News of Jeanie

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Virginia ~

Thank you so much for this newsy update!

I am curious about how you found out Jeanie was there after being told she wasn't. Did you speak to a different person the second time you called? I would be quite concerned if I was in that facility, and family/friends were told that I was not there. The facility employees should know where all of their patients are at all times.

Jeanie is a tough cookie, that's for certain. It is good to know that she has a new roommate, as the other one was really stressful for her.

I'm glad that she is advocating for herself, but it is still upsetting that she (or someone representing her) has to advocate to get appropriate care. It's not just her rehab, of course. It's all rehab/nursing homes.

I am overprotective and hovering, because I have spent my entire life in hospitals and rehab facilities. I can't help it. I have witnessed incompetency in some of the most critical situations. So I am cynical.

For example: how long has Jeanie had this rash, before she was finally seen by a dermatologist? Was a wound care nurse ever consulted during this period of waiting to see a doctor? A wound care nurse could have visited the rehab, looked at Jeanie's rash, taken photos, taken a swab, had it analyzed, and then treated it under the auspices of her primary care physician.

That should have been done as soon as the rash appeared, and rehab's treatments failed after a week. Jeanie could have been treated for this bacterial infection long ago. But she was allowed to suffer, because no action to remedy her rash was taken.

In Jeanie's situation, I would want to know how I became infected, and what kind of bacteria was found. In communal living situations, infections spread like wildfire. Why? The people, who work in these facilities, probably don't follow protocol with gloves, washing their hands, wearing a mask, changing gloves between procedures/patients, etc.

Picture an RN, who hasn't washed her hands, nor is wearing gloves, inserting an IV into a patient's arm. That was the biggest infraction during Jim's 6 hours in "rehab."

Let us not forget the multitudinous problems with getting Jeanie's ankle fixed. She has the same problem with her rash.

We shouldn't have to be advocates for our care in our elder years. We should be treated with respect, kindness, appreciation for our lifetime efforts, honored, dignified. In fact, that is how we ALL should be treated, no matter our age or our condition.

I am so sorry about Jeanie's brother-in-law. What a tragedy for her sister and children, and the entire family. There may have been signs that he was despondent, which family/friends missed. My prayers are with all of them.

Thank you Virginia and agate for tracking down Jeanie.

Love & Light,

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!


THANKS!

[Virginia]

Rose, Jeanie's sons knew where she was at all times. The first time I called I got a switchboard operator who didn't give a hoot if I got through to Jeanie or not. That is the first time I have called that they have not been very nice to me. The 2nd time I called I punched a line that said nursing. I think you may be suppose to go through the switchboard. But the nursing line told me that she was a patient and they put me through right away. Jeanie, when I told her what had happened gave me both of her son's cell phone numbers. So, I now have someone to contact between the two of them should I ever need to.

About the rash - I asked Jeanie if it could be an allergic reaction to something like the detergent they use in their wash. She said no she didn't think so. She still believes as she has all along that it got started by them cleaning her after she goes to the bathroom. Then they put an ointment on her, then they rub up her back with the ointment without changing their gloves. They wear the same gloves while cleaning her, but use a rag which they do not use on her back, just the glove. She has felt this was what was causing it all along. Since the Dermatologist has ordered a special wash for her back and an antibiotic ointment in addition to the Keflex I am hoping this will change the way the nursing home staff clean her. They clean other people the same way and Jeanie has heard of no one else having had this happen to them, but since she is not up walking around talking to people she might not know.

I believe the rash started about 5 weeks ago. She did request a wound care nurse which I am not totally sure if she got or not, but when the rash got worse they got her to a Dr. A little of this is due to the fact that Jeanie does not like to get up with the Hoyer hoist. She says it hurts her leg where it was broken, so she kind of puts things off, that require her getting up I think. At least that is the impression she gave me.

As you know, Jeanie is a nurse and she remembers a lot of her nursing and can spot things that others might not be able to. She speaks up for herself, but likes for her daughter-in-law to send e-mails about things that are going on. She thinks this gets more attention. I am not sure why other than it is coming from a family member. She tells her daughter-in-law what to say. On day to day things she speaks up.

I totally agree that we should not have to advocate for ourselves at this age, but I know of no way around it. I am glad Jeanie has her nursing career to guide her. So many people would be completely lost. Since it was a bacterial infection she was right about where it could have come from.

I told her you would be upset. She laughed and told me I should stay in my home, that I just wasn't tough enough. She worries about my steps inside my house, so I told her I seldom was going up them anymore, which is true.

I am newsy because Jeanie wants me to tell everyone everything I can remember. In addition, she wants to know everything that is going on here. If you recall she use to tell us things that maybe a lot of other members would not.

I should know more after she goes to the Doctor. She knows you care.

[stillstANNding]

Thank you for this, Virginia.

[agate]

It's so helpful that you're bringing us news of Jeanie. It keeps reminding us that she's still the same Jeanie we've "known" here for a long time, and we are hopeful that she'll find her way back here before long.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Virginia ~

I am upset, because I know that Jeanie isn't receiving good care. As a nurse, Jeanie probably realizes this, especially since she described the slipshod treatment of her wound with her nurse or aide not changing gloves.

There are better lifts than Hoyer, but it's the cheapest. Comfort is about having the proper sling (Jon's was a full sling with faux sheepskin), and knowing the correct way to turn the patient to put the sling under the patient, and the safest way to lift the patient. I strongly doubt that her caregivers have been trained in using the lift or that they ever have refresher courses from PTs. Jim and I did for Jonathan.

As I said in a previous post, a wound care nurse could have been called for an in-facility exam, and swab the wound for analysis, and take photos to show the dermatologist. Jeanie would not have to go to a dermatologist for treatment of her wound. That is less expensive than carting her to a doctor and back. And better for Jeanie.

Jonathan had wounds, sometimes massive, on his bum and hips, from 2005 until he passed in 2019. He never saw a dermatologist. His home health nurse treated his wounds, and Wound Care Specialist nurses were called in for consultation. He had a podiatrist, who treated Jon's chronic ingrown toenail at home. After a few months, he stopped coming and sent his assistants to our home to manage the toenail/wound every 6 weeks. Even Jon's GI visited annually to change Jon's G-tube.

That saved Medicaid (taxpayers) tons of money in ambulance transport, doctor's office visits, and ER visits.

I cannot think of one plausible reason why this kind of care cannot be provided in a long-term care facility.

Today, I found this article about corporations, which own long-term care facilities. It is lengthy, but we all need to read every word of it.

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Excerpts:

At the same time, state authorities sometimes found evidence of gruesome mistreatment: The same September Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... found that a nurse had treated a wound on a resident’s finger with a sloppily sterilized box cutter, leaving the digit looking like “raw hamburger meat.”

Other complaints were about deeper systemic problems: In February 2021, more than a year after Noble took the reins of the Fort Wayne facility, residents, staff and the facility’s own records revealed that residents had not been getting all their medication on time — drugs like insulin, Lipitor and psychiatric medications. And one resident said there weren’t enough staff members to get residents to their doctor’s appointments.

The director of nursing told inspectors the facility still didn’t have a good system for keeping track of whether residents who needed help with their personal care had taken a shower. During that same inspection, inspectors spoke to a resident who complained that there were not enough staff to help residents get dressed; the inspector noted that the resident was not wearing pants.

Inspectors substantiated 56 of the 60 complaints and cited the facility for deficiencies 29 times.

Employees of these facilities are underpaid and undertrained. Typically, facilities are understaffed. Why? Profit.

This article is just a sampling of what long-term care facilities are like across the nation. Every corporation is after profit off of the backs of aging Boomers, who have major health issues and are essentially defenseless.

I will close with this personal testimony from my dear friend, whose disabled son was Michael's best friend, classmate and bus-mate for 20 years.

In 2013, after discharge from the hospital, where physicians were unable to control her son's seizures, they convinced her that her son should go to a rehab facility. Like me with my sons, she was there with him 24 hours a day caring for him.

It was regarded to be a top notch facility at that time. Owned by a large corporation.

An aide bathed her son's roommate using her son's basin. Their names were on the basins, but the aide ignored that, and grabbed the first one. She stopped the aide, "That's my son's basin! You can't use that on this patient! He has his own basin!"

The next day, she took her son home and continued to care for him as she had cared for him since birth, until he passed a year later.

Because we don't have strict regulations regarding quality of care in long-term care facilities, and these facilities are all about profit, we have to speak up about the atrocity of subpar care in them. Focus should be on in home care as much as possible, because it ensures a higher quality of care, less risk of transmissible diseases/infections, and it is far less expensive than out of home care.

That was proven decades ago.

That is why I am upset about Jeanie's situation.

I love Jeanie, you, and everyone here, and I don't want any of us to be forced to tolerate the abuses of long-term care while corporations line their pockets with bonuses.

Love & Light,

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!


THANKS!

[agate]

Jeanie's son was kind enough to return my call just now. I had called at the time when Jeanie couldn't be located. He mentioned how difficult her situation had been before the recent room change, what with the roommate "screaming all the time" and making it impossible even to "visit" with Jeanie through the window.

I will try to give her a call now and again. He says her hand arthritis makes it almost impossible for her to type anything. He said she can type only a few letters at a time.

[Virginia]

Rose, I fear everything you have said because I realize that I might be a patient in one of these facilities at any time.

The only thing I can tell you is Jeanie is pretty much aware of what goes on because when she was telling me that she speaks up for herself, she said just think of the people that cannot or do not know how to speak up. She says she knows how things should be done and also she does have family who are visible to the staff. They leave drinks at the desk for her every week. They supply her with books to read and other little things like her DIL e-mailing them helps I think. She doesn't drink the water in Palm Beach County, she says it is not good. Therefore the drinks are there for her through her family.

She has stated that while there are no really good nursing homes that this one is clean and she is bathed every day and mostly taken care of. One thing that is important to Jeanie is the food and she orders from a menu a week ahead. She says most of the food is good. She has started getting an extra deviled egg sandwich at lunch and saves it until 8:30 or 9:00 at night when she is hungry after supper. If, for some reason, she doesn't get that sandwich she can order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich anytime she wants.

When I was taking care of my Grandmother in a nursing home none of these things were true. My husband or I gave her her baths and tried to get there for her night meal so they wouldn't leave it sitting away from her where she couldn't get to it. I asked Jeanie if that had ever happened there and she said "no".

Jeanie does have family. They stop by her window every week-end and sometime during the week if their work permits. She has a cell phone which she doesn't give out the number to so they can talk on cell phones to each other. She pays for all her minutes so she saves them for her sons.

I am not trying to sugar coat anything. Based on the years my Grandmother was in one I pretty much know how bad they can be. I am just trying to keep in touch with Jeanie because I think she looks forward to hearing about all of you. I am not family, I live in another state and I am handicapped so I am just trying to do the little that I can.

[Virginia]

Agate, thanks for your post which I just saw. Jeanie would absolutely be thrilled to hear from you. I don't know if Jim said anything about the place, but if he did I feel that it would have been kind of along the lines that I have described.

[agate]

The son and I had only a very brief chat but this is what he said about the place:

He mentioned how difficult her situation had been before the recent room change, what with the roommate "screaming all the time" and making it impossible even to "visit" with Jeanie through the window.

He seemed relieved that she'd been moved. I can believe that he wasn't exaggerating when he said that the roommate had been screaming all the time. I've visited people in nursing homes and there are indeed people like that. Since such people are disruptive when others need their rest, I don't know why those who are screaming nonstop can't be isolated so that they don't disturb other people but I haven't noticed that happening. Probably because it would be too costly.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Virginia ~

Keeping in touch with Jeanie and connecting us with her is a very big thing! What more could anyone give than love and friendship? And, you know how much we all appreciate your updates on Jeanie. You are bringing light into Jeanie's day with conversation and news about her friends here.

By the standards of the nursing homes mentioned in the article, and your Grandmother's facility, Jim's rehab, and my friend's son's rehab, it seems that Jeanie's rehab is better in some ways. At least the food is appealing to her, and she is bathed daily.

But her care could be so much better, if the facility implemented my suggestions for in-facility care ~ a proper lift with proper slings, better training for the aides and nurses, a Wound Care Nurse instead of an ambulance ride to a dermatologist.

Unfortunately, Jeanie's rehab is probably under the umbrella of a giant corporation, as nearly all of them are. So the level of care won't be elevated beyond what it is now. And in-facility care will not become an option, even though it is far less expensive than out of facility care. These corporations have powerful, influential lobbyists to keep the status quo.

The problem is that the government is stuck in this long-term care cycle, which our current President has stated he will address as part of his "Human Infrastructure" program. He wants to focus on in-home care, with appropriate wages and benefits for caregivers.

Historically, statistics prove that in-home care is less expensive, more appropriate, and offers a better quality of life than out-of- home care.

I can say unequivocally that caring for Michael, Jonathan, and Jim saved taxpayers millions of dollars. And every in-home visit by nurses, aides, doctors, therapists, etc. also saved the taxpayers millions.

The money saved on supporting in-home care as an option to a facility would be stupendous.

So many doctors urged me to institutionalize Jonathan and Michael and "get on with your life." That's when I would find a new doctor, because my children are my life. It is so easy to discard our most vulnerable people, whether they are children with disabilities or elderly with disabilities.

So, I fought with other parents and advocates for the Olmstead Act, which closed our institutions and relocated those within them to a community residential living environment. Some had been locked up for so long that they had to learn new coping mechanisms to survive in a community.

We need a similar Act to close long-term care, nursing, rehab facilities and relocate residents to a community environment.

But we know how long it takes to get an Act through Congress.

Like you, Virginia, I fear a "rehab" future, as I am sure many of us do. Jeanie's experience, as your grandmother's, my friend's son, and Jim are a microcosm of what is happening to thousands of Senior citizens across our country. And, it's not a secret. Clearly from the article I linked, the government knows about these abuses. Yet nothing has been done in all of these decades to ensure the safety and proper care of our elderly and disabled population.

We all need to speak up to our elected officials and demand the respect and care we deserve and have earned as taxpayers for our entire adult lives. We need to contact AARP to lead the bandwagon for in-home care and close down these institutions. We can call them "nursing homes," "rehabs," or any other name, but they are, in fact, institutions.

To paraphrase Gandhi: "We have to be the change we want to see in the world."

The only way we can all have a better future is if we fight for it.

Thank you so much, Virginia, for keeping us all connected with Jeanie.

Love & Light,

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!



THANKS!

[Virginia]

I want to try to call Jeanie to see if, indeed she did return to the Dermatologist for her back. I am kind of expecting her to postpone it, but I could be very wrong. I think she needs to force herself to go because it is so important. I am due to go out with family tomorrow evening so it might be Friday before I can even try. Rose, something else she has that my Grandmother did not have is a phone by her bed. My Grandmother lived in that place with no way to call anyone in her family all those years. This was before cell phones. Even when I was there with her if I needed to call my husband for any reason I had to go down a hall to the nurses desk and ask to use their phone. It stresses me out to even remember.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All))))))~

Virginia ~

Please don't stress over this.

Jeanie will make her own decision about this, and I can't blame her for not wanting to go to the dermatologist again. There is nothing comfortable about an ambulance gurney or an ambulance ride. Every bump jolts you.

A qualified visiting Wound Care nurse would mean that she wouldn't have to experience this trauma.

It's great that Jeanie has a phone next to her bed, but you and agate went through a lot just to connect with her. Every employee of the rehab should know where every patient is at all times.

I hope you and your family are having a lovely evening together.

Love & Light,

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!


THANKS!

[Virginia]

I talked to Jeanie this afternoon. She is doing pretty well, but her back has not cleared up yet. She did go back to the Doctor. The Doctor ordered three different kinds of cream, but the pharmacy where she is located has to order them in and they don't do it properly. Her back is only mildly better. When the pharmacy does order the creams per instructions they are seldom applied according to instructions.

Her family can come in now with mask on for 20 minute visits at the time. If they have all the papers to prove that her dog has had all it's vaccines, etc then they can bring the dog in. So, Jim and his wife brought Lacy in one time and put her on the bed. Lacy started licking Jeanie's face and was so glad to see her. Andy came in during this and Jeanie said Lacy had a fit over him. He use to take care of her a lot.

Jeanie's sister from Tennessee was there for a few days and stayed with Jim. She went to see Jeanie a couple of times. Jeanie says she is doing pretty good after the death of her husband. A couple who worked in their business is staying with her now. She has a very large house.

Sunshine, had posted directly to Jeanie so I read her that post from back in early June.

She sends love to everyone.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Virginia ~

I was just thinking about you calling Jeanie today, and you did! Thank you so much for this update!

Of course, I am quite distraught that her rash is not being properly treated. Unfortunately, I am not surprised.

However, I am pleased that Jeanie can have in person contact with Andy, Jim and Lacy. Dogs are incredibly intuitive, so Lacy knows that her Mama isn't well and needs extra love and licks. Lacy was probably excited to see her as well as aware of the different smells in the room/rehab.

My thoughts are with Jeanie's sister. She set aside her grief and trauma to help Jeanie. It's good that she has a housemate.

I'm concerned about Jeanie and Sunshine as there is a hurricane forming headed toward Florida:

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Prayers that it dissipates soon. Hurricane season has begun.

Thank you again, Virginia, for keeping us connected to Jeanie.

Love & Light,

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!


THANKS!

[agate]

I'm so glad that Jeanie is now able to have more contact with family and even with Lacy. It sounds like a very happy reunion!

I was intending to give Jeanie a call but am sorry to say I haven't done it yet. There's been a problem here in the building. Last Friday water was spreading around on the carpet by the laundry room. This has happened before and meant walls and the ceiling had to be opened up, etc. It was record heat last weekend and it seemed a shame to ask the management to make a trip over here for this but the water kept spreading. I called the emergency maintenance number and was told the message would be "relayed."

The next day I didn't see that anything had been done. And the water was spreading. There was now twice as big a wet spot and I could hear dripping inside the walls somewhere. I called again.

Sunday morning the maintenance person was here working on it. The source of the leak couldn't be found. They kept working on it on Monday. Then they decided it wasn't in the plumbing but maybe in the air conditioning system.

This could be bad news for all of us if work has to be done on the AC because we'd probably be without AC until the work was done. People here in their 90s (and there are at least 4 that I know of) will be at too much risk if it gets hot again. And it will get hot again.

The water started leaking onto the laundry room floor. Lots of it. I tried to mop it up using the mop that is provided in the laundry room. It's a poor excuse for a mop, and many of us can't operate it to squeeze the water out.

So I asked the maintenance guy about getting a better mop for us. People would come into that laundry room without realizing there was water on the floor and break their necks. He didn't want to provide a better mop but he did find us a brand-new mop that had been locked in a closet.

He didn't want to put it out for fear that it would disappear. I suggested he label it as the building's property. He did that. That was a couple of days ago. The mop is still there.

Since the weather cooled off, there has been no more leaking. An air conditioner guy was supposed to be here yesterday. I saw a guy running around yesterday who looked as if he might be the air conditioner guy. (He looked cool.)

I don't yet know what he said. But the way the leak stopped when the weather cooled off makes me think it might have been the air conditioning.

So that has been keeping me busy, as well as trying to stay cool, and getting the vaccine.

Florida, with Jeanie and Sunshine there, definitely could do without a hurricane. I hope this one fizzles out before it hits the coast.