My grandmother was discharged from the hospital a couple of days ago. I was helping primarily with medical aspects of her care while she was hospitalized (fortunately, I have the medical background to make sure that she was getting the optimal workup and treatment - there was no question that I would use it). Overall, the doctors did a pretty good job there, although there were some misses that we caught along the way. We didn't make a huge fuss over them, but ensured that everything was corrected.
Well, she did end up with two broken ribs. She qualifies, and would be covered by insurance, for a home care nurse, physical and occupational therapy, and a home attendant for 5 days per week. Unfortunately, as stubborn as she is, she does not want to utilize a home attendant, despite the fact that their services would be completely covered by insurance and would actually help her (and my grandfather) with activities around the house, as well as help her be more active with daily walks.
Her refusal of this service is because she doesn't like strangers roaming around her house... but the consequences of this stubbornness are quite substantial. She'll leave herself at greater risk for injuring herself on a daily basis, decompensate due to inactivity (which I can predict because she's not active even when she does have time off), create more work for my grandfather, and make us worry about her constantly. We've explained this to her, and she does understand, but still refuses.
It's understandable that for a person who's used to independence, this can be quite a substantial change. I do get it. However, she's not even willing to give it a try. It's stressed us out just as much as her hospitalization because we know the short-term and long-term risks involved, especially during this crucial recovery period, plus as she gets older.
We're still talking to her, but ultimately, she still has the mental capacity to make her own decisions, as dumb as they may be. It will certainly cause us more chronic stress, and more than likely result in her suffering more injuries as she gets older - although I certainly pray that I'm wrong.
We still have to set up a bunch of things for her, and then focus on my mother's health, which has also been deteriorating. My grandmother was hospitalized just as she was due for an important test, and this had to be rescheduled as well - and hopefully she'll be able to get it next week.
Screw 2024, man. This has been one of the worst years for my family. I'd give all of my financial earnings from this year - and from prior ones - to go back to how things were at the beginning of the year. Sure, they weren't perfect, but they were far better than they are right now.
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