Oct 11, 2011

Just when I thought we might be making headway, we went backwards.  Oct 11th my Dad was suppose to go to an outpatient program that would help him deal with all of the life changes he recently has had to deal with.  When I enter his room at the retirement home I knew right away that we would not be going to the outpatient program but instead going to the emergency room and having him admitted.  His behaviour was...let's just say scary.  My sister and I take him to emergency and 8 hours later he is admitted into the psychiatric ward.  Now, this is not unusual and I expected this since with an illness like bipolar, alcoholism and now dementia, it was only a matter of time that he would require more help than a regular GP could give him.  Dad has had a history of mental breakdowns (3 in my life time) so I recognized the signs and knew this is where they would admit him.  With all the environmental changes in his life recently even a "sane" person may break down.  

Oct 17th, 2011

My Dad is still in the psychiatric ward, he is improving somewhat in the sense he is now taking his medications and eating. The mental illness part is hard to distinguish since we are not dealing with just one illness but three.  So until they can get the bipolar level they cannot even start treatment on the other issues.

Now this day is memorable since it is on this date that my husband and I are not at the hospital visiting my Dad but having my Father in law brought in for an assessment.  So the geriatric specialist examines my father in law and within his 5-10 examination and consultation with the GP from the long term care home he is admitting him to the geriatric ward for further examination.  Interesting!!!  So we head up to the geriatric ward, where it is not a locked unit, has medical trays with medication and sharp objects in the hallway, and his private room has medical equipment, push pins in the bulletin board, and various other foreign objects.  Remember my father in law is 86 years old, in the later stages of Alzheimers, and has been in a long term care facility for 4 years now going on year 5.  He wanders, he does not eat with utensils but fingers (therefore finger food, not what the hospital offers) and he is use to being in a safe environment where he cannot wander out into the street; where there are hand rails should he require them; and where there are staff to monitor him and help him should he need them.  So we inform the hospital staff of his condition and stage of illness and tell them that we are not happy about this decision by the specialist and we leave.  Yes....we left for one hour, crazy as it might seem.  On our return, my father in law is in his room with security outside his door.  He had taken part of the hospital bed apart, he had wandered into other patients rooms, when redirected he lashed out at a nurse, and he picked up sharp objects all within one hour.  So we asked if you cannot care for him for one hour and he is suppose to be assessed and the specialist is now suggesting to drug him, how is this in his best interest?  Result....discharged and sent back to the long term care home, an environment that he is use to with someone to shadow him, and the specialist to take him on as an outpatient and assess him, with the help of the GP who visits the home 2-3 times a week.   

Seriously, I'm not a doctor and have no medical background, but I had enough common sense to know that this environment was NOT what my father in law needed.  Unfortunately we have a health care system that is not equip to deal with some behaviours or situations, and this is just the beginning of a wave or storm that is not only hitting Canada but the world at large.