out of POPPY qualifies for a bed there?  I’ll call them just in case he might, but he was a Merchant Marine, and there is some debate whether a WWII Merchant Marine qualifies for full Vet’s bennies. That’s going to be fun. Do I need to change his residence from the Assisted Living location to a “6-bed” or board and care facility?  

I’ve been on the phone and the pc all morning and now will attempt to get over to the new hospital to be sure Poppy will be comfortable and not too confused over his new surroundings.  Poor thing, he’s been bounced back and forth so much for so long, it’s no wonder he gets confused.

Please, with me, hope that things will work out for the better, no matter what.