Update on My Mom (OT)

They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing a
complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how much she
can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need to include
occupational therapy, etc.

This is, I suppose, a good thing. The bad thing is visiting hours in this
unit don't start until 4PM! The nurse said she'll be in the gym or working
with a therapist during "normal" hours. Well this sucks. I suffer from
night blindness. I never drive at night. With the stupid time change it
gets dark so much earlier now! It's going to be very difficult for me to be
able to visit her! My vision for driving at night isn't that bad if the
roads are well lit. Of course, there are no street lights for nearly the
entire 20 mile drive to/from the hospital. Heck, there aren't even any
businesses with lit parking lots along the majority of the drive.

The neighbor (with the cats) would be happy to drive me. But she works
Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays and doesn't get home until 7PM. Getting a
taxi cab way the heck out here is nearly impossible. They guy who worked on
the security gate, who drove me to and from the airport a few times to earn
a few extra $$'s, moved 100 miles away. They certainly aren't making it
easy for me to go visit her.

I can talk with her on the phone, of course, but it's not quite the same
thing as getting a hug from her daughter. Especially since they keep
bouncing her from floor to floor, room to room. She doesn't know where she
is half the time because they keep moving her all around. Poor thing

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing a
complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how much she
can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need to include
occupational therapy, etc.

Occupational therapy? At her age??! I hope they're talking about hobbies
and crafts! ;


This is, I suppose, a good thing. The bad thing is visiting hours in this
unit don't start until 4PM! The nurse said she'll be in the gym or
working with a therapist during "normal" hours. Well this sucks. I
suffer from night blindness. I never drive at night. With the stupid
time change it gets dark so much earlier now! It's going to be very
difficult for me to be able to visit her! My vision for driving at night
isn't that bad if the roads are well lit. Of course, there are no street
lights for nearly the entire 20 mile drive to/from the hospital. Heck,
there aren't even any businesses with lit parking lots along the majority
of the drive.

The neighbor (with the cats) would be happy to drive me. But she works
Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays and doesn't get home until 7PM. Getting a
taxi cab way the heck out here is nearly impossible. They guy who worked
on the security gate, who drove me to and from the airport a few times to
earn a few extra $$'s, moved 100 miles away. They certainly aren't
making it easy for me to go visit her.

I can talk with her on the phone, of course, but it's not quite the same
thing as getting a hug from her daughter. Especially since they keep
bouncing her from floor to floor, room to room. She doesn't know where
she is half the time because they keep moving her all around. Poor thing


Jill

Continued purrs that things will work out for you both!

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatNipped wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing
a complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how
much she can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need
to include occupational therapy, etc.

Occupational therapy? At her age??! I hope they're talking about
hobbies and crafts! ;

LOL they're talking about making sure she can feed herself, that sort of
thing. Which of course she can. When they wanted to send an occupational
therapist to the house (via the medical group that makes house calls) I put
my foot down. Occupational therapy usually comes into play with stroke
patients.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing
a complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how
much she can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need
to include occupational therapy, etc.

This is, I suppose, a good thing. The bad thing is visiting hours
in this unit don't start until 4PM! The nurse said she'll be in the
gym or working with a therapist during "normal" hours. Well this
sucks. I suffer from night blindness. I never drive at night.
With the stupid time change it gets dark so much earlier now! It's
going to be very difficult for me to be able to visit her!

I'd definitely be talking to them about the problem. If you could get
in to see her a little earlier it would help. At least if you are
there at four, you could stay for close to an hour and still be home
before its really dark. This week anyway.

Jo

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing a
complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how much she
can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need to include
occupational therapy, etc.

This is, I suppose, a good thing. The bad thing is visiting hours in this
unit don't start until 4PM! The nurse said she'll be in the gym or
working with a therapist during "normal" hours. Well this sucks. I
suffer from night blindness. I never drive at night. With the stupid
time change it gets dark so much earlier now! It's going to be very
difficult for me to be able to visit her! My vision for driving at night
isn't that bad if the roads are well lit. Of course, there are no street
lights for nearly the entire 20 mile drive to/from the hospital. Heck,
there aren't even any businesses with lit parking lots along the majority
of the drive.

The neighbor (with the cats) would be happy to drive me. But she works
Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays and doesn't get home until 7PM. Getting a
taxi cab way the heck out here is nearly impossible. They guy who worked
on the security gate, who drove me to and from the airport a few times to
earn a few extra $$'s, moved 100 miles away. They certainly aren't
making it easy for me to go visit her.

I can talk with her on the phone, of course, but it's not quite the same
thing as getting a hug from her daughter. Especially since they keep
bouncing her from floor to floor, room to room. She doesn't know where
she is half the time because they keep moving her all around. Poor thing


Egads, Jill. How long is she supposed to be there? And can they make any
exceptions at all since you can't drive at night? The only other thing is
to be there at 3:45. Visit for as long as you can, and then go. We've got
darkness by 6:00 here in upstate NY. At least you could have an hour or so!

Keep on hangin in there!!

--

·.·´¨ ¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
Laurie
((¸¸.·´ ..·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸ ·.·

*~*LiveLoveLaugh*~*

All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.
~Abraham Lincoln




Jill

On Nov 6, 12:07*pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message

...

They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. *Today they are doing a
complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how much she
can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need to include
occupational therapy, etc.

Occupational therapy? *At her age??! *I hope they're talking about hobbies
and crafts! *;

Lori, I think part of the purpose of occupational therapy is to
maintain
upper body strength, and hand coordination in the event the patient is
confined to a wheelchair, even an electric one. Or at least that's
the
impression I got when Dad had it.

Sherry

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Nov 6, 12:07 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message

...

They moved to the physical therapy/rehab unit. Today they are doing a
complete evaluation to determine what types of PT she needs, how much
she
can tolerate (trust me, won't be much), whether they need to include
occupational therapy, etc.

Occupational therapy? At her age??! I hope they're talking about hobbies
and crafts! ;

Lori, I think part of the purpose of occupational therapy is to
maintain
upper body strength, and hand coordination in the event the patient is
confined to a wheelchair, even an electric one. Or at least that's
the
impression I got when Dad had it.

Sherry

--------------------------------

Ah! I was thinking "occupational guidance" which is sponsored in Texas at
the unemployment office. Actually I think if you define "occupational" as
something to occupy your waking hours, helping patients learn and develop
the strength and skills for hobbies and crafts would be a pretty good idea.
I think a lot of senior citizens die a lot sooner when they have no focus in
their lives and feel bored and useless.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:59:08 -0800 (PST), Sherry
wrote:

Lori, I think part of the purpose of occupational therapy is to
maintain
upper body strength, and hand coordination in the event the patient is
confined to a wheelchair, even an electric one. Or at least that's
the
impression I got when Dad had it.

It's also a money maker for the facility. Don't let them stretch it out
needlessly. You might want to ask what are their specific goals. It's
my understanding (and my understanding is shaky), that Medicare pays for
30 days, but that's like in a lifetime, year, or something. Some rehab
facilities tend to take the entire 30 days if the days are available
regardless of whether the patient really needs all thirty.

We thought it was going to be an issue with Mom before we found out how
bad she really was at the time, but I was letting my sister handle all
of that since she works in a hospital billing department. That's why I
don't have more than a basic understanding.

L.

In article ,
"jmcquown" wrote:

snip

I can talk with her on the phone, of course, but it's not quite the same
thing as getting a hug from her daughter. Especially since they keep
bouncing her from floor to floor, room to room. She doesn't know where she
is half the time because they keep moving her all around. Poor thing

Ask at the unit if anyone else with family there lives out in your
direction. My experience is that they'll be more than happy to find out
for you, and introduce you to whoever it is to see if the two of you can
work out some kind of agreement.

Baird

--
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and in a divided country
that's enough to win elections. -Bill Steele

Lorraine wrote:
On Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:59:08 -0800 (PST), Sherry
wrote:

Lori, I think part of the purpose of occupational therapy is to
maintain
upper body strength, and hand coordination in the event the patient
is confined to a wheelchair, even an electric one. Or at least that's
the
impression I got when Dad had it.

It's also a money maker for the facility. Don't let them stretch it
out needlessly. You might want to ask what are their specific goals.
It's my understanding (and my understanding is shaky), that Medicare
pays for 30 days, but that's like in a lifetime, year, or something.
Some rehab facilities tend to take the entire 30 days if the days are
available regardless of whether the patient really needs all thirty.

We thought it was going to be an issue with Mom before we found out
how bad she really was at the time, but I was letting my sister
handle all of that since she works in a hospital billing department.
That's why I don't have more than a basic understanding.

L.


No way are they keeping her in that facility for 30 days, regardless of the
kind of "therapy" she's receiving. I don't know yet whether she will
require a wheelchair or if she'll be able to go back to using her walker.
But she's not going to be stuck there while they exhaust benefits, that's
for sure.

Jill