Let's Pack Up

John 15:10 If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love;  even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

I had a nice visit with my dad earlier in the day, so I was surprised to get a phone call to come back to the group home, because Dad wants to pack everything up and leave. I knew that the owner had been talking to a woman while I was there about her husband coming to live there. Dad's saying this got me to worrying. At the time, I was typing one of these posts and told them that I would be there in twenty minutes. That allowed me enough time to finish the post, close out, and high-tail it over to the group home.

When I got there, he was telling me that he wanted to pack up all the pictures, war ribbons, etc. that I had put up on the wall for him, I had a difficult time trying to figure out what was causing him to want to leave now. I tried to explain that he had already paid his rent for the new month and so he should plan to stay right where he was.

I first thought that his pain meds were messing with his mind, but his concerns were based on several discussions he overheard about the new person moving there. He was certain they were going to move into his room and he wouldn't have a place to stay. After lots of reassuring from the staff and from me, he realized that he had nothing to fear and could stay in his room. John 15:10 If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love;  even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

I'm including You Tube Video clips on caregiving that I found interesting, inspirational, or might be helpful to others, but am not responsible for the content in the videos. Always check first with a physician before trying any suggestions mentioned.



Caregiving Video: Phrases to Learn for Caregivers [ Fantastic, in my Opinion!!!]
By: Senior Helpers National via You Tube



I Was Weak Alright

Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. 

I had told the hospital doctor that my dad wanted to return home after leaving the hospital and he told me emphatically that was not going to happen!  He said that my dad had to go to the acute rehab center or to skilled nursing for another two weeks or so.

Well my dad would have to pay out of pocket for the skilled nursing, since he had already used the 20 days that Medicare allows per period of time. The skilled nursing ran $4,710 per month out-of-pocket. Medicare would have covered the acute rehab center, but dad wouldn't qualify because they did three hours of physical therapy a day, which was too rigorous for my dad.

I was beside myself, so all I could do it pray, and pray some more. I sent a text to the contact from the home health services to explain that Dad would be able to return to the group home for two plus weeks. I was trying to find out if we had any other options, because dad couldn't afford to pay for skilled nursing during the same month that he had paid for both the Assisted Living facility and the group home.

That's when God stepped in and worked all types of miracles through many people open to doing His will. The contact from the home health agency drove all the way to our town and talked with the case manager/social worker. The social worker talked to the doctor and the hospital doctor agreed to let my dad go back to the group home, provided that he had a nurse visit him each day for the first two weeks.

I contacted the home health agency to get that in motion, knowing Dad may have to pay for a couple of nurse visits, but that was lots cheaper than going to the nursing home. I had been weak and didn't know what to do, but God provided these people to work a miraculous change in the doctor's heart to allow him to go back home (group home.) Although he's not a spring chicken any more, he's healed pretty well. Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

I'm including You Tube Video clips on caregiving that I found interesting, inspirational, or might be helpful to others, but am not responsible for the content in the videos. Always check first with a physician before trying any suggestions mentioned.



Caregiving Video: Caregiver Safety- The 5 Basics- Safety Training Video
By: Safety Memo via You Tube



God Helped My Doubt

Mark 9: 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.


My daughter and I had gone to see my dad. He told us how good he was feeling. He was proud that he had taken three steps all by himself. I asked if he used his walker, which he hadn't. Of course, I felt compelled to remind him that he should use the walker, wheel chair or get staff to help him if he didn't want to "eat dirt", our pet name for falling.

I talked to my daughter afterward and shared my concern, which was initially difficult for her to understand in that he seemed to be getting along so well. I tried to tell her that it's when he's feeling good like this that he ends up feeling that he can walk again like he used to and doesn't use the walker, etc. for support and falls. It had happened in his short stay in the Assisted Living facility, as well.

I had hoped I was wrong, but unfortunately I wasn't. I got a call from my dad in the evening and he said that he had fallen earlier and he thought he had broken his hip. My husband and I drove over to get him to save him an ambulance expense. With having just paid rent in two facilities concurrently, he couldn't afford many more expenses, if they were avoidable.

We had taken dad to the hospital a week and a day earlier when he thought he broke his other hip, but the X ray said otherwise. I had hoped that was the case this time, as well, but unfortunately it wasn't. he had broken the neck portion that leads to the ball that fits in his left hip socket. They had to admit dad and the surgeon did a partial hip replacement the next morning.

Through all of this, I kept feeling overwhelmed after all Dad had been through in the last couple months and then to have this happen. I was weak and was doubting, but God gave both me and my dad the strength to get through this. Mark 9: 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

I'm including You Tube Video clips on caregiving that I found interesting, inspirational, or might be helpful to others, but am not responsible for the content in the videos. Always check first with a physician before trying any suggestions mentioned.



Caregiving Video: Teepa Snow Discusses the Ten Early Signs of Dementia
By: Teepa Snow, Senior Helpers National, via You Tube



A New Home for Dad- Part 1

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

That first night as I sat with my dad in the group home, I listened as my dad commented on how the full wall window view from his room looked like home. He enjoyed the park like setting of the back yard with the rabbits, squirrels and birds to keep him entertained.

 I realized several things. While he was at the group home, he had to pay $3,500 to it and to continue to pay $3,500 to the Assisted Living facility while he was mending in the group home. Now, to some paying $7,000 a month for rent may not seem like a lot, but my goal has been to help my dad's money last as long as he does and it wasn't going to happen if he had to spend $7,000 every time he got out of the hospital to recoup, something that was happening more and more frequently. I did a lot of prayerful contemplating that night.

The other thing that concerned me was that the Assisted Living facility said that they weren't a nursing home and could not accommodate residents with feeding tubes, IVs, etc. Since my dad was down to 129 pounds, those might be things he has to contend with, at some point. That would mean not only the expense of paying in two different places at the same time, but that my dad would have to keep changing residences depending and would never feel like he was home. I really wanted for him to have a sense of home as he progresses through this phase of his life even if it couldn't be in our home. I called the owner of the group home and asked if my dad could stay in that same room if he decided to stay there full-time, and she assured me that he could. I did a lot of prayerful contemplating that night.

The next day, I asked my dad how he liked the new place he was staying in and he really liked it. Next to the backyard view, my dad enjoyed the male employees who would joke around with him which made him feel like one of the guys instead of a patient on the mend. I talked to him about whether he wanted to make the group home his new home, so that he didn't have to bounce around to different facilities every time he gets out of the hospital and needs to mend. He told me that he would like to make the group home his new home.

I called the owner to tell her my dad's decision. My dad was obliged to pay and to give a 30 day notice at the Assisted Living facility, so I gave the manager the 30 day notice and any additional money that was owing. I got the movers scheduled to move the hospital bed we had gotten him and deliver it from the Assisted Living facility and move it to the group home. I was so pleased that God had taken care of this and had my dad make a decision that felt good to him. I was also relieved that my dad had a home base to go to each time he returned from the hospital, so he wasn't bouncing around to different facilities aimlessly. Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.


An Overwhelming Day-Part 2

1 Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

I had made the plans with the movers to move Dad's bed, night stands, TV, etc. this day from the Assisted Living facility to the group home that he had decided was his new home. They had just pulled up and I got a call from the group home. My dad was throwing up and had diarrhea everywhere. They wanted me there, but the movers were ready to get Dad's things and move them over. I was praying fast between quick decisions, trying to be open to what was best for Dad.

I told the group home that the movers and I would be there in 30-40 minutes. I asked if they could contact the home health service and/or the mobile doctor service that worked with the group home and my dad. I was so thankful they had both in the works.

Fortunately, Dad didn't have many things to move and I had washed down and packed most of the things the day before. It didn't take the two movers very long to pack them up and head over to the group home. As they were wheeling the hospital bed into my dad's room, they were wheeling my sick Dad out of the room to make way for the other bed to be moved out.

Fortunately, the home health and medical professionals found out that the hospital that had recently released my dad hadn't given us a prescription for his antibiotics, which kicked his bowel infection into high gear! I rushed to the pharmacy only to wait 1 1/2 hours while they tried to get the corporate office to give permission to accept my dad's check for the prescription. I had been recently put on the account to pay his bills while in the hospitals and different facilities, but they had company policies to adhere to.

In that 1 1/2 hour period of time, I kept praying because God knew what our needs are and He would take care of them. Eventually, they accepted Dad's check. God worked it out. I finally got back to give them the medicine for my dad. Once he had the antibiotics and the probiotics, so the antibiotics didn't make his stomach upset, he started doing much better. It was a very overwhelming day, but God got us through all of it! 1 Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

God Provided for My Dad Even When I Was About to Give Up

Ephesians 6: 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Dad loved the new Assisted Living facility and was getting his home health services there. He felt so strong that he tried to walk without his walker and fell on the tiled bathroom floor. Two days later, he was dehydrated and started talking incoherently and the staff made a 911 call, because they thought he was having a stroke.

It turned out after they ran all the tests, he wasn't having a stroke and was just dehydrated coupled with the fact that he had gotten c-diff, a terribly contagious bowel infection that causes diarrhea and he'd have to be quarantined while he healed. Then we found out that he could not return to the Assisted Living facility while he had it, because the other residents could get it.

That left us with a big dilemma. He could go back to the nursing home that he couldn't afford or we could find alternate housing for him while he healed from the c-diff. I prayed and called and called and prayed trying to find an alternate option for my dad. They said he couldn't come here, because the grandkids would be exposed plus Dad didn't want me helping him with his bathrooming. 

Finally, we were given the suggestion of a group home in town that he could afford, but I was discouraged to find out that it was full. Later that night, a miracle happened. The owner of the group home called and said that she figured out a way, so that my dad could stay there while he healed- a definite prayer answered! Ephesians 6: 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Since these are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my experience, they may not reflect the whole meaning of the verse.

Relate2TheBible Podcast

Christ's Grace Abounds

Share the Joy Blog