FWD:

When Liam was in the hospital recovering from the tube placement, he laid in bed and talked. And talked. And talked. He literally did not quit talking for 7 hours! I know that's a long time and it doesn't sound plausible, but Rylie can attest to it. Once, we left to go to lunch and while walking out the door he was talking and when we came back twenty minutes later and opened the door, he was still holding that toy and he was still talking. Evidently, morphine agrees with him.


And I'm sorry for the quality. It was from my cell phone.

Maybe next time?

As they say here in the south, 'Bless her heart', but our aid today was just not fit for the job.

She was a very nice lady.

But she couldn't even get up and down off of the floor very well at all.

In fact, she only got on the floor one time with Liam during the entire 5 hours she was here.

Granted, she was new and this was a different experience for her since her expertise is with more mature patients. So, I thought maybe I should give her some time.

But, I just didn't feel it was right. I didn't see her being the right fit here. And I have to advocate for Liam because he can't do it for himself. And although I hate to complain, I didn't want to waste time and wait for it to get better.

So...

I hope the next one is a better match.

No experience necessary

I had my appointment with the coordinator who will oversee the aid who comes into the house to help out with Liam. I explained to her that I won't need an aid that many hours of the week but the main coordinator wants to keep it as it stands. This week I'm too busy anyway so she will only be able to come for two days. I was told I could have her come in the afternoon if I wanted, but why would I have her here during nap time? She even asked me if I wanted her to help out with laundry or cleaning. Um, I thought she was a CNA, not a maid?

She will be showing up at 8 am on Monday morning. She is a level 1 nursing assistant. So, that means that she can't even participate in anything that involves Liam's g-tube. But, that's ok. I don't need her doing that for me anyway.

But the best part? Her experience is all from geriatrics.

Much aid

I was warned last year when I originally applied for the medicaid waiver that the program here in NC requires you have an in-home aid. If you don't want the aid, you can't be in the program. I know it is set up that way to detour a lot of families from getting into the program. It is also set up that way in order to make sure that only those who really need it qualify.
I knew from the outset that if Liam got the approval we would get an in-home aid. But, I was told that since Liam's health issues are for therapy that I would only need the aid for a couple of hours a week in order to keep us in the program.

Imagine my shock when I was told yesterday that we will have an aid for 5 hours a day.

Every day of the working week.

Evidently, the lady who originally denied my application for Liam decided that since I homeschool my children, I could use the extra help around here with Liam.

It is ridiculous the way federal money gets wasted in this country.