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Parsnip Totin Jack

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Wo7 spoke with LAJ last night on the phone. I learned more. He is still in the hospital waiting on tests related to his kidney function. The last time he was in the hospital, a year or two ago, his kidney function was 50%. Now it is down to 15%. The doctors want to start a prescription to try and improve that function. If there is no improvement in two months, he will go on dialysis, likely three days a week.

His diabeetus is not a problem. The open sores on his legs were from extremely high blood pressure. They are treating that with success and have gotten his BP into a better range.

His lady friend from England called off their engagement. I didn't know that they were engaged. LAJ said that they were planning on getting married next year. She was in a car accident and broke several vertebrae. Her ex-husband re-entered her life and LAJ was kicked to the curb. He was disappointed at his only opportunity for happiness. But he did admit to telling Pack-rat Terry about his relationship plans and said that it was ok with him if she looked for another love in her life. 

Wo7 told LAJ that he should look into moving into an assisted living facility or, at a minimum, a rehabilitation center. His vision is so poor that he cannot drive. RtJ and Dumplin' can't take care of him. LAJ didn't want to hear it but said he would consider it. I didn't mention it but my thinking is that the quality of care that he would receive in an assisted living facility on just Medicaid isn't much to look forward to.   

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26 minutes ago, 2Far said:

As opposed to the care he's giving himself?

Medicaid is administered by the state based on national guidelines to get the money.  There will be differences by state but each state is going to have care regulations that licensed facilities have to meet to be part of the program  Those facilities that care to pass inspections (annual or otherwise) have to meet minimum care standards.  That doesn't mean that there aren't bad facilities but the likelihood of placing someone in a substandard facility continues to go down.

When I was looking for a facility for my dad, the county Agency on Aging provided me with an independent consultant that helped me find a place.  The consultant was paid by the large group of facilities she represented and she helped steer us to the right place based on location and available funds and made suggestions about additional programs that could help.  There are a lot of resources out there that, unless you ask, you will know nothing about. 

 

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3 hours ago, Kzoo said:

When I was looking for a facility for my dad, the county Agency on Aging provided me with an independent consultant that helped me find a place.  The consultant was paid by the large group of facilities she represented and she helped steer us to the right place based on location and available funds and made suggestions about additional programs that could help.  There are a lot of resources out there that, unless you ask, you will know nothing about

The assisted living center where my mother in law is costs $4,800 a month. She owns her own home but even if we sell that it isn’t going to cover many more year’s care. I think we need some kind of consultant. 

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On 12/7/2018 at 12:10 PM, 2Far said:

As opposed to the care he's giving himself?

Interesting observation. LAJ is still in the hospital; he is expected to be released tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday. The doctor told him that he is not being considered for a kidney transplant as they don't think that he will change his ways and they don't want to waste a transplant (not exactly how they put it but...) He has to get shots in his eyes to reduce the swelling caused by the high blood pressure. When the swelling goes down they will operate on his cataracts. Janet-the-Martyr (JtM) has arranged for home health care through Medicaid and is working on finding him a place in an assisted living facility. JtM also found that Medicaid will cover transportation costs (taxi/Uber/bus) as long as he is unable to drive. Pack-rat Terry (PRT) is helping with Social Security disability filing as he is unable to work and should qualify for benefits. 

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Lazy-ass Joe (LAJ) is my wife's oldest brother. He is 61. Backstory: Over 25 years ago, Wo7 and I were visiting her family over the holidays. At breakfast I saw LAJ adding sugar to a bowl of frosted flakes. I commented that that was a lot of sugar. He replied that he liked it that way. Tone said to fuck off, ok fine, not my business. I told Wo7 that if he wasn't a diabetic he was headed that way. Wo7 said that when he turned 18 he told the family that now that he was an adult he didn't have to eat vegetables anymore. And he didn't. He ate fast food, pizza and lots of soda. Over the years I observed that he wouldn't do anything that he didn't want to and that list was long. That is how he earned the nickname lazy-ass Joe. Eventually he was diagnosed with diabetes. He ignored what the doctors told him, His health got worse. Stage IV chronic kidney disease has progressed to three-times a week dialysis (starting this week). He still eats poorly. When he lived with us (in Ohio), he would add six packets of Splenda to a large glass of iced tea. I don't think he's changed much at all. He was a teacher once but quit to be Mr. Mom when his son, Robert-the Jedi (RtJ), was born in 1991. Hasn't worked much since then so he has minimal contribution to his Social Security fund and no retirement plan. 

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