Average annual cost of a room in a nursing home...

[pretty cheap jewelry]

If I can't enjoy life, I don't want to be huddled in a bed, wondering if any of my family have time from their busy schedule to drop in for a visit

I'm sorry to report that my grandma who is in a nursing home for a couple years does not wonder anything.

I am the legal guardian and dementia is pretty much widespread in the 80s as far as I can see.

My other grandma, also 80s with a 90s husband is in assisted living and he is now starting to exhibit dementia (not her).

[Aleta]

I suppose the truth is somewhere in the middle. My Mom has Alzheimer's and my brother is living with her and she isn't aware of too much. Maybe that's a blessing in a way not to care. Something that a nurse friend of mine said was that when you look at an Alzheimer's patient, you won't see any wrinkle on the face. (They don't worry). She works with a lot of them and I noticed the same thing that my Mom's wrinkles seemed to soften.

[sunsetssplendor]

How does one open a nursing home? In California many Filipino's
have taken over this field and some of the homes are in horrible condition.

[Aleta]

There are many homes that have been converted into assisted living facilities. You would have to go to your city and ask for all of the details, but I will assure you that it isn't easy especially with insurance, inspections, making sure the parties working there have licenses. It could be done, but it must be done right. We need more places with people who are willing to open up a small place that will probably give them more time.

[Gruntina]

well but then not having anyone to 'talk' to I would just lose the ability again ....

Actully these courses introduces you to many deaf social events that you can attend and meet deafies.

[MonkeyMama]

I was just reading that 1 in 4 LT care insurance claims are denied. It was something I figured we would get in our late 30s/early 40s. But keeping an eye on what is going on. Not shelling out all that money just to get denied for no reason - the insurance companies have some issues in this area (As with many areas I guess).

& I agree - the number of elderly people facing dementia and alzheimers is huge around here. I have a neighbor who is moving her MIL into a home right now. She lives with them but they just can't handle her anymore, she is such a danger to everyone. They don't even work but don't feel they have the means to watch her every second of every day for her safety. They feel blessed they had the means and time to care for her this long though. They just can't deal with the stress anymore, they have young kids and such. I don't think grandma will be forgotten in the home, but there is only so much you can take emotionally dealing with someone 24/7 who is facing dementia. I just had a client in last week who has a mother and an aunt in homes for alzheimers and was telling me all they had been through - I See it really taking a toll on many families who want to do best for their parents, but at the same time can only do so much. & these are both 2 examples of people who are not working for a living, who have the time to give great care, but just can't do it alone.

[Aleta]

Many years ago, people never reached these ages and diseases. Modern medicine are keeping people alive longer but without any quality of life. I believe a lot has to do with the food and the processes that it goes through that is aging people and who knows what diseases occur because of toxic buildup in the system. Not to mention the toxic buildup of all of the medicine people take. Not all of it is eliminated.

[Fern]

When i was in the 4th grade, our teacher went on maternity leave and so for several months we had a substitute teacher who, among other things, decided to teach the class sign language.

It has stuck with me all these years, i don't know why! What i learned was just the alphabet, a-z, so i can spell out words but that's rather laborious. I guess the rest of sign language is symbols for words, is that right, gruntina?

[Gruntina]

When i was in the 4th grade, our teacher went on maternity leave and so for several months we had a substitute teacher who, among other things, decided to teach the class sign language.

It has stuck with me all these years, i don't know why! What i learned was just the alphabet, a-z, so i can spell out words but that's rather laborious. I guess the rest of sign language is symbols for words, is that right, gruntina?

Some signs can be symbols for words but there are many signs that can say a paragraph in only few hand signs. It is basically visual concept when spoken English you have to "think" the concept of hearing what is said. Hand movements, locations of the hands in different area of the body, palm facing front or back view are actually "grammar" of sign language. It is a fascinating language and pretty glad I am deaf sometimes.

There are a few things that only makes sense in spoken English, it is the same for sign language as it has different scopes of the language. I aim to try to have the best of both worlds.

[JoyJoy]

My sister just placed our 91 year old aunt into a nursing home. The cost will be $4,500.00 a month out of pocket for my aunt as she doesn't qualify for Medicaid yet. I understand she can have no more than $2,000.00 in assets before she can qualify for Medicaid. The $4,500.00 does not include her meds per my sister. My aunt paid into a lot of investments and I assume these investments will have to be applied to her stay there and then she will be eligible for Medicaid. She is a widow and kept her business secretive all of her life.