Dad Status, Mom's Appointments

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad
Date: Monday, February 05, 2007 1:14:04 PM
I spoke to Alysisa this morning and she said that Dad was evaluated by a speech pathologist this morning and he is swallowing good. So he may be moving back to “honey” thick liquids.
She said he was wearing his hearing aid. That there still was drainage in his ear at times.
She said that we need to get one family member to get the info and pass it to the other siblings. I told her we were going to discuss it in two weeks when we all get together and thanked her for the feedback and taking such good care of Dad.
On 1/16 Mary called to say that Dad had antibiotics in his ear, was on pudding thick liquids, needs to be suctioned out, was given a chest xray and everything looked good. Did not have his dentures in because his jaw hurt. His oxegyn level was low so they had him on Oxegyn.
On 1/30 Mary called to say that Mom’s next appt for 4/17 Tuesday at 11:15 for the foot doctor.

Mary took Dad for tubes on 1/11/07 with Dr. Sobie at the Buffalo Otolaryngogly Group on Youngs Rd. She reported he had neither a shave or a haircut. Dad’s followup appointment with Dr. Sobie is Thursday, 6/28/07 at 10:15am.

Re: Update on Hearing Aid

Carol and Tom
Subject: Re: Update on Hearing Aid
Date: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 6:16:57 PM
Thanks Ruth. Here's a question that needs to be asked at the next visit. If Dad needs drops to keep his ears clear of wax, will that be a problem if he has the tubes in? Love, Carol

Update on Hearing Aid

Ruth Seiler
Subject: Update on Hearing Aid
Date: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 6:16:57 PM

I called 1/2/07 talked to Allyissa who said it was in an working. She asked if Barb had talked to me and told me it was broken. I said no, Margaret said it was broken, Karen said it was fine, and Avery said Dad won’t let anyone put it in for him.

Called Lauren 1/2/07 at Dr. Sobie’s office. She said the report must not have gone through, and she will fax it again to me. Dad is getting tubes on 1/11. A few weeks later he will have his hearing assessed and evaluated for a new hearing aide if appropriate. (Mom seems to think one will be delivered any day now...that isn’t the case. Medicade will pay for a new one in September (every 5 years), so if he needs one before then, Mom may have to pay for it.)

Attached is the report from Dr. Sobie.

On The Glasses

Ruth Seiler"
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:54:55 AM

Alisa said that Dr. O’Shae will fill his prescription for the glasses. If he is going to keep the frames, then Dr. O’Shae will take the old glasses and Dad will be without them for a day or so. I suggested that mom look for an old pair, and that the nurses keep them in the Med room until that day comes. Alisa said it is a slow process, that I should follow up in two weeks to see if Dr. O’Shae has been in.

Dad Hearing Aid

"Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad hearing aid
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:54:55 AM

Hi all,
I called Veronica on Monday 1/8 at 4:30 and she said Dad didn’t have his hearing aid on, but I should call her back in one hour and she would check to see where it was. I got tied up and didn’t call back.
I called Karen on Tuesday 1/9 at 2:00 pm and she said Dad was gone with Mom somewhere. That she wasn’t his nurse, Margaret was, and she would leave a note for Margaret as she was on a break.
On Wednesday, 1/10, I called Barb Leswing, she was off the unit but talked to Alisa. Dad did have his hearing aid in.

Dad's Hearing Aid St Francis Follow-up

Carol and Tom
Subject: Re: Dad's hearing aid
Date: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 7:29:01 PM
Thanks for all the follow up work Ruth. Lori was up to see Dad yesterday and said she didn't think he was hearing although the hearing aid was in. When I was there just before Christmas, he did seem to be hearing (I was pushing the wheelchair and talking to him from behind and he was answering me) and he was read something I handed him with fairly small print. We're back from our trip now, but I've come down with a bad cold, so I won't be up to see Dad any time soon. Hopefully we'll have some answers with the second round of Dr. appointments. Also, we talked to the nurses a couple of weeks ago about Dad's hair, and they said they would set him up for hair cuts every two weeks. I'm not sure why they are having such a problem with that. Love, Carol

Dad's Hearing Aid and St Francis

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad's hearing aid
Date: Sunday, December 31, 2006 3:05:40 PM
Thursday Dec 28, 2006 Spoke to Margaret who said the hearing aid was broke. I asked how she knew. She said they put a new battery in it and it didn’t buzz. She said it was locked up in the Nurses cabinet. I asked what the plan was and she said there was no plan.
Spoke with Karen who said when she came on in the afternoon she got the hearing aid out of the locked nurses cabinet (med cabinet?) and put it on him. It was working.
Karen said same thing happened yesterday.
I spoke to Avery several times. First she said that Dad made such a fuss they couldn’t get the hearing aid on him. I said “I think you are mistaken; he keeps asking for his hearing aid”. I insisted that he wear his hearing aid just as he wears his glasses. She said she would bring it up in morning report.
Friday Dec 29, spoke to Alyissa who said the hearing aid was missing so she called Mom to see if she put it in the bottom of her purse. She went hunting again, and found it on Dad. (she looked in the wrong ear)
On Friday Alyssia called me back to update me about the haircut and said she was working on getting Dad on a schedule with the hairdressers to get a #1 clipper cut every two weeks. She said she forgot to bring up the hearing aid situation in morning report but would do so Tuesday or Wednesday.
I told her I would call every day until it became a routine that Dad was wearing his hearing aid just as he wears his glasses.
Saturday late afternoon, I spoke to Mark, who said Dad was wearing his hearing aid.
Sunday morning I spoke to Alyissa who said Dad was wearing his hearing aid.

Appointment Saga Continues

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad Hearing Appt. the saga continues...
Date: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:24:58 AM
Lucy Coleman called me and basically stated that 1. I did not have authority to arrange Dad to go to a different group
2. If the BOG is not on the Medicade list, we might have to pay the co-pay.
She also said that Raza is the primary care and that the family needs to change it BUT there is a problem with Raza in that she didn’t get some number she needs to be a primary care, SO Alysia will get a referral from Evans who is over the whole group that Eubanks and Raza work for. Coleman said that would work.
So,
I got mom to call her and authorize the visit to BOG (Mom is the only one, as she is first on the Health Care Proxy, then Carol and then Mary. We need to think about changing this. It took me 16 minutes to get Mom the info for her to make the call. Dad can only change this while he is competent, so now is the time. If his hearing and/or vision gets worse, or the Doc thinks he doesn’t understand what he is doing, he can’t change it.)
Lucy is going to check the Medicade problem. She said it is up to Barbara Leswing to be checking that out. I told her not to stop this because a copay would not be covered. That I would pay for it if that was the problem. That he has not been hearing since the beginning of September and it needs to get fixed.

Dad's Appointment and Billing

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad appt
Date: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 10:03:22 AM
Carol,
Called the billing office, Debbie Scanlon at 716/604-1831 and they said Medicade was primary, but the Buffalo Otolaryngology Group could bill Senior Choice.
Called Pam at Buffalo Otolaryngology Group (BOG from now on!)at 716 883-6800, she said I had better check with Lucille who is the insurance expert, rather than have a problem.
Called Lucille at BOG at 71b 883-6800 x 104 and she said Medicade is never primary. Looked up Dad with his Senior Choice number 10008225900, and said as long as he has a referral from his primary care doc, they can bill Senior Choice. The primary care doc on Senior Choice database is Dr. David Eubanks, 132 Cayuga Suite 1c Cheek, 14225 716/204-9711.
Called Debbie Scanlon back and asked Dad’s primary to be updated to Raza (his current doc) She said the Social Worker does that.
Lucy Coleman Social Worker for wing 5 716 633-5400 X 253
Left msg
Barbara Leswing, the Nurse in charge of wing 5 was in a meeting. So I talked to Alyssia, Nurse on Wing 5 (who is very helpful). She will talk to Lucy Coleman and change over his primary from Eubanks to Raza, (which is accurate. He is not changing Doctors, we are just updating Senior Choice data base).
Alyssia will make the appt with BOG make the van arrangements and cancel the appt with Dansinger for Friday. She also indicated it was important that the new Doc do an evaluation and send the Nursing Home an assessment of his hearing so the Nursing home knows how to care for him from now on (she brought this up, not me).
Allyssia will call me when arrangements have been made, and I’ll send out another email.

I’ll followup with Pam at BOG to be sure he has the appt. and confirm.

Dad has Appointment with Dr. Steven Sobie

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dad has appt with Dr. Steven Sobie
Date: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 12:46:32 PM
Alyissa called and she made appt with Dr. Steven Sobie at the Youngs Rd. Buffalo Otolarnygology Group for Monday Dec 18 @10:15 am. The Van leaves at 9:15. She ordered:
a hearing test
removal of wax in ear
directions on best method to prevent in future.

She called mom to get OK as well.
She cancelled appt with Dansinger.
We discussed that he has eye surgery the next day, but she said it would be OK, that that is the only appt she could get for the next few months.
She already had the referral.

Dr Dansinger's Report

Ruth Seiler"
Subject: Dr. Dansinger's report
Date: Sunday, December 03, 2006 3:55:12 PM

The Dr. called me on Friday. I did not like her. She was condescending and didn’t listen. She stated that Dad was “writhing in pain”, that the pain was “real to him”. She gave no other explanation as to why she didn’t get the plug out. When I said that with little children you do it anyway, she said she could anestize him, which seemed like she took it to the extreem. Later she said she couldn’t put him under. I said I was confused, first she said she could anestize him and later said she wouldn’t put him under, were they different? And she started talking about operating on him! It seemed like she was using her medical knowledge to talk around the issue. When I asked if she couldn’t flush it out, she said Dad wouldn’t let her work on him. When I said that mom heard her say “I shouldn’t have to do this; it’s the nurses’ job” Dr. Dansinger said she would never say that. She also stated he wouldn’t let her touch him. I asked about something like I got before childbirth to take the edge off. She said his Dr. at the home would have to give that.

Then they sent me the attached report. I would like to write back to Dr. Dansinger: “As the specialist with the best knowledge of Ray’s hearing situation, please advise Dr. Raza on a recommended treatment/prevention plan to prevent this ear wax build up in the future. Please copy me on this recommendation. If this is an inappropriate request, please let me know.” Mom has stated to me that Dr. Dansinger was “disgusted that the nursing home let it get this bad”, so I expected to see something in the report, but did not.

Welcome.

Hi everybody. This is my attempt to set up an area where we can keep all of the notes we write about Mom and Dad . My hope is that this becomes a running record of the things we tell each other so that we can easily refer back when needed.
I think we can use "Labels" below to identify major categories (i.e., Bills, Hearing, etc.). I am also hopeful that this will work with email so we can type once and use both (I think we will still need to alert each other by email).
Please let me know what you think. Paul.