Dear Peg and friends---I really appreciate your sharing your experience ,
and it has been helpful to me, I hope to others also. Maybe Jeff will add
it to the CARE website?
Today we hit bottom---and I thought of you and Harry even more. When I got
to Westover at 8:45 AM today, Peter was having a complete paranoid episode,
and we ended up with his insisting he would not go back to his room,
everyone was evil, food was poisoned, the whole thing---he insisted they
call the police, even though we told him they would take him to the
hospital. No one could make any headway with him, and by then of course I
was one of the bad guys too,because I wouldn't take him home ! At the
nearest hospital ER they followed the instruction of the Westover staff
psychiatrist, who luckily had seen him a few days earlier, and arranged to
transfer him to Cincinnati (an hour away) where one hospital has a
supposedly fine Geriatric Psych unit. They had to give him a shot of
Ativan to quiet him, but even then he wouldn't take his meds. The social
worker from the psych unit spoke to me by phone, and seemed very
understanding and competent. He will be Peter's worker. He told me to go
home and rest, and come down for visiting hours in the morning, bringing
some clothes. etc. Our son-in-law's mother is visiting them and will
drive down with me tomorrow, as both daughters have to work. The hope is
to get meds adjusted so he will be willing and able to return to Westover.
We knew the changes would be very hard due to his dementia, but saw no
alternative. The problems with meds--timeliness and his refusal of them at
times-- have added the final layer of stress. Yes, there were some good
days, pleasant visits, but increasingly he was begging to come home. He
has of course forgotten now that going there was his own idea----I'll try
to keep friends updated as we go along. Thanks to all for your loving
concern, prayers, and suggestions.
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender: "Caregivers Are Really Essential (CARE)"
> <[log in to unmask]>
>Poster: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Adjustments
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Camilla,
>
>Decided to send this to the list in case our discussion could help others
>faced with placing their loved ones.
SNIPPED
Camilla Flintermann <[log in to unmask]>
on the web at http://www.geocities.com/camillahf/index.html
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"... Meet people where they are now,
not where you hoped they might be........"
--Christine Greenland
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