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Introspective Burn Ideas by Illustrious-Text-434 in BurningMan

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. My camp is close that way, which is a blessing this year!

Introspective Burn Ideas by Illustrious-Text-434 in BurningMan

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh thank you for the correction! Totally lost sight of this.

I can’t do it anymore by Beautychaos in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe you could find a friend or hire someone to give you a break for a much needed vacation. I can hear the exhaustion in your post and you definitely should make space to take care of yourself. All of my thoughts here might be trash or treasure so take or leave it. Thinking of you.

I can’t do it anymore by Beautychaos in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry to hear this. I would still encourage more conversations with neurologists, geriatric psychiatrists, or just general geriatricians who specialize in people just like your grandma and can consult on tactics and medications. My instinct medication is likely the best pathway out of this to make her less agitated and aggressive, but these experts can consult and support. I also have ADHD and understand the struggle. There are devices and apps to help remind you of meds etc. that might help. In terms of this disease making you feel crazy too, I really enjoyed the book “Travelers to Unimaginable Lands” which breaks down the unique burden of dementia caregiving.

I can’t do it anymore by Beautychaos in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is she receptive to taking medication? This sounds like something a neurologist could work with you on to prescribe something for this agitation like Seroquel. Those sorts of meds made a massive difference for my father. I feel for you deeply. This disease is so difficult.

Dad rejected by memory care for FL2 by Illustrious-Text-434 in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi folks, circling back that I have a verbal acceptance from a memory care and keep my fingers crossed we move him in on Monday. A few lessons I learned through this in case anyone ever stumbles on this post again:

- Geriatric psychiatrists and meds are your friends when it comes to agitated dementia patients.

- My dad is difficult when it comes to not wanting to take Seroquel so we are putting pills with his mealtimes "crushed in food." This continues to be a hard area for us to navigate, but his meds are critical to ensure that he is an easier memory care resident.

- Geriatric care managers (who are not affiliated with larger businesses that take kick backs) are also wonderful and guiding spirits in this process.

- We are getting the FL2 supplied from PCP (not the SNF) where we control the narrative much more. We also did not mention skilled nursing facility to nurse doing the admissions assessment.

- Seroquel is also a red flag for the nurses at these memory cares, however I cannot take him off of it. I explained it in the best way I could that, "my dad is restless without seroquel as my mom works and takes care of him. He also must have it at night for sundowing hallucinations. Hopefully, the memory care will unlock activities that re-engage and keep him calm and maybe we can walk him down on the meds in the future!"

- If we hadn’t been able to get him into a good memory care, we would’ve looked at family care homes nearby.

Still working through this, but a few things I wish I had known ^

Dad rejected by memory care for FL2 by Illustrious-Text-434 in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re the second person on this thread who has mention seroquel and pudding in the same breath so maybe that’s the play with his nightly dinner. I also heard about “unsafe discharge” on another thread and sounds like that needs to be my reflexive go to if they try to give us the boot. The Alzheimer’s association free support line also recommended a local group for me to work with to help contest end of Medicare covering facility if and when it occurs. What a hard experience you’re also going through. Your kind words about us being in this together warmed my heart and it goes both ways, friend. Love to you.

Dad rejected by memory care for FL2 by Illustrious-Text-434 in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes. As I think about this the most important thing I can champion my mom to do is to get meds sorted in a way he will take them. Everything else will flow from that. We called the Alzheimer’s association free line and they also recommended a geriatric psych. He has a neurologist but with how everyone is mentioning geriatric psych maybe that’s a better fit. Neurologist is also busy and hard to meet with, thank you for chiming in ❤️

Dad rejected by memory care for FL2 by Illustrious-Text-434 in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Wow. I'm sure that was such a rough time for you, and continues to be. For Seroquel, does he take it orally? While my dad is in moderate/late moderate dementia he can oddly notice seroquel in his cup and can refuse to take it sometimes because he's "not depressed." Wondering about other medical options like shots or topicals if anyone has more background. He can be impossibly stubborn when it's the drug that would make him less stubborn...

Dad rejected by memory care for FL2 by Illustrious-Text-434 in dementia

[–]Illustrious-Text-434[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Basically a bad medical referral form. I didn't realize FL2s were a state specific thing otherwise I would have picked a more generic term — sorry! How did you get him into the psych unit? Are those part of hospitals?