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Feb. 10th, 2012 09:41 amOk, I need your help guys!
My grandparents live in Lakeland, Fl. Nana is unable to stand or walk on her own at all, use the bathroom normally, or see consistently, since she had strokes - but she still lives at home because Pa, her wonderful husband, cares for her fulltime (with the help of my mother). My mom lives nearby and comes everyday as her work hours allow because many things about Nana's care - mostly centered around moving her from chair to bed or in and out of a vehicle - require two people, or are just exhausting with only one. Pa has managed to get the whole house and vehicle set up such that they still go out to lunch together a few times a week, she gets her hair and nails done, and so on - it's incredibly moving, actually, to watch them laugh as he feeds her when she's having a hard time and I think again and again that they are the sweetest thing in the world.
Here's the hard part. Pa needs heart surgery. He's 78 and they say he has to have it before he's 80, and it's going to take 4-6 months for him to recover to where he can go back to "fulltime caregiver" mode. My mother cannot do it by herself, partially because of her need to work/pay bills and partially because it's just impossible for one person. Pa is a retired veteran with TriCare insurance and Nana has some kind of disability and Medicare as well, but none of that is offering a short term care solution.
They've actually been told that in-home care for Nana would run $20 per HOUR and an in-patient stay somewhere would be $225 per DAY. Neither of those are feasible options (by a long shot).
We're wondering if anybody reading this knows of any kind of program, grant, organization or service that has resources for people in their situation. Pa HAS to have this done and so far, the only options that have been presented to them are awful (basically, put her away forever in a "long term care" facility that is not nearly up to the therapy and living standards of short term places, or try to get her in an ER "for something" and then hope for a transfer that wouldn't last as long as his recovery anyway) that would be covered.
I feel like they can't be the only people who have encountered this problem, and there must be something out there they can take advantage of to make a solution possible.
Anybody?
My grandparents live in Lakeland, Fl. Nana is unable to stand or walk on her own at all, use the bathroom normally, or see consistently, since she had strokes - but she still lives at home because Pa, her wonderful husband, cares for her fulltime (with the help of my mother). My mom lives nearby and comes everyday as her work hours allow because many things about Nana's care - mostly centered around moving her from chair to bed or in and out of a vehicle - require two people, or are just exhausting with only one. Pa has managed to get the whole house and vehicle set up such that they still go out to lunch together a few times a week, she gets her hair and nails done, and so on - it's incredibly moving, actually, to watch them laugh as he feeds her when she's having a hard time and I think again and again that they are the sweetest thing in the world.
Here's the hard part. Pa needs heart surgery. He's 78 and they say he has to have it before he's 80, and it's going to take 4-6 months for him to recover to where he can go back to "fulltime caregiver" mode. My mother cannot do it by herself, partially because of her need to work/pay bills and partially because it's just impossible for one person. Pa is a retired veteran with TriCare insurance and Nana has some kind of disability and Medicare as well, but none of that is offering a short term care solution.
They've actually been told that in-home care for Nana would run $20 per HOUR and an in-patient stay somewhere would be $225 per DAY. Neither of those are feasible options (by a long shot).
We're wondering if anybody reading this knows of any kind of program, grant, organization or service that has resources for people in their situation. Pa HAS to have this done and so far, the only options that have been presented to them are awful (basically, put her away forever in a "long term care" facility that is not nearly up to the therapy and living standards of short term places, or try to get her in an ER "for something" and then hope for a transfer that wouldn't last as long as his recovery anyway) that would be covered.
I feel like they can't be the only people who have encountered this problem, and there must be something out there they can take advantage of to make a solution possible.
Anybody?
