My mother in law's back in the hospital

chrisinhouston · 01-24-2014, 02:00 PM

This has been an interesting month. My mother in law got a new shoulder back in early December. Her shoulder replacement had failed from a torn rotator cuff so they did a new kind of replacement called a reverse shoulder implant. Basically they put the ball coming out of the shoulder blade bone and a socket on the upper end of the arm. They rework a muscle to do the job of the rotator tendon. The surgery went great and she had a post op check up at Christmas and the doctor gave her PT orders to get her shoulder working again.

Then she got a bad cold and about a week later (like January 2nd) she started throwing up a lot so we took her to the hospital. They treated her for a few days and she went home but it started again so back to the hospital she went. We had our trip to Istanbul planned so we went ahead since our sons are here and could handle things and we figured it would only be a few days. Things went from bad to worse and they ended up removing her gall bladder and found she had a really bad urinary infection so treated her for that. We got back from our trip and it's been 2 1/2 weeks and we are just starting to feel like she may be well enough to be discharged. The Dr. said today that most likely Monday he will release her and she will need to go to a skilled nursing type place as she is still a bit weak to go to her independent living apartment.

My wife usually goes to see her on the way to work and tries to be there to feed her breakfast, she wasn't eating for so long that they were feeding her intravenously and she just has so little an appetite from her stomach shrinking and the lovely hospital food. I go at lunch and my wife goes back at dinner on the way home. The hospital is super busy with sick people so the nursing staff has limited time to sit and feed her.

Anyway, a bit of a long post here but it got me thinking again about aging and how we deal with it. She is lucky enough to have Medicare and a really good secondary insurance through her late husband's retirement package from Xerox. Just about everything is covered 100% which is good. But it made me wonder about the costs of keeping older people alive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating leaving her to die but one has to wonder about the costs. I have no idea what the shoulder surgery cost but I imagine a lot as it was at a special orthopedic hospital and the Dr. was one of the top guys in his field here in Houston. And then there is what will be 3 weeks in the hospital, the surgery and after the surgery when she was still not doing well she was on a floor with care just a bit less than intensive care, essentially pretty much every hour someone was checking on her and taking BP and temperature. I would imagine that this will be at least $25K or so for all this, maybe more. And then there will be the skilled nursing facility to come next week, maybe a 1 or 2 week stay. After caring for my parents and seeing myself and my wife aging I wonder if this is what I want to do. I think about the quality of life when you are at an advanced age and with all kinds of health problems.

Sort of a ramble here but I hope I don't end up in a situation like this. Maybe my kids or grand kids will just push me out in the snow.

Gravdigr · 01-24-2014, 05:00 PM

Well, shit, man.

Griff · 01-25-2014, 08:01 AM

I'm sorry as well Chris. She was pretty old to be getting that surgery wasn't she? My mil got a hip replacement and isn't moving at all so outside of pain reduction the surgery was a waste. They probably could have blocked the pain...

chrisinhouston · 02-07-2014, 09:12 AM

Just a catch up post. My mother in law finally got discharged from the hospital about a week and a half ago after a 21 day stay! Part of her stay was in a wing that is just below intensive care. While she was there not only did they remove her gall bladder but she had countless x-rays, cat scans and MRI's and lots of blood work to figure out why she was so sick.

Because she was so weak they sent her to a "skilled nursing facility" basically rehab. I had to handle all of that as my wife was in Los Angeles on business. So now after a week and a half she is doing better but still needs help getting in and out of bed or her wheel chair or the toilet. She is getting pretty intensive physical and occupational therapy. The PT folks work on building strength for walking or motor skills and the OT work on things like getting up or down or getting dressed or undressed. We met with her care team yesterday and they think she will need to be there through February! They are also concerned about her long term prospect for living independently.

I don't mean to sound negative but I hope I don't live long enough to get into this kind of situation!

xoxoxoBruce · 02-07-2014, 09:22 AM

My mother went through a couple years of hospital, rehab, home, with the length of the home part dropping steadily from several weeks to three days.
It was a grueling merry-go-round, I wish you a better ride.

glatt · 02-07-2014, 09:36 AM

My FIL went through a round of that in the Fall. He's back in his apartment now at the assisted living place. And the last time I saw him, he said that he would try his best to hide any symptoms he has next time so he doesn't wind up in the hospital. It was hell for him with all the xrays and poking and prodding. Turns out the only thing good they did for him was to put him on medication to get fluid out of his lungs. The rest was just a long painful boondoggle (admittedly in hindsight.)

The rehab place was great. They cared for him and rehabbed him, and he improved dramatically there.

01-24-2014, 02:00 PM	#1
chrisinhouston Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,857	My mother in law's back in the hospital This has been an interesting month. My mother in law got a new shoulder back in early December. Her shoulder replacement had failed from a torn rotator cuff so they did a new kind of replacement called a reverse shoulder implant. Basically they put the ball coming out of the shoulder blade bone and a socket on the upper end of the arm. They rework a muscle to do the job of the rotator tendon. The surgery went great and she had a post op check up at Christmas and the doctor gave her PT orders to get her shoulder working again. Then she got a bad cold and about a week later (like January 2nd) she started throwing up a lot so we took her to the hospital. They treated her for a few days and she went home but it started again so back to the hospital she went. We had our trip to Istanbul planned so we went ahead since our sons are here and could handle things and we figured it would only be a few days. Things went from bad to worse and they ended up removing her gall bladder and found she had a really bad urinary infection so treated her for that. We got back from our trip and it's been 2 1/2 weeks and we are just starting to feel like she may be well enough to be discharged. The Dr. said today that most likely Monday he will release her and she will need to go to a skilled nursing type place as she is still a bit weak to go to her independent living apartment. My wife usually goes to see her on the way to work and tries to be there to feed her breakfast, she wasn't eating for so long that they were feeding her intravenously and she just has so little an appetite from her stomach shrinking and the lovely hospital food. I go at lunch and my wife goes back at dinner on the way home. The hospital is super busy with sick people so the nursing staff has limited time to sit and feed her. Anyway, a bit of a long post here but it got me thinking again about aging and how we deal with it. She is lucky enough to have Medicare and a really good secondary insurance through her late husband's retirement package from Xerox. Just about everything is covered 100% which is good. But it made me wonder about the costs of keeping older people alive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating leaving her to die but one has to wonder about the costs. I have no idea what the shoulder surgery cost but I imagine a lot as it was at a special orthopedic hospital and the Dr. was one of the top guys in his field here in Houston. And then there is what will be 3 weeks in the hospital, the surgery and after the surgery when she was still not doing well she was on a floor with care just a bit less than intensive care, essentially pretty much every hour someone was checking on her and taking BP and temperature. I would imagine that this will be at least $25K or so for all this, maybe more. And then there will be the skilled nursing facility to come next week, maybe a 1 or 2 week stay. After caring for my parents and seeing myself and my wife aging I wonder if this is what I want to do. I think about the quality of life when you are at an advanced age and with all kinds of health problems. Sort of a ramble here but I hope I don't end up in a situation like this. Maybe my kids or grand kids will just push me out in the snow.

01-24-2014, 05:00 PM	#2
Gravdigr The Un-Tuckian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Central...KY that is Posts: 39,517	Well, shit, man. __________________ These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.

01-25-2014, 08:01 AM	#3
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I'm sorry as well Chris. She was pretty old to be getting that surgery wasn't she? My mil got a hip replacement and isn't moving at all so outside of pain reduction the surgery was a waste. They probably could have blocked the pain... __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

02-07-2014, 09:22 AM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	My mother went through a couple years of hospital, rehab, home, with the length of the home part dropping steadily from several weeks to three days. It was a grueling merry-go-round, I wish you a better ride. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

02-07-2014, 09:12 AM	#4
chrisinhouston Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,857	Just a catch up post. My mother in law finally got discharged from the hospital about a week and a half ago after a 21 day stay! Part of her stay was in a wing that is just below intensive care. While she was there not only did they remove her gall bladder but she had countless x-rays, cat scans and MRI's and lots of blood work to figure out why she was so sick. Because she was so weak they sent her to a "skilled nursing facility" basically rehab. I had to handle all of that as my wife was in Los Angeles on business. So now after a week and a half she is doing better but still needs help getting in and out of bed or her wheel chair or the toilet. She is getting pretty intensive physical and occupational therapy. The PT folks work on building strength for walking or motor skills and the OT work on things like getting up or down or getting dressed or undressed. We met with her care team yesterday and they think she will need to be there through February! They are also concerned about her long term prospect for living independently. I don't mean to sound negative but I hope I don't live long enough to get into this kind of situation!

02-07-2014, 09:36 AM	#6
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	My FIL went through a round of that in the Fall. He's back in his apartment now at the assisted living place. And the last time I saw him, he said that he would try his best to hide any symptoms he has next time so he doesn't wind up in the hospital. It was hell for him with all the xrays and poking and prodding. Turns out the only thing good they did for him was to put him on medication to get fluid out of his lungs. The rest was just a long painful boondoggle (admittedly in hindsight.) The rehab place was great. They cared for him and rehabbed him, and he improved dramatically there.

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