Living In Assisted Living

Discussion in 'Personal Diaries' started by Lon Tanner, Sep 5, 2017.

  1. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Agree. I mentioned this a while back on my cancer diary; I get asked about falls numerous times at each visit to MDA.

    Lon, I have not had a fall. I'm still pretty steady on my feet and I still walk fast, up and down the stairs in our house about 15-20 times a day.
     
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  2. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    After my fall in ice/snow, when we lived here before, we shouldn't have thought "we have to get away from "Old Man Winter", so neither of us will fall in ice/snow and really get hurt or disabled". What we should have thought was, "we can fall anywhere during any season" and we would've never left Colorado back in 2007. Actually, I fell in the parking lot of our apt. complex in Jacksonville, Florida and that fall required a rotator cuff surgery, just like the fall I had by our old house here in Colorado. In Jacksonville, it was a sunny, warm day.........and I still fell.

    And then, the second night we spent in our apt. here in Colorado, I was taking a shower with no shower mat on the bottom of the tub. I turned around, flew thru the shower curtain and hit my forehead on the corner of the sink. Went to the local ER and they stitched it up and a week later, took out the stitches. The very next day after I fell, we bought a shower mat!

    Yes, if/when we fall at our age, it can be very dangerous.
     
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  3. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Understanding Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
    Over a third of Americans who turn 65—a common retirement age—will eventually enter a care facility because they are unable to perform specific ADLs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While the majority of care facility admissions will be for the short term (less than a year), about a fifth will stay longer than five years.2
     
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  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I had health issues 3-4 years ago and thought I had colon cancer. I started researching local facilities in which to recuperate, since I live alone. I gotta think people in such situations make up a chunk of the short term population.
     
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  5. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    I've started asking questions and looking at area assisted living places. The one here in Clarksvile is afforable and seems to fit our needs. I've thought of more questions since I talked with her Friday and I want to take a tour someday soon.

    I plan to call other places too.
     
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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Will you be staying in Arkansas then, and not trying to move all of the way out to California where you have family ? That seems like it would be an easier transition than trying to take everything and move clear across the country, and it is in the area where you have been living and are used to being.
     
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  7. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I just talked to my sister and thought of this thread. Apparently my brother-in-law got up in the middle of the night and was walking from the bedroom, across the den and to the kitchen. He somehow tripped on an ottoman in the den, taking a nasty fall. He has two black eyes and a nasty cut across his nose; not sure if he was wearing his glasses but it appears so from the injuries.

    He wasn't serious injured, thank goodness. He is getting close to 80 but has not shown any decline; he's very spry and active. My sister is telling everyone that she "finally beat his butt." :D:D
     
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  8. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
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    Since about age 35 I have excelled at tripping over the pattern in a rug. Which is to say that my ankles have been less than trustworthy for at least half my life. Fortunately I've never had to go to the hospital for the resulting twisted or sprained ankles.

    As my dad was getting frail there was a time when he fell just trying to get out of his favorite chair. Then mom tried to help him up and down she went. They were helpless on the floor for a few hours until mom's cleaning woman came . Soon after that, they put dad in a nursing home.

    15 years later when mom was asked to find a higher care facility than the assisted living place she was in because she was falling too much and calling the paramedics for her too often. She she cut her forehead on the kitchen counter on the way down the last time, everyone freaked out about how bloody it was, put the paramedics patched her up and AL staff put her to bed with instruction to stay there until they came in the next morning.

    I guess whether one goes to the hospital or EMTs get called depends on the state or the corporate policy? And the condition of the patient, of course.
     
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  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Yes, that; and probably also the level and capabilities of the EMS service. When I was a paramedic, we could hook the patient up to a diagnostic EKG that could be read by the physicians in the ER and by our medical director, who was the head of the Heart Hospital in McAllen, Texas. Without seeing the patient, they could make a determination as to whether the fall was likely to have been cardiac-related.
     
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    Last edited: May 30, 2021
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  10. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
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    That makes me wonder if assisted living places will acquire those cardiac gadgets that comes with a phone app for monitoring cardiac activity that some individuals are buying, like the Omron KardiaMobile EKG. Seems a nurse on staff could use one in deciding whether to call EMS and save a lot of cost and worry. What do you think @Ken Anderson ?
     
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  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I don't know how accurate those are, but I suspect the greatest value is in monitoring changes, and that's something. I also don't know what the level or quality of nurses are in most assisted living places. I retired from EMS more than twenty years ago, and I worked in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I transported a bunch of patients from nursing homes, and the nurses there seemed to be as dumb as rocks, and lazy to boot. They were the ones who somehow made it through nursing school but were unable to get a job in a hospital. Since the nurses rarely left the nursing station, most of the care was provided by aides. Likely, it's not that bad everywhere. While there were assisted living places in the Valley, I don't recall ever being called to one, so I can't say.
     
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  12. Sheldon Scott

    Sheldon Scott Supreme Member
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    The more I learn about California the less I like it. I love Brooke's daughter but I don't think moving there would be good for our situation.
     
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  13. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Management tries hard to keep us all happy , healthy and entertained. There are other activities that will come about in June that are not published yet.

    ACTIVITY SCHEDULE.jpg ACTIVITY SCHEDULE.jpg
     
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  14. Tony Page

    Tony Page Veteran Member
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    I fall often these days, however my worst fall happened in the 70s I fell off a roof, I was coming down head-first I broke the fall with my right elbow. I lost 55% of use of my arm, cause of bone spurs had surgery to remove the head of the radius.
    I've Fallen three times this year I expect they'll be more before the end of the year. Fortunately they only amounted to scraped knees and arms, and a broken pair of glasses. I lose my balance very easily because I have a back issue
    Had a visit with a spine and pain management specialist this morning for recent strong back pain. I was referred to him by a neurologist for brain and spine issues. I'm told I got spinal stenosis and I need back surgery, because I've tried all of the available Avenues with no success. I've been to chiropractors, physical therapist, had two epidurals, and I've tried Heat and cold compresses. The pain has gotten tenfold over the last few months, I've been taking 4 Advils at a time to take the edge off, especially when trying to work on the property. With lack of sleep, and two legs that are numb, being constantly tired, and in a fog, my stumbling has increased.
    Not sure what to do, I'm not keen on surgery, but can't continue with a excruciating pain and my balance issues every day either.
    The doctors did give me a prescription for stronger pain meds, however if they're narcotic based I won't take them.
    I still think I would prefer physical therapy approach rather than surgery.
    Oh yes I was asked that question about falling it was on the questionnaire.
     
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  15. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Hope they can figure out something to help you, Tony.
     
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