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He hung up on me yesterday. He says he doesn't want to live anymore. I've tried to call the nurses but they're hard to get ahold of, but I don't know if they're giving him his medicine for dementia or not.


Each time I call him he seems to be more angry each time and cussing..


I don't know how to handle him, so I turn the phone off. He said yesterday he thought they took his glasses because they were afraid he would take the glass out and he would cut his throat. He's now expressing that he doesn't want to live anymore. I did not tell the nurse that, I don't know if I should. I don't need him Baker acted he needs to be able to go back to the nursing home where he came from when the Covid-19 is over. Any advice? I don't want to feel guilty, but I can't take him home. I just had a stent put in my heart and after that he forgot I was in the hospital and basically attacked my daughter and myself and that's why he is where he is.

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Enough, being in a strange place is very disorienting. Being in the hospital with dementia, COVID and not being able to have visitors...that must be super disorienting for your husband.

Call the nurses station at the hospital and ask for the doctor assigned to your husband to call. Ask what meds are being administered and tell her/him how agitated he is on the phone.

Call the hospital's administrative office and ask for the number of the patient advocate office if you are not getting callbacks from staff. Also, find out when shift changes take place on his unit. The first and last hour of any shift is a bad time to call.
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Of course you can’t take him home...no need to feel guilty. They all want to leave where they are so nothing new there. You just placate and give the therapeutic fib. Tell him "I’m looking into it" and that will usually stop the badgering. If he lives through the virus, then back to memory care he goes where he needs to be. He's not going to be getting better...the fact is he will decline further as time goes on. So home is not the place he needs to be.
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Has he expressed a wish not to go on before? If so why did you opt for a stent. Has he no longer the right to not want to live this way? Might it be time to decide on palliative care for him? Or hospice? On the one hand you can be glad he is pernickity enough and has enough fight to want to call and yell at you.
As to guilt, the first seven posts today claim guilt as their current badge. I don't get it. Have you all become killers, robbers, meanies? Or do you really mean you feel helpless to make things better for him? Isn't that what you really are? Helpless to make it better for him, and in pain? It is time to meet with family and decide that this is not the way anyone wants to spend years and years, helpless, ill, a captive to a system that drains them of dignity. Discuss palliative care. Discuss what the chances are of a meaningful and fulfilling life for him going forward. So sorry for all you are going through.
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Tothill Jul 2020
Alva, Enough is the one who had a stent placed in her heart, not her hubby.
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This is hard. No doubt about that. I see the news. What - 28,000 new Covid cases in US today? More? I can't even fathom. Where I live 66 today is headline news & tighter restrictions are now in place in hotspot areas.

Enoughisenough, I think you should prepare yourself. Covid-19 is a virus that effects some people very badly.

Your husband needed a NH, right now he needs hospital care. These are facts. You can't take him home. Another fact.

He can cuss all he wants & be angry at life. That's ok. He can fight the brave fight of life. Maybe he will win another round.

Just visit if you are allowed & hold his hand. Agree life is sometimes sh1te.
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joelfmi118 Jul 2020
The Governor Andrew Cuomo caused my wife to get covid- 19 because he allowed people in hospitals NY in April when he decided to sent people in NY hospitals that tested positive for the virus and still sick into nursing homes that  had no ppe and aids and were not able take care of them. What makes his order criminal  is that he had the navy ship aviable and the javits center empty and he has immunity from prosecution. I was devastate when my wife of 52 years passed away on May 20th and I could not see her or have a funeral service. He needs to be prosecuted  for his actions. He helped to infect  over 40,000 seniors in assisted living home causing their terrible dealths.   This man is the angel of dealth.
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For what it's worth, my 93 y/o mother tells me (and the rest of my family) that she wants to die on a daily basis. She's been saying that for years now, so we let it go in one ear and out the other, for the most part. She is the last person on earth who wants to die..........she'd want to go the hospital for a wart (and has demanded to), so we know she's just attention seeking.

Don't feel guilty about anything. Just take care of YOURSELF and let the calls go to voice mail. YOU choose a time of day to talk to DH, and then keep the convo light and fluffy. Do speak with the nurse about his meds, and perhaps he can be given something to calm him down a bit. I really feel that if he was TRULY a suicide risk (ie: likely to use the glass from his eyeglasses to cut his throat), the hospital WOULD send him off for a psych evaluation, with or without your approval.

Good luck!
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Your statement said it all - he has dementia and he attacked your daughter. He cannot come home and under no circumstances can you allow it. Let him go back to where he was placed. You can't fix him so just ignore him and do not go near him. I don't care if he has dementia, he has no right to do things to you and yours. The best is to keep your distance and if he starts in on you, either hang up or leave.
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Imho, under no circumstances should you take him home as you're ill yourself, having just had a stent placement in your heart. As well as the Novel Cornoavirus, your DH sounds like he has some mental health issues as well. Prayers sent.
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This is so hard for you. Try and imagine that this is happening to someone else and you were asked to give some advice. What would you say? Would you gently encourage them to look after themselves and their daughter? That is where you can make a difference.
Your husband is taking his frustration out on you but you are not in a position to deal.
When my mother started behaving like this, the advice from the professionals was that we needed to protect ourselves a bit more, that dementia did this sort of thing and that as soon as we were not there, my mother was fine again. To start with I was disbelieving but I managed to see her before she saw me (on a few occasions) and she seemed fine, her behaviour changed when we visited. She talked about suicide too.
Myself and my stepfather were 'triggers' to the behaviour. My mother was used to us 'saving' her. In this instance we couldn't.
My heart goes out to you. This is a hugely stressful time. Good luck with it all and stay safe. xx
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Of course he's going to be out of it. He's in a strange place with strangers, with constant noise.

If he has to take medication, he is also "bothered" at sometime inappropriate times, such as sleeping or trying to get some sleep to take meds.

Then there is being "confined" in bed, sometimes hooked up to a machine making it uncomfortable at times. Add that to the tv being high up on the wall and trying to figure out the remote control, no wonder he is acting this way.
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Tell him he can’t come home because he has to get well first. Sherry and LeChel
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