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Mom couldn't go back to assisted living because of falls, so she went to rehab, and then I moved her to a nursing home down the street from me. Because of her falling and constantly getting up herself out of her wheelchair, they have to watch her. She has a little dementia with Parkinson's, but the unit they have her in has others who are in more severe states of dementia. In two months she has been hospitalized with a UTI and now has pneumonia. I am beside myself and want to move her back to the nursing home that she had rehab at because I feel they were better staffed and more caring. I still work two hours away, and that is gnawing at me because I can't leave yet (will lose home and health insurance for my family if I do). Has anyone done this with a parent on Medicaid; and if so, how do I begin? Thanks for any answers!

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When they start falling, they keep on falling. Mom had 8 trips to the ER in a year, she even fell in the hospital. What concerns me here is your patient is getting pneumonia. If that is from aspirating instead of swallowing, it is a bad sign, a sign that time is getting very short. Maybe time for Hospice. So sorry.
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Thank you pamstegma. The pneumonia is exactly what is alarming me; the UTIs she has gotten on and off over the last five years in assisted living. Now, since she has been more immobile since the falls, it seems that she is going downhill fast. Her hallucinations are also increasing and her moods change from one day to the next. The worst part about all this is that I feel so helpless. :(
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Has she ever been checked for liver damage? I ask because she sounds so similiar to my mom down to the utis and hallucinations. Once the high ammonia from liver was under control shes almost her old self...good luck.
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Is your question about moving her from one NH to another while being on Medicaid? Is the one you are moving her to two hours away?

If you are authorized to act on her behalf, I'm not sure why you can't make the decision as to which NH she should be living. As long as it is in the same state, the NH admissions office should be able to line it up. And I might check with her Medicaid Caseworker to line up the paperwork process.

I'd also question if the move is worth the transition. If the care is much better, I suppose it's worth it. I have read that when the person has reached a certain point and then they start getting infections, it's really almost impossible to get rid of them. They can be treated, but they will return again.

Also, on falls. That is a huge issue. I've dealt with it and it can be so frightening. You said that the NH staff have to watch her. Do they have an alarm on her wheelchair and bed? Also, I have a friend whose dad is in a NH and they keep him in his wheelchair at the nurse's station so they watch him at all times. I'm not sure what they do at night.
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