My mom went into the hospital with shortness of breath and an infection. She was diagnosed with a narrowing aortic valve which is getting worse. A chest x-ray showed she had a pleural effusion on her left lung and an EKG showed she was experiencing Atrial Fibrillation. She's 96 and there are no surgical procedures that can be done. All they can do at this point is keep her comfortable with meds.
The hospital transferred her to a nursing home this morning and a hospice nurse came to visit. At the same time I had a call from my mom's home care agency, they have a new director and she can get my mom a lot more home care hours.
I've been living with my mom in her house for a little over a year now, I'm still staying in her house and have no place to go. With the extra help from Hospice and the increased hours from the home care agency, I am considering bringing her back home.
She was on Medicaid Waiver for home care before she went to the hospital. They informed me today that she was going directly on Nursing Home Medicaid and her Waiver would be automatically cancelled.
I inquired about taking her out of the nursing home and they informed me that I just signed papers to have her admitted so it wouldn't be possible to just take her back out and they said she would lose her waiver. Her doctor doesn't expect her to live that much longer and she wants to come home where things are familiar to her.
The original plan was for her to be admitted for 20 days of rehab but they said her diagnosis didn't qualify her for rehab, so she became a permanent resident from day 1.
I have Durable POA and my mom did leave me her house in a Life Estate back in 2008.
Please give your mom’s facility a chance before you make any rash decisions. You have hospice on board and they are excellent at managing any discomfort. They also offer help from a social worker and comforting words from clergy. Take advantage of these services.
Keep us posted. We care.
They can coordinate it so all the equipment that you will need will be there when she gets home.
PLEASE remember that Hospice staff or Volunteers will NOT be there 24/7 and that most of the caregiving will be your responsibility and that of the caregivers that come in.
And research the Hospice. There are 2 types. FOR profit and NOT for profit you can "interview" each and choose the one you want caring for mom. You can also look for reviews of the Hospice just like you would look for any medical professional.
That being said, given your recent experience with Medicaid and the unreliable agency, I would go with "bird in the hand" so to speak and keep your mom with GUARANTEED round the clock care in the nursing home with hospice as an extra layer of care and protection.
Go back to work and get your life back on track.
Did the doctors say that mom was dying imminently? My mom survived 4 1/2 years with CHF, pleural effusions and dementia. She was hospice-eligible the whole time.