I spent most of October and December in
Sarasota overseeing Mom’s recovery from a variety of health scares. The first
was fluid in the chest making breathing difficult and followed by a stroke.
Sarasota Memorial Hospital and its in-hospital rehab were great but there’s no
place like home so Hoss and I contracted with Take Care for home care. Between
the multitudes of caregivers and multiple in-home therapists, chaos reigned.
Mom started cutting hours and Take Care couldn’t settle into an adequate routine
with one or a couple of caregivers, so by mid-November Mom was down to 2
hrs/day/3 days per week with many caregivers. That wasnt adequate to monitor
health changes.
In early December Mom was at lunch with
friends when she fainted, possibly caused by dehydration. Friends called an
ambulance which took her to the nearest emergency room, Lakewood Ranch Medical
Center. They fixed the fluid imbalance but noted afib. Rehab at Encompass and
it was clear even to Mom this time there was no going home.
Toni Nolan at Senior Living Solutions
listened to my list of necessaries and good-to-haves. Pat and I toured
DeSotoPalms at her recommendation. Sold. We’d had case managers at every other
hospital room, all of whom were worthless. We could have save a couple of
months of chaos and potentially a hospital stay if the first had listened to my
concerns and advocated for DeSoto Palms instead of Sarabella which was 8 miles
away and full of decrepit patients.
It didn't take much cajoling to get Mom
(and Hoss) to agree. I had papers signed and the apartment set up before
discharge on Dec 22.
DeSoto Palms put out a red-carpet welcome,
full staff in attendance, as we pulled up to the front door.
Meanwhile back at Lyndhurst the hvac had
gone belly up. Weather was ok to ignore through Christmas but it had to be
fixed before I left. Closed up houses in Florida grow mold and other nasties
practically overnight. The long time hvac company determined we needed a new
system that could be installed the day after I went home. Pat to the rescue
again.
Between on-site medical team, 3 meals,
housekeeping, activities, and transportation to medical appointments and
freedom to continue her previous friendships, I think we have struck the right
balance between monitoring and privacy.
UPDATE: She’s been there almost 1 month. Only a
few more until the long-term care insurance kicks in.
