My 83yr old dad (dementia and Parkinson’s) has been in the hospital for 5 days now after a setback. Before last week, he was stable, fairly mobile, able to eat, drink, etc. Mom is full time caregiver with the assistance of home health CNA 6 days a week. But he had a wisdom tooth pulled as a precaution, and given hydrocodone for pain management. A day later he had a catheter put in due to urine retention. Also was on day 12 of reduced Sinemet for some reason per the neurologist. All of this was the perfect storm and he declined rapidly, unable to walk or swallow! So now it’s been 5 days in the hospital with slow improvement. My concern is that the longer he stays in a hospitable bed with little to no PT, no consistent sleep, and poor nutrition, he will further decline. They won’t release him to a rehab facility until he shows ability to participate in physical therapy. If no rehab facility, I’m being told he’d have to go to skilled nursing home. I feel that if my Dad was getting adequate rest and nutrition, it’s possible his mental acuity and physical strength could return to where he was last week. The hospital system is just not staffed to give him the attention he needs. My question is, if financially feasible, could I have skilled nursing and physical therapy brought into his home? He has a long term health care policy, and has 100% VA disability. I’d do anything to keep him out of a facility. If anyone has thoughts on this, I’m all ears. Thanks!
Docs may need to certify he cannot do a certain number of activities of daily living, bathing, dressing, toileting etc.
But what about his abilty to swallow, has that come back at all...?
Are they getting him out of bed and sitting up? To me that’s crucial if any progress is to be made. If it’s truly been less than a week since he was up and walking, there’s a better possibility of recovering some
mobility—has he been seen by a hospital neurologist to address his Parkinson’s meds?