Sleepless in Honolulu

I had a really sleepless night. I had to pick Mom up off the floor last night; she ignored my request to call me to help her get to the bathroom, she ended up trying to crawl there but couldn't make it; I had to also clean her up. Fortunately, each of the last 3 times she had to stay in the hospital she came back with a can of no-rinse foaming body wash, which is what I used to clean her up. Mom turned the TV on after she got back to her room; I listened to it all night on the monitor so it made it difficult to tell if she was having problems. I ended up checking on her for 3 false alarms. She didn't get up again to use the bathroom until after 8 am.


Today I spent about 4 hours trying to find a home care company that could provide a caregiver from 11 pm to 7 am, beginning tonight for the next week. I started with Safe Harbor, who provided caregivers for us last November; they couldn't do it. I called 7 other companies; 6 were unable to provide anyone for any of the 7 days we are definitely wanting to have someone around to help with Mom at night. The last one is working with us and thinks they can start providing someone beginning on Thursday night. In the meanwhile, Curtis took a nap and came to sit in the hallway to keep an eye on Mom tonight.

One thing I have noticed is that when Mom is on a lower surface, she has trouble using her legs to lift her body weight. I have taught her to move her center of gravity forward, leaning part of her weight on the walker, & that has made it easier for her to stand up. I sent an e-mail to Dr. Pham, asking for a referral to a physical therapist to come to the house to work with Mom to strengthen her legs. She called & said she could only do it after a face-to-face assessment, so we will discuss that next Monday when Mom has a follow-up appointment with Dr. Pham for the pneumonia.

Curtis brought a frame for the bed that Mom is using. The original frame broke about 2 years ago, so we got rid of it and we put the box springs & mattress on the floor. Hopefully, that higher surface will help. I will also look in to the 'booster seat' that raises the level of the toilet seat.

A couple weeks ago I got a card notifying me that I was now a member of Kaiser Quest health care, the state of Hawaii's medicaid program administered through Kaiser Permanente. Back in December 2016 I was told Kaiser Quest was closed and I did not qualify for any of the exemptions, but if I paid full price ($810/mo) for health care through the regular Kaiser Permanente for 6 months I could transition to Kaiser Quest at the next open enrollment period. Shortly after I got the Kaiser Quest card, I got a bill from Kaiser for the March premium. I spent an hour on the phone today asking questions to figure out exactly who is providing my healthcare. The good news is that I have healthcare. Twice! I was advised to send a letter to Kaiser's membership administration department, requesting a retroactive termination of my regular Kaiser Permanente membership to 02/01/2017, when the Kaiser Permanente Quest membership went in to effect.

Happy Birthday to Peggy, Roger, Winnie, & nephew David! Happy Fat Tuesday, Chocolate Souffle Day, Floral Design Day, Public Sleeping Day, Tooth Fairy Day, Rare Disease Day, and Spay Day! Tomorrow the month of March begins; it is the month for Asset Management Awareness, Caffeine Awareness, Celery, Cheerleading Safety, Colorectal Cancer Awareness, Craft, Credit Education, Flour, Frozen Food, Kidney, Music in Our Schools, Noodle, Nutrition, Peanut, Professional Social Work, Sauce, Trisomy Awareness, Umbrella, and Women's History. Get ready to celebrate Dadgum That's Good Day, Fruit Compote Day, Horse Protection Day, Peanut Butter Lovers Day, and Pig Day tomorrow.