Elder Care 'Forum' ?

[Nikolaj]

Are there any or many Ledge members involved with the care given to their elderly, ill parents?
I have been for about 11 years. It's a huge job and I just wondered if it would be worthwhile to create some kind of forum or another thread, offering solutions from experiences we've been through. If there's less than a dozen people interested, it probably is best not done here.
I'm 46, my Mom is 74 and chronically ill for many years, and my Dad is 80, and between doctors visits, pharmacies, hospitalizations, home ("visiting nurse") nursing, there's a lot to navigate. Let me tell you, it is big business in this country, elder care and exploitation of the elderly.
Those of you in your early 30s and younger likely aren't dealing with it yet, but wow, there is so much to it.
Typically, any nursing home a patient may be put in, even if only short term, will want papers signed for the family property to be put into their name, no matter if your parents have great insurance or not, to ensure they get paid every cent and beyond.
OY, and insurance issues. Insulin is covered, but syringes are not, and without the needle, the insulin is useless. So many scams.
So, are there enough 4o or 50 somethings here looking after the parents who might be interested in sharing war and/or success stories??
I sense maybe not, plus, for me, The Ledge is a place to go not to think about the parents for a while! Yet, if there's interest, it could be helpful.

[sarahw]

Hi there.....I work in a nursing home and if any nursing home requires you to put their name on ANY financial documents run as fast as you can away. It is illegal.

[Zombie]

Argh, nursing homes. We took care of my uncle - he was actually a close family friend - for a few years before he finally passed away from melanoma. Towards the end, he went into a coma and quite often couldn't breathe on his own, which meant we were not able to care for him properly at home, so he had to go to a nursing home.

He passed away at the beginning of the year, and we are STILL dealing with shenanigans from that damn nursing home. Like they tried to bill us for the month of April. Which would be fine, except, y'know, Frank passed away at the beginning of February.

My dad called to point this out, and the lady on the phone said, "Are you sure?"