Today at an appointment with our pcp for my dh, she recommended that my dh go on hospice. She's concerned about my stress level and what I'm going through as caregiver. So here we go. I have to call for an evaluation. She feels I'll get the help I need through hospice. What a wonderful doctor. Gosh, but it seems so unreal, having her take care of me like that. How wonderful. She had already called them, and told them about him, from the sounds of things.
No - you don't have to call for the evaluation. Since the doctor already called them, Hospice will call you to set up an evaluation time. So good to hear about a doctor being concerned for you. If your dh qualifies for Hospice, they will take a lot of the burden off of you.
This is something I am mulling about now as well and for the same reasons. I was slapped upside the head on 11 Sept with opthalmic migraines.. first time for such a thing...saw the doctor and my eyes are fine. Then had a physical with my PCP, a wonderful doctor who takes care of ALZ patients and caregivers...I just found her and she is conceiege ( never could spell that word) and worth every dime!!! So far all my tests are just fine. But that does not explain the feelings of being outside of myself, the butterflies, the sensory feelings in my face, hands, knees, and the feeling that the blood is rushing away from my brain and I might faint. The ENT said it was not Minerer's rearing it's ugly head.It was he who said, just from talking with me and observations, that I am hyperventilating. My own doctor agrees and added General Anxiety Disorder with panic attacks. The first med I was given was Lexapro last week which had disastrous results. So now I am on a very low dose of Valium...and so far this is helping. I have a peer counselor coming Friday and am starting to look into some kind of help. But the help I need is someone who can do some of the errands or run DH to his appts for me and so many of these organizations don't do that or charge a bloody fortune. I need to have DH reevaluated but don't know if it would be something that Best Care a home health agency would do or Hospice. He is not anywhere near stage 7 or maybe not even 6 so I don't know what to do next or which way to turn... I just know I have to start to feel good again so I can cope.
Hanging on, it is so hard the first time we hear the words hospice, it does seem so unreal! Even though we always knew in the back of our minds what is coming, it is still such a shock when it actually happens. I too am delighted to hear you have a doctor who cares about you and is willing to help you both out. ((hugs))
Mimi, sure sounds like you could use a boat load of hugs (( H U G S )) I am sorry for all you are going through. When our own health starts to falter it is rather frightening. Be sure to take care of you!! Call your local Dept of aging, they have a lot of resource information. Also I know here at least, there are free programs where people volunteer to take you to appointments and do your grocery shopping. Meals on wheels might be helpful for you during this time as well. ((More hugs))
Are we living in the same body? I have severe migraines too. Lexapro was not pleasant to say the least for me as well. Not because of migraines I also tried generic prozac, zoloft and paxil. I know the feeling of being outside yourself, for me it is like the world is turning over but I am not really a part of it.
I have had the best luck with amitriptyline. It is an old drug and with the lowest dosage @ 10mg can be easily adjusted. Also, it helps with sleep. It caused fatigue at first but that wears off, especially if I take the dose at night. It is also very inexpensive. It helps me with panic; helps me feel more grounded.
Hanging on,
Hospice! I don't even have words for the relief they brought me. Even though H was in a palliative care alf, not all patients were on hospice. Thankfully he was approved. Sending you best wishes.
Thanks for the helpful comments, everyone. I have a question. Yesterday the PCP told me that we would have to pay for any doctor's visits beyond hospice care, if dh is approved and enrolled in hospice. Medicare is our primary, and bcbs is our secondary insurance. I took her comment to mean that since dh's medicare will be used for his hospice care, if he has to go to a doctor for something else, medicare for him will be tied up in funding hospice. So we would have to pay for that outside visit to a doctor out of our pockets. Does anyone know how this works. I do know that he will have outside visits to doctors. For instance, right now I have to get a foot appointment for him, with his podiatrist. So, if he were already on hospice, is it right that now this wouldn't be covered by medicare?
Hanging on, what is the podiatrist appointment for? If it is for nail cutting then the hospice nurses could easily do that. He is not mobile on his feet is he?? I am not sure about the insurance coverage, but usually one goes on hospice that is the medical care that they get. Hospice only. Someone jump in and correct me if I am wrong.
you can switch your dr to the hospice dr now and it will be covered if its an issue. my understanding is yes you have to pay for outside dr appts unless you quit hospice and go back to regular coverage medicare and then it picks up the bill then you have to reapply for hospice again. i may be wrong but thats my understanding and why i just have the hospice dr for anything that DH needs. bp meds, antibiotics, pain meds, or anything pallative related care. i agree the nurse should be able to help cut the nails. my hospice dr recommended a mobile dentist and it was out of pocket of course. big bucks for a dr to make a house call if not covered by medicare /medicap coverages. you cant have both regular outside medicare coverages once on hospice as when you get hospice you sign over ALL benefits for medicare coverages and pays to hospice folks. you have to cancel hospice to get back to reg coverages and outside medical care. but hospice can send a patient to a hospital if they thinkits warranted and to one approved by medicare for hospice stays. its all complicated ask your regular drs how it works if in doubt. i am sure they would know the billing procedures. its also my understanding once you sign onto hospice you are agreeing to pallative care only. divvi
If it is a matter of comfort and ordered by hospice medicare will pay.My husband's foot care by a visiting podiatrist was covered as well as treatment for a skin cancer on his face. The treatment was palliative not curative. Anti biotics were covered for the same reason.
Just having lost my dh in late Aug. and having hospice care...that is true...you cannot have outside care unless you pay for it because your medicare is paying hospice. But, not to worry....hospice can order various things from a medical stand point that they can't do...but, there is hardly anything they can't do. Example: The one time my dh became very, very difficult and I couldn't keep him in bed and he was unable to walk.. ..Hospice sent a nurse over and the nurse said he would stay all night if he had to until he got my dh under control...and he was here until almost midnight. I loved having someone I could call 24 hours a day and knew they would have answers for me and come to the house if I needed them.
Where else could I have gotten that type of care for my dh without taking him to a hospital. Of course, the choice is yours and you have to be willing and ready to accept only pallative care. I was ready to do that because I knew my dh was not "living" a life he would have wanted, he was just alive. Also, you can change your mind at anytime if something comes up that you never thought about and want to take your dh to a hospital or see a doctor and you just call hospice and discontinue your service and then if later you want hospice back, they will come back. They understand very well that people may change their mind about pallative care. Also, they provide free respite care for you and will place your dh in a facility while you are having the respite care and check on him while he is at the facility. I highly recommend the care they provide and the evaluation is good to have anyway and they may or may not approve you. When they first came to evaluate my dh it was a difficult for them to qualify him for their care, but they figured out a way and he passed away in less then 3 months...which was a real shock to them...but, not to me.
If you have BCBS on top of Medicare, call BCBS and ask to be assigned a case manager once he is accepted for Hospice. Your insurance policy with them will pay for more Hospice things (including more hours of respite) than Medicare will. The Case Manager will ask you if you have what you need, and will make arrangements with the Hospice for the respite care at a facility that they have (hospital wing or nursing home) and I can't praise my Case Manager enough for all she did for us for almost two years. As they say, Hospice has their own team of doctors who will treat your spouse. Once they are on Hospice, there is usually no reason for them to be seen by any other physician. They take care of them, and if they feel they need hospitalization, they will arrange it. They have nurses on call for you 24/7.
Look at this as another plateau. You are making sure that he is comfortable and not in pain, and kept clean and at home, where you can watch over him. As time goes on, Hospice will take on shaving, bathing, changing, etc. 1 to 5 days a week as needed. It is one a the greatest services for us caregivers that there is.
You are so right Mary....you said it so well...and with less space then I did. I cannot say enough good things about Hospice and the care they gave my dh.
andy-I almost didn't open your e-mail because I didn't recognize your name. Keep in mind that hospice is not only end of life. It is more about quality of life.
Andy, didn't get to enrolling in hospice. DH got pneumonia, and we've been dealing with that. We treated that at the hospital. So, hospice is still down the road.
Weight loss is one of the factors. The VA doctor referred my dh to Hospice because he coldn't sign his name, didn't know what day it was, month, year. And, I think he just saw a major change in him from 6 mos. earlier.