02/13/2012- Wednesday

When I went in she was lying flat and had no water near her. She was having trouble breathing.  I brought the bed up to sit her up so her breathing we might ease.  She tried to tell me something was wrong with her diaper. I told her to push the button for someone to come and help. She had no idea what the button was about. I had to show her and have her do it. It took about 30 minutes for someone to come today.  I spoke to the DDS office at 3:00 and they said he would be out today and would call me so I could be there.

Anne the assistant nursing director stopped me as I was leaving and told me that mom was no longer receiving rehab and that on Friday she would go into custodial care. I said what does that mean? She said she knew I was having trouble finding a place for her and that they could give her a middle bed for now and move her to something else later. I told her I need to appeal/contest the decision because this was a result of Palomar throwing away her teeth.  She gave me a form to sign. I took it home and reviewed it. It says Medicare may not pay for the services after the Friday date. So, I called Susan N. 858-495-5731 for her to get me in touch with the Skilled Nursing Facility ombudsman David R. I do not know how to handle an appeal.   

Anne gave me the number for Medicare and I called them and they gave me the number of the QIO 866-800-8749. I am on hold with them now 4:08 PM – 4:30.  They will tell me about the appeal process. I had to leave a message, I was on hold for 20 minutes. 

I am very concerned about them moving mom twice. She is very fragile and will most likely get agitated and act out b/c of the new surroundings.  When should I start hospice?  I need to speak to Dr. P. at Lightbridge.

When I went back at 6:00 Pm to meet the dentist I found out that the food I brought in on 2/7 was still in the freezer. No one had bothered to prepare it for her.  it’s like none of the staff is aware and listening to anything I say. Are they not the professionals and they need to be actively involved in her care, health and well-being.  At the dentist’s suggestion we put her on a puree diet for 7 days to see if she takes to it better than the mechanical soft food.  He advised Joel that she should only wear the dentures for 1- ½ hours at a time and to use only a tiny bit of poli grip. As her mouth is extremely dry due to some meds side effects and it might rip the skin off if they have to pull hard.

NOTE: added 02/18/2013. A day or two after this I asked Joel to check with the doctor to see what if any meds were drying her out. I never heard back from him. And as we reviewed the meds list, I saw that a breathing treatment was ordered on some regular basis but had not been administered in at least a week. As I had moved the machine across the room and it had not been moved back near her.