Monday, January 11, 2010
Update...Of Sorts !
First of all, let me say a great big "Thank You" to all that sent prayers and good wishes our way! I appreciate it...and so does Mom!
Hopefully, she will get to go home today. We don't really know just yet and we don't really know until later on just what was causing the problems that she was having. I'll be sure to post the cause as soon as I find it, believe me.
One thing that popped up during this whole situation was the need for all your medical information like daily medications, "allergic to" list, primary care doctors name and contact numbers, social security information, emergency phone contact list, insurance cards and agents phone numbers...anything that the hospital may ask and want on the primary forms.
A lot of us may know all of this...but what happens if you have to take someone to the hospital that cannot talk for some reason? Can they find a complete list of the important info? Is it close enough to hand over to the person filling out the forms, so that care and treatment is not delayed? I got a small taste of this...and believe me, this is NOT a thing to let happen if you can help it.
As soon as mom gets out of the hospital, we will be putting a book or something together that contains most of this information. I never want to have to go through this again, and I don't want you to have to deal with it either!
Don't think that just having it is a purse or pocketbook is good enough. Try and put all this into something , maybe labeled "Hospital Information" or something similar. Believe me, it can be a great help to you!
In the meantime, let's share some coffee in the kitchen before I have to go back to the hospital again! And "Thank You " again for all the positive thoughts yesterday! It is greatly appreciated...!
Thanks for the tips, H.J. - leave it to you to find a teaching moment during a family emergency. Your advice is timely. We are making emergency contact cards for the wallets of elderly parents this week. Following your suggestion, we will also start a log with other necessary information for medical emergencies. You are ever diligent and we sure appreciate the sharing of your experiences. Our best to you and your dear Mom.
ReplyDeleteHey 2Tramps...
ReplyDeleteI just wouldn'tanyone else to feel as ignorant as I was about my family's information! Luckily, Mom was still able to speak and fill out any blank spages in my knowledge.
However, it bothered me all day that I didn't know this stuff...and that we had to go through Mom's purse to find some of it.
I appreciate your kind words and the good wishes! It means a lot!
Thanks for the visit, my friend.
Keeping Mom in my thought's HJ...and good point. I couldn't tell you the first thing about my own Mom's medical goo and not too sure Dad could either!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she's on the mend, HJ, and glad you were there for her when she needed you. The book is an excellent idea. When my grandmother lived with me back in the 90's, I kept a small spiral notebook with all of her insurance information and a list of her medicines written on the inside of the front cover. Every time she went to the doctor, I wrote the date and notes about the visit on a page of the notebook. It made filling out the medical history questions so much easier if she went to a new doctor or went into the hospital. God bless you and your mom. I'm glad she's coming home soon.
ReplyDeleteMornin Jim,glad to hear Your Mom's getting better.Thats great news.Hope you get it her all straightened out.Have a good day my friend.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. I'm happy to hear she is better. Please post any updates.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the coffee.
Glad to hear that things appear to be okay. Hopefully they can find a clue as to what happened. Good tip about the medical info. I'm on some meds, but hubby probably wouldn't even be able to tell anyone which ones!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your mom may be coming home. Excellent advice about information. My daughter is my emergency contact since I live alone and she knows most of what I take but not all. I'll talk to her about the notebook idea. And I'll start carrying info around with me just in case....just hadn't thought about it before.
ReplyDeleteHope they figure out what happened. In the meantime...bright blessings to you both.
I'm also glad to hear she's feeling better sir. Let her know a lot of folks have her in our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning My Special Friend, Glad Mom is doing better. I wll continue to keep her in my thoughts and prayers. I had to learn all this too when taking care of my dad. Sometimes the amount of meds they take is over whelming. Writing them down is so important. Our local fire dept has little kits to be filled out and put somewhere easy to grab, it also comes with a little sticky to place on the fridge to tell where this can be found in case of an emergency. All friends who read Jim's blog should ask your local dept about these kits. The note pads are another great idea.I also kept one and I would right the days events in them for myself. I kept dad's meds in a basket on the top of the fridge with a zip lock bag so when I took him to the many Dr's i just put them in the baggie with the list.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that I did all this for my dad and have not done this for myself. Guess I should get on it today.
Sorry for the large print new computer and am having trouble working things out.
Hugs to you and your Mom
and yes I did send anon yesterday slip of the mouse
It is good to hear a good report on your Mom, I know those can be scary . About the need for having all information at hand. I put all that info on a USB drive and on the outside a label that says, ICE and in case of emergency. In today's wired in world, any EMT should be able to access it quickly.
ReplyDeleteKeep us advised
Bubba - how right you are. I know the 3 of us went over her life insurance and funeral plans some time back, but it did not occur to me to write down her meds. I do keep up with Rod's, but guess I should for Mom and you, too, huh? I'll be there for you, so better get YOUR contacts and info ready for me, ok?
ReplyDeleteSure got me to thinking 'bout stuff....
Big hugs and many thanks -
Hey Momma...
ReplyDeleteSo important to have it handy! It's stressful enough to have to deal with forms and questions in an emergency situation.
I sure appreciate the kind words and the visit...!
Hey W.W.R.W.H...
I don't know why I didn't do this sooner...except that it's something we don't think about until we need it! Sounds like you got the right idea!
Thanks for coming by!
Hey China...
I sure do thank you for your kind thoughts and for your isit!
I appreciate it a lot!
Hey Kris...
Thanks, my friend. I'll certainly keep everyone informed of any important updates, Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words and the visit as well!
Hey Gen...
It sure makes things easier to get a handle on. Hopefully, you'll never need it, but having it does make a difference!
Thanks so much for coming by today!
Hey Momlady...
I am certain that any help available as far as knowing what medications are needed is important...in light of my recent experience.
I am a little wiser now than ever before!
Hey, your visit sure is appreciated, Lady!
Hey Anon 7:39...
I'll do that! Thank you for your concern and for your visit today!
Hey JoJo...
Those are some pretty good ideas for sure! I'll hve to consider al of them!
Thanks for being my friend, Jo, and for taking the time to come by today!
Hey Ben...
Not a bad idea at all! Thanks, buddy, for the mention and the good thoughts!
Thanks also for the visit...!
Hey Sis...
ReplyDeleteI know tat I hadn't even thought about this until all this took place!
Something we need to face, I think!
I o appreciate the visit yesterday and also you dropping by today!
Glad your Mom is better.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a Medic Alert necklace for a fee and they keep your records updated (with info you give them).
However, my husband just got a medical alert necklace that is a USB flash drive. It has the Red Cross Emblem, is the size of the dog tag ones and has all his medical info in a spead sheet.
Most ambulances now enter data via computer, as do hospitals. They are set up wth a USB port for these flash drives.
I suggested he keep a printout of the spread sheet in his wallet, too.
No affiliation, yadda, yadda.
http://e-commerceunlimited.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=4662009#
You could probably make your own - but it won't have the spiffy Medical alert emblem.
Hi Uncle Hermit,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear Mama Hermit, is on the road to recovery. I hope the cause of her ailment is discovered soon.
The idea about keeping the information written down in a notebook and labeling it is an excellent idea.
Continued thoughts and prayers for your family.
Hugs~Felinae~
Hey Anon 9:57...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. I'll have to look into this, for sure! Probably a lot better than a written record.
Hey, I appreciate the visit today!
Hey Felinae...
Many thanks for the continued good wishes and thoughts!
They are doing some more test today, so maybe we'll find out for sure just what is going on...I certainly hope so!
I really do appreciate you dropping by today!
Written records make a good back-up to the USB drives. Plus a spare paper copy in the car. Back-ups for back-ups. Better safe than sorry. Plus I like the idea of taking meds in the plastic bag to the hospital. All good idea's.
ReplyDeleteWish you and your mom the best. The care giver has a lot of stress to.
God Bless.
Always willing to share a cup.
See Ya
Great to hear that Your mother can come home so soon! Send her my best wishes!
ReplyDeleteOver here we use our social security number for everything from having a subscription on a newspaper to hospital visits. We use it to much to be honest. But anyway, as long as we have an ID-card or drivinglicense with us they´ll know who we are and contacts relatives directly even if we can´t speak when we come to a hospital.
That´s a good thing with our social security number using. But since we use it everywhere its also to easy to steal if some one wants to do that. It seemes one has to take the good with the bad I´m afraid.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Hey Tony...
ReplyDeleteRight you are about having backups for the backups! Can't ever have enough, I'm thinking!
Lots of good ideas from the readers, that's for sure!
Hey, buddy...your visits are always greatly appreciated, they really are!
Hey Christer...
Sounds like the service over here. Used to be that all our records and history was tied to our social security number.
Not so much today, I think! Certainly not like they are there!
I am so glad you could drop by today!
Glad your Mom is able to go home. The binder is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHello Hermit! Glad to hear things are on the upswing with your mom. Having just dealt with my Dad's medical information, I can tell you that it's critical to know this. My father had his "med bag" with him the day we brought him to the hospital - one week tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHe thought he had a list of his meds in the bag, with his medications. It was NOT there, so the nurse recorded each med during admission. This was compared to the list he had the last time he was there and any discrepencies were dealt with. I then asked for a copy of his med list. I also contacted his doctor and asked that a copy of his med changes be faxed or sent to me following each visit. They balked at first but I got the proper paperwork filled out and it should "work" next time. All of us should have a will, power of attorney, end of life directive and any other piece of paperwork you can imagine and copies kept with the appropriate people. For example, my brother is my Dad's executor and has POA but he's in Jordan. Tomorrow we get the POW changed - for the time being.
You will be in our prayers. Take care my friend, Treesong
Hey TOR...
ReplyDeleteThank you, my friend, on both counts.
The binder or notebook was born out of a real need by me, and I thought I was pretty organized.
I appreciate the kind words and the visit!
Hey Treesong...
How right you are about the information...and a back up be kept together! Very important for the caretakers to always to have a copy (updated often) of all meds and such!
The prayer are greatly appreciated, believe me! Thanks for the visit!
Hey, Mister Hermit, sir - you've been on my mind today. I hope your mum made it home and is recovering well.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, yours - I've seen notebooks for sale that have fill-in-the-blanks for funeral plans...I wonder why there isn't one for hospital care, too...
I wouldn't feel comfortable carrying that kind of info around with me (what if I lost it??)...but I can see having it somewhere that friends or family could easily find it if it's needed.
Best wishes to you and Nanny...
Shade and Sweetwater,
K
Hey K...
ReplyDeleteDon't know why there isn't a fill-in-book for the hospital. maybe we could start one...
As far as carrying one, I guess we could always use the USB version! I think there must be a way to encrypt the info...
The point has been made that back ups are very important, so someone else in the family have a copy.
hey, I appreciate you thinking of us...and coming by today!