itching and social workers

[Guest guest]

For over a year at bedtime my mother in law gets itchy. Usually her head and

back and sometimes arms. Lately I am having to make sock mits and secure those

over her hands at night lest she tear her skin. She calls out constantly for

help while trying to scratch. There are no bumps, no rash no sign of anything

except where she manages to scratch. We ruled out everything under the sun.

Finally it appears it’s the lbd or parkinsons or whichever… and it’s a

neurological maybe psychological thing – nothing stops the itching except for

sleep but when she itches she won’t sleep. It is very real to her however so

I can explain it’s parkinson’s playing a trick on her mind and she gets it -

for about 5 seconds. I have gotten absolutely no help anywhere with this –

not her doctor or neurologist or the home health rns experienced with lbd and

parkinsons (supposedly). Any ideas or suggestions are welcome. This is just

one other thing that is costing us all precious sleep.

Oh, also I finally got her MediCal application through and while she has a share

of cost, they will help some with in home support services. Today a social

worker calls and starts telling the share of costs is high blah blah blah. I

keep saying I know it is, however any little bit will help. Finally I ask her

if she’s trying to persuade us to not try and get any hours for her to have

assistance? The social worker tells me yes. I asked her to kindly get over

here and complete the intake and decide how many hours and depending on that

decision we’ll know if we need to appeal or not. She is coming out on

Wednesday. She sounds young and snippy and I had to ask her if she had any

knowledge of LBD and Parkinson’s – she said she did. I told her well then

I’m surprised because you might have understood how much help she needs.

As my sleep is shortened my patience with these sorts is also shortened. I wish

they would just do their job correctly and stop making it so hard to get any

kind of help.

Thank you

Dorothy