Update on Grandmother.

Jul. 1st, 2005 at 2:22 PM

I got a call this morning that my grandmother was being discharged from the hospital at 1:00 pm today. I knew that Medicare wouldn't pay for an ambulance to take her back to the nursing home, so I volunteered to do so.

She'd been in bed for 10 days, so she had absolutely no strength in her legs at all. It took myself and two nurses to get her into the car, and at the nursing home it took two people to get her out again. She's never done anything to try to build up her muscles in the past, so I'm afraid that she's going to be bedridden for the rest of her life now.

They said they'd be arranging for a physical therapist to come in to see her, but I doubt my grandmother will cooperate.

Current Mood: cynical

Comments

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altivo

Jul. 1st, 2005 09:43 pm (UTC)

This, unfortunately, sounds all too familiar. My mate's godmother went through exactly that kind of gradual deterioration over the last two or three years of her life. Physical therapy was essential and eventually she simply refused to cooperate, which took her quickly from being able to get around with a walker to being stuck in a wheelchair to being completely bedridden and unable to even sit in a chair.

You can try to encourage her to do the exercises they recommend, but don't put yourself in the line of fire if she refuses. There's not a lot to be gained by arguing at that point.

Sorry to concur with your already accurate guess. I have the impression that you aren't feeling personally guilty or responsible for the situation, which is good.

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exitzero

Jul. 2nd, 2005 01:29 am (UTC)

You haven't tried that reverse psychology thing on her to get her to cooperate, have you? ;)

In all seriousness, sorry to hear about all that. How old is she?

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