Re: Finding a Dr and Relocating question

February 7, 2011

Sherrie -

My brother and I moved our mom from Calif to Kansas two years ago. I brought her

back on the train because she has trouble with being claustrophobic and airplane

trips are out of the question. She lived with me and my family for awhile. We

had a home health nurse during the day while I worked because Mom could not be

by herself. She now lives in a nursing home in our little town. Some nursing

homes offer day care which would give your mom supervision as well

as opportunities for activity and a chance to interact with others. There is a

cost for this, though. Our community also has what is known as Senior Companions

(see seniorcorps.gov). This is a free service.

As to the financial issues--one of the first things we did was to establish

Durable Power of Attorney--very important. Mom had quite a bit of money in bank

accts as well as retirements accts. We are prepared to file for Medicaid on her

behalf when that money is gone, which we know will happen soon. We hate to do

that, but see no other option. In Kansas, nursing home care along with

medication and misc expenses runs about $5000/month. She has SS & medicare as

well as supplemental insurance and prescription coverage.

Mom has a neurologist 30 miles from our home. She sees him every 6 months. To

travel any farther with her would be hard on her and us. She has a GP in our

town for the more frequent health issues. She saw a geripshych for awhile, but

it became apparent he was really not doing her any good and was charging a lot.

Others may find one useful, but for us it was a waste of money.

I hope I have helped in some way. Glad you asked your questions of this

group--keep the questions coming--there is wisdom in this bunch.

Wishing you well - Katy; daughter to Jill

February 7, 2011

Hi Sherrie in Austin Texas,

My Don had a wonderful doctor in San Texas, only 70 mile from

Austin.

Schillerstrom Geriatric/Psychiatrist

7703 Floyd Curl Drive

San , Texas 78229-3900

Fax

We loved him very much. He knows LBD well.

Love a lot,

Imogene

PH:

He is in the UTH Research Center

In a message dated 2/7/2011 9:09:19 A.M. Central Standard Time,

turbodog15@... writes:

Hi,

I appreciate all of the posts and am glad to have y'all out there for

assistance. Wishing none of us were in this boat....

My mom was dx'd several months ago and generally is doing pretty well.

The last few weeks she seemed perfect, now signs of decline again. Anyway, I

am trying to arrange for her to move closer but that is taking some major

coordination. She lives in NV now. I have a couple of questions:

There aren't any Drs I can find (confirmed with ) in Austin, TX.

Have any of you travelled for care to cities far away from where you live?

I could travel to Dallas or Houston, each @ 2-3 hours away. Would I be

better off fining a neuorlogist here or having two? Now she would be fine

witgh a long travel (it would be a major coordination for me to do it often),

but I could do it. How often do your loved ones end up seeing the Dr.

Also still on unsure whether I need to find a neurolgist, psychiatrist or

both? How do you best coordinate care between the two?

The move is going to be hard because of the financial issues. My mom is

fortunate in that her current mortgage is quite low. She won't make any

money on the sale of her home, in fact, she may not even be able to sell. If

she moves into an assisted living it is 3-4 times her current. Since she

relies on SS and only has a modest amount of retirement money. I am trying

to figure out how to help best manage $. I know it is terrible to say, but

the choices she has depend on how long she needs to make her $ last. I am

torn between advising her to live in a place/manner that brings her

happiness now while she is able to enjoy it or being very modest now so that

she

has more $ available when she will need more assistance.

I have room for her in my home which is an option, but she is still

independent and I won't let her drive here (nor would she probably want to), so

I

am not sure how to manage that with my work, my kids, etc. She tends

toward depresion if she is not active and engaged and I don't know if I can be

her only meaningful relationship. I'd love for her to be in a living

situation where she could meet people and establish relationships, etc but not

sure she can afford to do so. Any advise or experience on how your family

navigated these waters would be appreciated.

I will say that my mom has been complaining of memory issues for as long

as I can remember ( a decade or more). Only recently have I noticed

anything, so progression seems to be slow to this point.

Thank you ,thank you for helping me sort this out and for reading this

long list of questions!

Sherrie

------------------------------------

February 7, 2011

Hi Sherrie.

Where in Nevada does your mother live? Where do you live?

If you get a doctor far away from your Mom, there will be a time when her doctor

will tell you that she cannot go on long car trips because that in itself can be

very confusing and cause more aggression and confusion.

If your Mom loves her home, let her stay there as long as she can. If she is

happy where she is; and then you move her and she is not happy, it can cause

more stress which in turn causes more symptoms and problems. Does she have any

friends or neighbors who could check in on her for you? If she is in the

earlier stages right now, then this would be the time to actually move her. My

mom didn't want to move, but after she saw my home in North Las Vegas, and we

came here together several times, she did want to move. I don't know the total

situation with you and your Mom, so there are a lot of things to take into

consideration. After the LBD advances, moving her or changing anything major

will cause a lot more problems.

Good luck, and always feel free to post.

Joan

>

> Hi,

> I appreciate all of the posts and am glad to have y'all out there for

assistance. Wishing none of us were in this boat....

>

> My mom was dx'd several months ago and generally is doing pretty well. The

last few weeks she seemed perfect, now signs of decline again. Anyway, I am

trying to arrange for her to move closer but that is taking some major

coordination. She lives in NV now. I have a couple of questions:

>

> There aren't any Drs I can find (confirmed with ) in Austin, TX. Have

any of you travelled for care to cities far away from where you live? I could

travel to Dallas or Houston, each @ 2-3 hours away. Would I be better off

fining a neuorlogist here or having two? Now she would be fine witgh a long

travel (it would be a major coordination for me to do it often), but I could do

it. How often do your loved ones end up seeing the Dr.

>

> Also still on unsure whether I need to find a neurolgist, psychiatrist or

both? How do you best coordinate care between the two?

>

> The move is going to be hard because of the financial issues. My mom is

fortunate in that her current mortgage is quite low. She won't make any money

on the sale of her home, in fact, she may not even be able to sell. If she

moves into an assisted living it is 3-4 times her current. Since she relies on

SS and only has a modest amount of retirement money. I am trying to figure out

how to help best manage $. I know it is terrible to say, but the choices she

has depend on how long she needs to make her $ last. I am torn between advising

her to live in a place/manner that brings her happiness now while she is able to

enjoy it or being very modest now so that she has more $ available when she will

need more assistance.

>

> I have room for her in my home which is an option, but she is still

independent and I won't let her drive here (nor would she probably want to), so

I am not sure how to manage that with my work, my kids, etc. She tends toward

depresion if she is not active and engaged and I don't know if I can be her only

meaningful relationship. I'd love for her to be in a living situation where she

could meet people and establish relationships, etc but not sure she can afford

to do so. Any advise or experience on how your family navigated these waters

would be appreciated.

>

> I will say that my mom has been complaining of memory issues for as long as I

can remember ( a decade or more). Only recently have I noticed anything, so

progression seems to be slow to this point.

> Thank you ,thank you for helping me sort this out and for reading this long

list of questions!

> Sherrie

>

February 9, 2011

Let's see if this will go through?

Donna R

Finding a Dr and Relocating question

Hi,

I appreciate all of the posts and am glad to have y'all out there for

assistance. Wishing none of us were in this boat....

My mom was dx'd several months ago and generally is doing pretty well. The last

few weeks she seemed perfect, now signs of decline again. Anyway, I am trying

to arrange for her to move closer but that is taking some major coordination.

She lives in NV now. I have a couple of questions:

There aren't any Drs I can find (confirmed with ) in Austin, TX. Have

any of you travelled for care to cities far away from where you live? I could

travel to Dallas or Houston, each @ 2-3 hours away. Would I be better off

fining a neuorlogist here or having two? Now she would be fine witgh a long

travel (it would be a major coordination for me to do it often), but I could do

it. How often do your loved ones end up seeing the Dr.

Also still on unsure whether I need to find a neurolgist, psychiatrist or both?

How do you best coordinate care between the two?