By request....Life in Long Term Care
- Thread starter DD
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DD here's one for you. My husband works in Maintenance in a resort building largely occupied with snowbirds right now.
He told me yesterday he had a stalker, a little old man that followed him into his "office".
Little Old man: "Steve, Steve, do you have some tweezers?
Steve: "no I don't have any tweezers"
Little old man: "you've got to have some tweezers in here in all this stuff"
Steve: "I promise I do not have tweezers, what do you need tweezers for?"
Little old man: "I've got a piece of cotton in my ear and I can't get it out"
Steve: " Oh, well I've got some needle-nosed pliers"
So Steve pulls the piece of cotton out of the little old man's ear with a pair of pliers and hands it over to the old man .
Little old man was very very grateful and amazed that he didn't even feel the pliers.... He kept the cotton.
He told me yesterday he had a stalker, a little old man that followed him into his "office".
Little Old man: "Steve, Steve, do you have some tweezers?
Steve: "no I don't have any tweezers"
Little old man: "you've got to have some tweezers in here in all this stuff"
Steve: "I promise I do not have tweezers, what do you need tweezers for?"
Little old man: "I've got a piece of cotton in my ear and I can't get it out"
Steve: " Oh, well I've got some needle-nosed pliers"
So Steve pulls the piece of cotton out of the little old man's ear with a pair of pliers and hands it over to the old man .
Little old man was very very grateful and amazed that he didn't even feel the pliers.... He kept the cotton.
DD here's one for you. My husband works in Maintenance in a resort building largely occupied with snowbirds right now.
He told me yesterday he had a stalker, a little old man that followed him into his "office".
Little Old man: "Steve, Steve, do you have some tweezers?
Steve: "no I don't have any tweezers"
Little old man: "you've got to have some tweezers in here in all this stuff"
Steve: "I promise I do not have tweezers, what do you need tweezers for?"
Little old man: "I've got a piece of cotton in my ear and I can't get it out"
Steve: " Oh, well I've got some needle-nosed pliers"
So Steve pulls the piece of cotton out of the little old man's ear with a pair of pliers and hands it over to the old man .
Little old man was very very grateful and amazed that he didn't even feel the pliers.... He kept the cotton.
Oh ssb!! Too funny!! I can so see this happening.
Ok, here's the story from yesterday. Let me just preface this by saying that I absolutely cannot stand our new Social Worker. She's reactive and her body language is threatening. She's passive agressive. She drives me nucking futs.
So, we have these two ladies that moved to our facility about the same time a month ago. They came from different parts of the country and for four weeks, have gotten along famously. Then, night before last, Lady #1 from California decides to cuss out her rather demure, quiet little roommate from NY. Keep in mind that the NY lady can't hear squat. Even if you shout in her ear from 1" away...she just looks at you, smiles and nods. So I doubt she heard CAL lady cussing at her from across the room. The nurse working on the hall, who is a PRN nurse and doesn't know the patients, was offended and reported "verbal abuse" to the Social Worker. We take verbal abuse very seriously, but in this case, I'm having trouble seeing it. Like I told Kitty, if we considered all altercations verbal abuse, we'd be playing musical beds all the time. Anyway, the two of them decided all on their own to move CAL lady to another room. Now, she's really pissed and even more confused. They did call the family of CAL lady to let them know of the move, and they were so blindsided, they agreed. Upon reflection, however, they really questioned the whole thing. In my mind, rightfully so. Then, the SW and the Assistant Director of Nurses (who's a whole other installment), BS'd this family member in my office yesterday trying to convince her the right thing had been done. I had to keep my mouth shut.
I love my Administrator, but she was in the meeting too, and offered no words of wisdom. The family member finally calmed down, but she kept shooting little glances to me that said she wasn't buying it. Lord help, y'all. I'm still steaming about this. Poor Kitty got the brunt of it yesterday and now she's probably reading it again thinking I need to just get over it.
So, we have these two ladies that moved to our facility about the same time a month ago. They came from different parts of the country and for four weeks, have gotten along famously. Then, night before last, Lady #1 from California decides to cuss out her rather demure, quiet little roommate from NY. Keep in mind that the NY lady can't hear squat. Even if you shout in her ear from 1" away...she just looks at you, smiles and nods. So I doubt she heard CAL lady cussing at her from across the room. The nurse working on the hall, who is a PRN nurse and doesn't know the patients, was offended and reported "verbal abuse" to the Social Worker. We take verbal abuse very seriously, but in this case, I'm having trouble seeing it. Like I told Kitty, if we considered all altercations verbal abuse, we'd be playing musical beds all the time. Anyway, the two of them decided all on their own to move CAL lady to another room. Now, she's really pissed and even more confused. They did call the family of CAL lady to let them know of the move, and they were so blindsided, they agreed. Upon reflection, however, they really questioned the whole thing. In my mind, rightfully so. Then, the SW and the Assistant Director of Nurses (who's a whole other installment), BS'd this family member in my office yesterday trying to convince her the right thing had been done. I had to keep my mouth shut.
I love my Administrator, but she was in the meeting too, and offered no words of wisdom. The family member finally calmed down, but she kept shooting little glances to me that said she wasn't buying it. Lord help, y'all. I'm still steaming about this. Poor Kitty got the brunt of it yesterday and now she's probably reading it again thinking I need to just get over it.
God bless you DD. Sounds like you end up between a rock and a hard place quite a bit with your job. It can't be easy. Hang in there. This too shall pass. 
God bless you DD. Sounds like you end up between a rock and a hard place quite a bit with your job. It can't be easy. Hang in there. This too shall pass.
Thanks. I know. Til the next thing that pisses me off. I seriously think some days, I need some xanax.
Wouldn't a stone deaf roommate be the perfect pairing for someone who's verbally abusive? Just a thought.
DD, regarding the dancing man, I believe that so many people - especially those dealing with the long-term illness of a loved one - are just aching for any kind of fun-filled respite from their daily responsibilities. Just a few minutes when they can throw of the weight of never-ending responsibility and enjoy some youthful exuberance. You're an angel to provide that for those people.
DD, regarding the dancing man, I believe that so many people - especially those dealing with the long-term illness of a loved one - are just aching for any kind of fun-filled respite from their daily responsibilities. Just a few minutes when they can throw of the weight of never-ending responsibility and enjoy some youthful exuberance. You're an angel to provide that for those people.
Forgot to add: I'm guessing the double C does have a thing for the double D's. 
I have so many stories from seeing Mom in long-term care, oblivious to her circumstances, that I could write a book. Like I've said, if you haven't experienced having a loved one with Alzheimer's, you have no clue what it's like.
Here's a little vignette from two weeks ago:
We arrived and Mom's face lit up. She is so beautiful -- perfect bone structure, perfectly beautiful hair, great figure for someone her age, and so sweet on the inside (which we understand after she went through the mean stages of dementia which we thought was truly mean until we began to understand Alzheimer's).
She's sitting in the living room of the NH with no view of the TV. Doesn't matter because she can't focus on TV anymore. Can't enjoy Gator sports on TV or seeing pro golf tournaments on TV like she could a year ago.
Another resident slowly progresses towards the TV and parks her wheelchair right in front of the TV.
While this is going on, another resident requests cranberry juice which was delivered to him promptly. He continued to shout, "Cranberry juice. Cranberry juice."
In the meantime, some of the more lucid residents started complaining about the woman blocking the TV. I offered to move her, but that was met with great resistance. I decided to let the staff take care of it.
I started smelling a strong odor. I asked Mom if she needed to go potty. One of the CNAs told me that Mom is totally incontinent, not even being aware of her #1 and #2, so they have to check her every two hours. There will be an extra charge for us for that service.
Like the doctor told me when I took Mom a few weeks ago to rule out pneumonia, Mom's body is healthy, but Mom has left the building.
Hubby says that this is harder for him than when his Mom died of cancer in 2003 because at least she was still smart and they could talk about the good times and say their goodbyes. We won't get to do that with my Mom.
TMI, I know, and boring. But sharing is cathartic.
Here's a little vignette from two weeks ago:
We arrived and Mom's face lit up. She is so beautiful -- perfect bone structure, perfectly beautiful hair, great figure for someone her age, and so sweet on the inside (which we understand after she went through the mean stages of dementia which we thought was truly mean until we began to understand Alzheimer's).
She's sitting in the living room of the NH with no view of the TV. Doesn't matter because she can't focus on TV anymore. Can't enjoy Gator sports on TV or seeing pro golf tournaments on TV like she could a year ago.
Another resident slowly progresses towards the TV and parks her wheelchair right in front of the TV.
While this is going on, another resident requests cranberry juice which was delivered to him promptly. He continued to shout, "Cranberry juice. Cranberry juice."
In the meantime, some of the more lucid residents started complaining about the woman blocking the TV. I offered to move her, but that was met with great resistance. I decided to let the staff take care of it.
I started smelling a strong odor. I asked Mom if she needed to go potty. One of the CNAs told me that Mom is totally incontinent, not even being aware of her #1 and #2, so they have to check her every two hours. There will be an extra charge for us for that service.
Like the doctor told me when I took Mom a few weeks ago to rule out pneumonia, Mom's body is healthy, but Mom has left the building.
Hubby says that this is harder for him than when his Mom died of cancer in 2003 because at least she was still smart and they could talk about the good times and say their goodbyes. We won't get to do that with my Mom.
TMI, I know, and boring. But sharing is cathartic.
Oh, BR, I feel for you. I really do. It must be incredibly difficult to lose a loved one and still have them here physically. I imagine the yearning for a connection is physically painful on your part.