It's a New Day
Unless I hear from the SNF something different, I believe Bill will be coming home today.
I spoke with the Nurse Casemanager from the insurance company and expressed my frustration with the SNF regarding their accusations that our insurance was "impossible to deal with". She could sense I was just about to crack under the pressure so she called the Board of Pensions and hooked me up with a really nice lady. They have agreed to pay the SNF as though they are an in-network facility. She also confirmed that it is more the SNF who is causing the problem since they seem to want to demand a firm dollar amount the insurance company will pay. I still think the reason is that (I would estimate) 90% of the residents are primarily Medicare and/or Medicaide patients and there is probably a grid used for payment purposes. The lady from the BoP confirmed that a facility cannot demand payment up front from anyone - a fact I found impossible to grasp. It's sort of like going to the hospital and being expected to pay before service is rendered.
Anyway, I was told that Bill's discharge date is today - and I sure can live with that. It seems odd that I've heard nothing from the facility yet. I am expecting them to call and tell me Bill has been discharged so I can come pick him up. That seems to be the way things are working - no consideration for the caregiver, as usual. This time I'm prepared though and have a sense of peace about it.
Bill is understandibly excited and ready to roll. I explained to him that he has to be patient because there is alot more to it than just coming to pick him up. He doesn't understand everything coming home entails. That's been the way it is all along though - it's all about Bill!!! That's the reason he has wanted me to do so much for him I believe, the mental capacity for self-care has really been damaged. He has a child-like need to be cared for. The challenge of living with an adult without the capacity to be adult-like is a deficit that isn't obvious to the eye.
The September/October issue of Stroke Connection Magazine focused on dementia. I had not realized the short-term memory loss is part of dementia. The articles were interesting - I only wish there had been some information about men since the focus seemed to be on mothers, and the elderly as well. I don't consider 56 elderly! I have my own case study right here...
It's a new day, I'm feeling stronger emotionally and have to clean the bathroom. Time to get off this thing and get busy!
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