My husband has Alzheimer's and was combative & aggressive. There has been a noticeable decline in the last few months & then on New Year's Day, we had to have him admitted to the hospital as he was having severe anxiety and trouble breathing. He ended up getting pneumonia & c-diff and was put in isolation and eventually moved to a skilled nursing facility. He has a below the knee amputation, and is confined to a wheelchair. He is being kicked out of the skilled nursing facility & must either go to a care home or home with me. I work full time, and am 18 years younger than him. He is 79 years old. They nursing facility said that the insurance will not pay anything else for him to stay there, as they cannot justify improvement in his behavior or physical therapy - mainly because of his cognitive skills. He has hit the nurses on occasion and has threatened others so they don't feel it is really safe for him to come home, and suggest he go into a facility that is locked & capable of dealing with his behaviors. The problem is, these places are $3,000 and up per month. I have applied for funding through our state but am told that will take several months, and that many people will not qualify. I had a full time caregiver that stayed with him at our house while I was at work. He is willing to come back & help me out, which is awesome, but I am kind of afraid to bring him home. I want to keep my husband & myself safe and am worried that something will happen once he comes home, however, I don't see any other alternative unless the funding comes through, but short term I don't see I have any choice. Also, before he went into the hospital he was not sleeping much at night, and neither was I. He would either get up and wander around, or he would start yelling & carrying on, and then I couldn't sleep & yet I still had to get up and go to work. Ideally, I would have someone to stay with him as a sitter at night, but I am already at my maximum amount for paying for caregiver expenses, so unfortunately that is a luxury I can't afford. He has two grown children, but they are not really willing to help out much at all. Any ideas? I know sometimes we get so entrenched in our own situation that we can't see straight!
Good luck to you and keep us posted. When people find answers many of us can profit from them.