Update On My Mom

Thanks to all of you who’ve followed my mom’s trip to the hospital then rehab. Things are going as well as can be expected… maybe a little better.

My mom left the hospital last Tuesday and headed to a rehab facility in Lantana, just north of where my folks live in Boynton Beach.

For the first few days she went through one rehab session a day. Now she’s up to two. She is walking with assistance and has even fed herself a little. The therapists are working with her as she strengthens her legs.

These are big steps. My mom isn’t going to leave and run in a marathon, but if she can be rehabilitated to the point where she can walk a short distance and feed herself she can return home.

That’s the goal!

My mom doesn’t want to be there. She’s made that clear from the moment she arrived. We have tried delicately to convince her this is in her own best interest.

My dad is doing an amazing job in that regard. I’m not sure how he does it. This is a taxing chore for anyone, but at 86 it’s got to be really brutal.

I don’t know how long my mom will have to stay in the facility. My sister says Medicare can provide up to 90 days in rehab if she continues to benefit and improve. We hope she’s out sooner.

I can’t wait for the day my mom returns home. A week ago I was sure that would never happen. Now it looks likely.

17 thoughts on “Update On My Mom”

  1. Good luck with you mom. I know how it is, my mom has been in and out of the hospital for the past year.
    Best wishes
    Tom

  2. Continued prayers for your Mom’s recover and your family’s strength. Your Mom seems like she has a lot of fight left in her and I’m predicting she’s going to make sure she goes home sooner than later. The desire to be somewhere comforting is an amazing driving force and home/hubby is her comfort. 🙂

  3. It’s great that she’s up to 2 sessions a day – that much sooner she will be strong enough to head home. I have faith that she will be home before the 90 days and everyone can sit back and breathe a sign of relief!

  4. my mother has spent some time in nursing homes for rehab after hospital stays and medicare covers the first 3 weeks in full and my mom always has come home within that time , but i belive there is a copay after the 20 days and i think it is pretty high would have to check on the amount.

  5. Continued success for your Mom and prayers for you, your father, and family. It is very difficult, I understand, to really know how things are going when you are so far away. If she doesn’t want to be there, then the determination to do her stuff and go home is there. Thinking of everyone, everyday.

  6. So happy to hear about your mother’s progress, Geoff!! Thoughts and prayers are with you and you family!!!!

  7. Prayers for continued recovery go out to your mom as well as prayers and good thoughts to your dad, you, and your family. She is in good hands right now.

  8. Very happy to hear about your mom’s progress,sounds like she is very determined to get home so she will do what she has too. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Sending positive vibes to your mom,you and family.

  9. Does your dad have someone who will be helping him when your mom comes home? Having gone through this with my folks, it’s often harder on the caregiver than the one that needs care. God bless…it isn’t easy.

  10. So glad to hear that she is doing better one day at a time as the saying goes.
    Will be keeping her and your family in my prayers.

  11. This is great news Geoff! Your sister is right, Medicare pays for 90 days. She will qualify for help at home, sometimes more physical therapy in a home setting, and aide to help her shower or bathe, etc. As she gets closer to coming home, someone at the rehab facility SHOULD go over all the options with you. A piece of advice – don’t have her come home on a Friday or just before a holiday weekend. I learned the hard way that its nigh onto impossible to get home services started on a weekend. Have her discharged on a Monday if possible. Your Dad will be challenged to try to do it all for her. My Mom was 83 taking care of Dad at home, and she burned out quickly, mostly because my Dad was so dang stubborn! Thoughts and blessings with you all, I’m glad she is coming along.

  12. Geoff, I great resource I used when I came out of the SNF to in home care was http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/. The National Center is here in Willimantic, CT. They will help you through with the Medicare maze – great group of legal aides & lawyers there working to help elders get the benefits they need. Medicare myth: you have to show you are IMPROVING to get these services… not so, if you need them to MAINTAIN what you already have, they are covered… Glad to hear your Mom is doing better… and regards to your Dad as well.

  13. This all sounds very encouraging, Geoff. Everyone hates rehab; it’s in the rule book. It will be great if she can go home asap, whenever that will be. Thanks for keeping us informed.

  14. Suze Orman said once on her show that for her mother she found that Medicare pays for Hospice and that it is not always for end of life services at home, that they will do regular kind of home health care, too. I would like to verify this, since my friend is paying for all the home health care for her mother and I think Medicare would pay for Hospice regular kind of care for her mother. Not a lot of people are informed of this Suze Orman said.

  15. Glad to hear she’s doing well. Just keep reminding her that the more she works, the faster she can get home – always an incentive. I agree with Patty – make sure there is someone to help your Dad once she gets home. I was the caregiver for my mom, and I was absolutely burnt out. If not for my friends who came by to help out (or take me out for a sanity break), I don’t know what I would have done. Get all the help for your dad that you can – he’ll complain as much as your mom, but I know he’ll appreciate it.

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