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osodecanelaIt's been a long week.
Mama and baby got sent home midday. The baby is nothing short of beautiful, and they were a joy and an honor to take care of.
This afternoon, I got to 'debate' with a man my age how he's going to take his aged father out of the nursing home and still see to it that the man gets adequate care and supervision.
His father doesn't like the SNF (one of the better ones in this county), but the man is too frail to be left alone and on his own. IHSS (In Home Support Services) will supply funds for 280 hours per month, but that still leaves 440 for his family to come up with. Either, his children and grandchildren are going to be taking shifts to stay with Grandpa, or it isn't going to happen. Given that both his surviving children and all three of his grandchildren are employed full time, I don't see who's going to be able to stay with him at all times. Moreover, no one in this family is going to be able to come up with some 4k per month to hire someone to stay with him 24/7.
It's distressing to see what our society has come to. There was a time when we lived in near proximity to extended family units and where one person actually could support a family on a single salary. Those days for most of us are long gone. This old man was fiercely independant, as long as I have known him. After his wife died he hit the road, living out of his VW van, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. I met him almost 20 years ago in his mid 70's. One morning I found him in my office's parking lot, asleep in the back of his van. He'd been the last patient of the day prior. At 94, his ability to live that way is long gone. The 40's and 50's are over. There is no June Cleaver at home, to look after Pop. No Donna Reed to chat with him while she prepares supper for the family, no John and Olivia Walton working together on a homestead to share the close responsibility of an aged parent thoughout the day.
I can't think about this now. I've got to get outta here. I have a house call to make on the way home.
Mama and baby got sent home midday. The baby is nothing short of beautiful, and they were a joy and an honor to take care of.
This afternoon, I got to 'debate' with a man my age how he's going to take his aged father out of the nursing home and still see to it that the man gets adequate care and supervision.
His father doesn't like the SNF (one of the better ones in this county), but the man is too frail to be left alone and on his own. IHSS (In Home Support Services) will supply funds for 280 hours per month, but that still leaves 440 for his family to come up with. Either, his children and grandchildren are going to be taking shifts to stay with Grandpa, or it isn't going to happen. Given that both his surviving children and all three of his grandchildren are employed full time, I don't see who's going to be able to stay with him at all times. Moreover, no one in this family is going to be able to come up with some 4k per month to hire someone to stay with him 24/7.
It's distressing to see what our society has come to. There was a time when we lived in near proximity to extended family units and where one person actually could support a family on a single salary. Those days for most of us are long gone. This old man was fiercely independant, as long as I have known him. After his wife died he hit the road, living out of his VW van, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. I met him almost 20 years ago in his mid 70's. One morning I found him in my office's parking lot, asleep in the back of his van. He'd been the last patient of the day prior. At 94, his ability to live that way is long gone. The 40's and 50's are over. There is no June Cleaver at home, to look after Pop. No Donna Reed to chat with him while she prepares supper for the family, no John and Olivia Walton working together on a homestead to share the close responsibility of an aged parent thoughout the day.
I can't think about this now. I've got to get outta here. I have a house call to make on the way home.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-05 03:16 pm (UTC)That medical has become profit based for corporations is a bad thing.
SNF?
My ma was at Fircrest
Dukes at Apple Valley
Both were OK at the time.
Hugs Weaver