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I had to take my Grandma to a nursing home whitch she will never come home from (pg. 4)
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| ModernNosferatu |
| quote: | Originally posted by EddieZilker
Just gotta say, you seem like you're a good man, Modern N. I don't have any advice other than what's been said, but wanted to throw in my well wishes, all-the-same. |
Thank You Eddie !!!! :) |
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| Comrade Stalin |
| Drugs aren't the answer! |
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| ModernNosferatu |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
That's another good reason to go around the nursing home a lot. Familiarize yourself with the staff and let them know who you (and your grandma!) are. Try to stay involved in your grandma's life as much as you can. It helps the staff to know who your grandma is, and having a good relationship with them ultimately helps them to better meet her needs. They're there to help you, too. Or at least they should be. Caring for someone never involves just the "sick" person - it's always about the whole family.
I know that up here, we always encourage family members to be involved in their loved ones' care as much possible. It really makes a huge difference in their well-being. Not surprisingly, the residents that do the best where I work are the ones whose families are in to visit at least once a week. |
I actually did what you said yesterday on my first visit as I was crying my lame tear duct eyes out,I talked to a couple staff members because I know most the Rx my Grandma is on because we were involved in a program called Visiting Physicians but my Grandma gave the Doctor a lot of hell and actually told her if she came back to her house she would shoot her with her gun she has under the pillow, I told the Doctor the gun wasn't loaded and I will take it to my parents house and I hid the bullets from my Grandma in a drawer on my desk that had a lock on it but that was enough for the doctor to cancel my Grandma as a patient and the Doctor didn't even write her enough Rx until we could find any other program where we could find another Doctor that works for a different company to come back to the house to work with her.
I have a mental illness as well or my brain isn't wired quit right at this time but I am really getting better but iot made this process harder on me due to the fact.
More importantly thanks to the Visiting Physicians program I knew almost all her Rx she would take in a month. So when I did go up there yesterday I talked to those couple of staff members that would be taking care of her and was like, do you need us to provide a wheel chair for her at home or will you provide it, they said they would do that part. They did blood work on her so they cold find out some (maybe most) of the Rx medicine she will be needing. So I filled them in on the small stuff I knew. Originally when she had got the Dementia we thought that since she would never shower, only sponge bath by herself that she was not cleaning herself properly. No matter if it was me (her Grandson offering) or my Mother (her daughter) or a provider that was passing through for the day offering to give her a real bath she always said NO. So ummm, we came up with the idea that Ammonia has built up in her urine causing a urinary track infection which can send high levels of Ammonia to the brain and it would be basically like she was sniffing GAS from a pump.
But her levels cane out just a little above average but she wouldn't take the Flagyl they Rx her for it anyway. I told them she was on Celexa for depression and Ativan or the generic version for panic attacks and she is very difficult while talking to her self so I recommended 3 mg's a day...morning, noon, night on the Ativan. And she has a sever Hernia but that can't be operated on because of her old age so she takes Hydrocodone but that is really bad for an already failing liver. I said you can try Darvocet instead or Lortab but I think Lortab is the same as Hydrocodone as far as on the liver (not sure) but the problem is with her mind so far gone, would she even know she is in pain?? Would she realize it, then forget 5 minutes later? That is something I really just don't know.
She really needs anti-psychotics for the voices and invisible people she talks to that are the one telling her about these murders, so she married the two lives together with the people she sees everyday combined with people from her past who are probably dead already.
The problem is anti-psychotics have a very strong sedative effect. I started on a 10 mg pill of Seroquel and slept for 14 to 15 hours and when I wokeup it was already time to take the next dosage...I am now up to 800 mg's a night but I don't take them every night, anyway I was so scared cause they were trying to giving an 83 going on 84 year old woman 300 mg's of Seroquel a night!!! I said she could seriously not wake up from that Rx and the same with Respodol and Haldo, you know yourself know the sedative side is very strong so I suggested Ambilify which you take in the morning and is an anti-psychotic plus they claim it works well with your current anti depressants but I was told something I didn't know about her being an OPCD patient and I helped with raising of her oxygen because they didn't know what level it should be at but anyhow Ambilify can cause a heart attack in OPCD patients, I still need to goggle that.
I'm going to stay real involved, she only is about 4 to 5 miles from where I live and possibly due to some Universal magic the nursing home is just right across the street from where the Church where my mom works at, I'm sure she set it up that way:rolleyes:
Listen I just went off there talking and talking but I feel great this morning. I felt like this was really the right thing to do and now I can get on with my life and go back to school to be a Pharmacy Technician and then see what avenues open from there. I'm embarrassed for being such a late bloomer in life but these are the cards a was dealt, I watched over her for almost 10 years the best I could because I felt I owed it to her for taking care of as a baby. Thank you for all your input and advice Jenny!!! If you do not mind I might hit you up for some more information since today is barely day two but that is if it's only cool with you?
Also thanks to everyone else that had something decent to say
:toothless :toothless :toothless |
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| PivotTechno |
| quote: | Originally posted by Comrade Stalin
Drugs aren't the answer! |
This much is true.
Drugs are the question. |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
So ummm, we came up with the idea that Ammonia has built up in her urine causing a urinary track infection which can send high levels of Ammonia to the brain and it would be basically like she was sniffing GAS from a pump. |
Yeah. Also, urinary tract infections present themselves in the elderly similarly to dementia symptoms. Often it makes people confused, labile, agitated, loss of appetite. This could most definitely exacerbate her already present symptoms of dementia.
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
the problem is with her mind so far gone, would she even know she is in pain?? Would she realize it, then forget 5 minutes later? That is something I really just don't know. |
She might not be able to express how she's in pain, but pain also affects people's mood, appetite, sleeping patterns, ability to perform ADLs (activities of daily living), etc. Pain control is definitely high up there on the list of importance.
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
She really needs anti-psychotics for the voices and invisible people she talks to that are the one telling her about these murders, so she married the two lives together with the people she sees everyday combined with people from her past who are probably dead already. |
Again, if she has a UTI, some of her symptoms could be from that alone, and it certainly does make her dementia symptoms worse. Some other medications to think about are Zyprexa and Reminyl. I'm actually surprised she's not on Reminyl. Lorazepam (Ativan) should ideally be used PRN (as needed). That is really addictive. But if she has a UTI, that really needs to be dealt with first.
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
300 mg's of Seroquel a night!!! |
That's insane. I've only rarely seen such a high dose.
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
Thank you for all your input and advice Jenny!!! If you do not mind I might hit you up for some more information since today is barely day two but that is if it's only cool with you?
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Heh no worries. :) |
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| Silky Johnson |
| quote: | Originally posted by ModernNosferatu
I was told something I didn't know about her being an OPCD patient and I helped with raising of her oxygen because they didn't know what level it should be at but anyhow Ambilify can cause a heart attack in OPCD patients, I still need to goggle that.
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I just noticed this. COPD patients typically need their oxygen titrated between 88-90%. Usually not higher than 2L/min on a standard portable oxygen concentrator. Anymore than that decreases the amount of CO2 in their blood - and in COPD patients, it's CO2 that drives the need to breathe.
Also, hydrocodone should be used carefully in patients with COPD, as it inhibits the respiratory centre in the brain. As with all opiates and derivatives. |
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| Comrade Stalin |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
I just noticed this. COPD patients typically need their oxygen titrated between 88-90%. Usually not higher than 2L/min on a standard portable oxygen concentrator. Anymore than that decreases the amount of CO2 in their blood - and in COPD patients, it's CO2 that drives the need to breathe.
Also, hydrocodone should be used carefully in patients with COPD, as it inhibits the respiratory centre in the brain. As with all opiates and derivatives. |
How many of those patients smoked cigarettes? Kind of freaks me out to get old. I don't want to be 80 and on an oxygen tank just to get through the day. |
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| Silky Johnson |
It depends. COPD is the umbrella term for obstructive disorders, which includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are most often caused by cigarette smoking; however there is a genetic element in some cases of emphysema. Bronchitis can also be caused from constant exposure to air pollutants and/or inhaled irritants, and asthma is usually an associated condition.
So to answer your question: the majority of COPD patients are cigarette smokers. |
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| ModernNosferatu |
| quote: | Originally posted by jennypie
It depends. COPD is the umbrella term for obstructive disorders, which includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are most often caused by cigarette smoking; however there is a genetic element in some cases of emphysema. Bronchitis can also be caused from constant exposure to air pollutants and/or inhaled irritants, and asthma is usually an associated condition.
So to answer your question: the majority of COPD patients are cigarette smokers. |
Yes, my Grandma smoke for over 50 years (non filters) then went through a surgery that she almost died from and spent 3 months in the Hospital. When she came home she quite cold turkey, it's been 4 years now cold turkey for her but unfortunately the damage was already done. Quite or cut down drastically while you still have the chance. :( |
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| Ian |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fledz
Not necessarily. I've got two grandmas left in their late 70s and a grandpa in his 80s and they are doing fine. Just because you get old doesn't mean your quality of life goes downhill and you need constant care.
This is why staying healthy, exercising and eating well is so important in your younger years because it allows you to live well into your 80s and well too. No one in my extended family has ever needed to go into a home and probably never will, simply because well all take care of ourselves.
The western world has this strange outlook on life where anyone over 60 needs to be put into a home so someone else can take care of them. I don't get it. |
This has many valid points in it. My gran is crazy as , she's 76, one knee replacement down, another needing to be done, her body is crippled with arthritis and in constant pain and what have we spent the last month doing most days? Using a massive mitre saw to cut up all the old wood in the garden, from old fencing, a 30ft greenhouse my grandparents used to grow plants in to sell to garden centres/suppliers, an old shed, a huge kennel the dogs used to sleep in etc as we're putting a log burner in for heating next winter. She's in so much pain but is just determined to be active still and whilst she's going downhill a lot in the last 10 years, is just utterly determined to be independant as ever despite knowing that one day she'll need to be in a wheelchair and need help with so many things as her body is taking the toll from 40 years working heavy catering jobs and playing sports as a kid/teenager. It really is inspiring to see the determination and I often wonder why I don't have the same amount myself.
However when we were in canada, the local papers were left in the hotels and in all the obituaries, all the people looked so, well, so young even though they were well into their 80s. My sister in laws grandmother is in her 80s and looks great for it, almost having the skin and complexion of someone in their 50s/60s over in our climate. It makes me want even more to go out there, esp as arthritis runs in our family and when we went over for my bros wedding, my gran in 10 days was in considerably less pain through swollen knees/elbows/generally every joint in her body.
to the OP, it's somethign that most of us dread, having to give in with the people who have given so much to us, but as Jen & Melissa say, the care that can be given is good and will help them out, and just keep going and keeping them mentally active. |
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| ModernNosferatu |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ted Promo
...pics? |
I'll see if I can get a camera phone picture of her give us the bird |
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