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Marcia, It's great that your parents are already in retirement community. It is difficult to get an advanced PD patient into one after the disease has progressed. The nature of PD is such that one is on-and -off of Medicare eligibility often. We have just switched home health providers to a group that is adept and amenable to this constant coverage change. > but he was having >problems with bowel control, something that I assume is a result of the >feeding tube and the body getting used to this new form of nutrition. Have >any of you experienced this problem. Yes, we did have this happen a few times. My dad usually suffers from constipation, but since the G tube, has been better - still some "bound" times. I'm sure that you are aware form other postings that a PD'er has to be careful not to get constipated. - SO better loose than the other - We found that if we fed him too fast - it came right out the other end! Our solution is to feed him less at one time, and more frequently during the day. So dad gets fed at 8 am, 12:30 PM, 3 PM, 6:30 PM and 10 PM - Now with meds having to be given before feeds at 7 am, 11:30 am, 2 PM and 5:30 PM - that is an awful lot of work and ties up the caregivers day. The nursing home wouldn't go along with this at all. They said that if he were there for longer than a respite stay, they would put him on a continual feed system. I never saw it, but it sounded like an IV (that's eye vee ) like thing. That didn't sound like fun - makes one seem more like an invalid - and hard to be mobile when you are able. >The biggest worry is if he can't come >home. Medicare pays for the first 20 days. The next 100 are $92 a day. >This is not a Medicaid facility - it's more like the Hilton - and they >could not afford for him to be there. We are keeping our fingers crossed, >and taking it a day at a time. I'm sure your mom can be taught in 20 days - Of importance will be her ability/willingness to take all of this on - as well as her energy level. I copied your posts for my Mom and her comment was - that " I hope she is younger than me, because I'm too old to be doing this." She does it anyway, because of a Catholic guilt syndrome, and b/c we all believe that he is truly better off at home than in home. $92 is cheaper than anything I've found in the Chicago area. The NH that I hated was $115 . It does make it seem important to find one that has both Medicare and Medicaid beds. (it's so stupid that they have only certain beds within a home certified for Medicare - that means that they move the resident from one wing to another as the eligibility changes. That's great for a PD or Alzheimer's patient that has some dementia anyway.) But it is also great that your Dad is so close to your Mom. The trade-offs are a bitch, aren't they? Sara, daughter of Richard, 79 yrs old, PD since 1969