He is 92, had a UTI, was hospitalized for three weeks, has been in rehab for 20 days now. Medicare will not be paying after tomorrow because PT said he has plateaued. Dementia may or may not be a factor. He is extremely hard of hearing and I think despondent at this point.
Anyway we would like to bring him home and had hoped PT would get him to the point where he could walk. He was walking before he went into the hospital but it has been months of laying in bed and he is now weak.
I started last night to work with him with a simple step - getting him to move himself in the wheelchair. The nurse told me he wouldn't beable to do this, saying he was too confused. He was able to do it, at first he got stressed and I ended up pushing him to the dining room. But once in the dining room, he continued to work with moving around in the wheelchair.
I was like to get him to go from a laying down position in the bed to sitting on the edge of the bed next. To me these are things that are practical and PT could have done with him. Even leg exercises and doing them in bed if need be. I remember when my mom was terminal and we had a PT coming to the house, he would exercise her legs for her at times. To me that is valuable.
Do you think I should go back to PT and see about incorporating these things and also see if they are valid reasons for Medicare to continue to pay 80%.
We are fixing up the house and have a few weeks before we can bring him home and am hoping he will be able to stand by then.
It is worth a try; but if they have already notified medicare about reaching the plateau; it might be too late - it might not be too late as well. Blessings to you and take care.
Eventually, because of a lawsuit, Medicare will be covering PT even if it helps the person's quality of life, but that is still stuck in red tape as far as I know. You sound devoted and determined. Keep trying You are your dad's advocate.
Take care,
Carol