Hi, all.
The strict quarantine on my mom’s assisted living may lift soon, and she is way overdue for some medical appointments, including a trip to her retina specialist (she has macular degeneration). She really does need to go, but A) I worry about the COVID exposure—her assisted living staff has made huge sacrifices to protect residents and I DO NOT want to make her less safe, nor do I want to be the source of a COVID outbreak in her facility. And B) Mom is having more trouble with transfers from her wheelchair these days. She has to use the bathroom FREQUENTLY, so not only would she have to transfer in and out of my car at least four times, but there would be several trips to the bathroom, each one a fall risk for her, and I can’t be a lot of help by myself. She fell once when she was with me and I still can hear her head hit the concrete (she ended up having to have a craniotomy), so I’m especially anxious about this.
Every time I try to talk myself into making an appointment for her, I keep coming back to risk/benefit. I worry she could lose her vision, but I also know a fall or catching this virus could actually kill her.
I have considered asking a friend to come along to help with transfers, but that person would be one more exposure risk, and the friends who live nearby both have back problems so they couldn’t really help much.
Has anyone else found solutions to this dilemma?
Thanks!
My mom had dementia and once, memorably, tried to wrest the steering wheel from my husband. So, no riding in the car with me.
The NH actually gave us, at no cost, an aide. This was because I told them that I needed to meet mom (and aide) at the doctor's office, not show up at the facility to accompany her.
I was coming from 2 hours away, have a husband with unpredictable health issues and traffic. So I guess they got concerned that mom might end up unaccompanied.
The ambulette which locks down the wheelchair firmly was a source of great comfort to my mom. Also, the big strong guy doing the lifting and the driving? Worth every penny.
Hire an ambulette that can take mom in a wheelchair.
Make sure in advance that the opthamologist can examine mom in the wheelchair and does not need for her to get up into the examination chair.
I'm passing on what we did with MY mom once she was in a nursing home.
The retina specialist can do almost all of the exams in her wheelchair but there does come a point where she needs to transfer to a special exam chair where he can use his tools to take a good look at her retina and macula. I don’t worry so much about that transfer because there are assistants in the office who can support her.
I did consider hiring an ambulette, but unless Medicare will cover it, it’s a lot of money (she doesn’t have much and I’m retired on a fixed income myself). We may have to bite the bullet but that’s one more person who may be a COVID risk.
I really appreciate the idea about maybe hiring one of the aides. I’ll see if any of them want a little extra money on a day off (And check to make sure the ALF allows it—they do NOT permit us to “tip” their workers).
Thanks again!