Today at breakfast, my brother informed he is skipping meals because he thinks the food the nursing home provides is "not healthy". So I asked him for examples. The first thing he mentioned was eggs and orchestral, which I thought was kind of strange because he was eating eggs at that very moment. Then he mentioned pasta alfredo.
My brother has been fixating on what kind of food he can and can't eat for quite a while. He thinks vegetables and fruit give him the runs, and he won't eat cheese at all. At least most of the time it's the case unless he thinks otherwise on that particular day.
So my reply was that he had two choices: either eat what they provided for him or ask for one of the substitues that they always provide. He told me that it was only peanut butter and jelly which I know is not the case. I mentioned that the critical element was portion, and since they control portions at the nursing home, I thought he could eat anything he wanted, and that he should not be skipping meals.
A budding eating disorder is not something I particularly want to deal with. It has come and gone in the past 10 years. I am going to have to track this.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
back from Italy 9and more on the hearing iad)
I'm back from Italy. I came back on a Saturday and went to go visit my brother on Sunday. I was pretty jet lagged but figured I needed to go see him. I glad he did. It turns out his hearing aid hadn't been working for 3 days.
He just got a new hearing aid, and it was ordered without my permission, although I did ask for an audiologist to come see him. It was an issue. Medicaid will only pay for the hearing aid once every 5 years and it is expensive. It breaks down a lot because my brother physically can't clean it, his ears are more waxy than most people, and then the hearing aid doesn't work. The audiologist that the nursing home selected is at least an hour away from my house. The audiologist only turns up once every 6 weeks, so theoretically, by brother could go without hearing for almost 8-9 weeks.
The nursing home social worker and head nurse weren't very sympathetic. They said they never deal with these issues because most residents don't have involved relatives and that they are in pretty bad physical shape and can't complain because they are not able to physically.
I called up the audiologist, who turned out to be probably a nice guy. He said that he comes into the area more frequently and would be willing to stop by and pick up the device for repair if needed.
Meanwhile, at the CARE meeting, I asked the nursing home to start cleaning the hearing aid on a daily basis, and I was outright turned down, that the devices would too costly and easy to break, they didn't want the liability! This is driving me up the wall, and of course, I wonder once more, what is going to happen to my brother if I suddenly am not able to make sure he is taken care of (right now, I clean his hearing aid whenever I see him, usually twice a week.)
There is always something to be stressed out about when it comes to my brother.
He just got a new hearing aid, and it was ordered without my permission, although I did ask for an audiologist to come see him. It was an issue. Medicaid will only pay for the hearing aid once every 5 years and it is expensive. It breaks down a lot because my brother physically can't clean it, his ears are more waxy than most people, and then the hearing aid doesn't work. The audiologist that the nursing home selected is at least an hour away from my house. The audiologist only turns up once every 6 weeks, so theoretically, by brother could go without hearing for almost 8-9 weeks.
The nursing home social worker and head nurse weren't very sympathetic. They said they never deal with these issues because most residents don't have involved relatives and that they are in pretty bad physical shape and can't complain because they are not able to physically.
I called up the audiologist, who turned out to be probably a nice guy. He said that he comes into the area more frequently and would be willing to stop by and pick up the device for repair if needed.
Meanwhile, at the CARE meeting, I asked the nursing home to start cleaning the hearing aid on a daily basis, and I was outright turned down, that the devices would too costly and easy to break, they didn't want the liability! This is driving me up the wall, and of course, I wonder once more, what is going to happen to my brother if I suddenly am not able to make sure he is taken care of (right now, I clean his hearing aid whenever I see him, usually twice a week.)
There is always something to be stressed out about when it comes to my brother.
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