Recipes

[VaBelle35]

I hope to relieve a lot of her anxiety by being able to run over to the assisted living if something happens.

I vetted this place as best I could.  If they come through with half of what they promise it will be a step up from where he is.  We know a lot more today than we did in April.  We didn't know what we didn't know and we allowed the hospital to decide on the rehab facility and we relied on the rehab facility to do the right thing.

When he came out of he hospital the second time, we chose the rehab and chose well.  When he was released from rehab, we chose Sunrise because my Uncle was there and we knew it was a good clean place.  The only problem is that we thought they would push harder for recovery but they do not.  The positives are that all of my Uncle's friends are still there and they know my mother and her husband because they used to visit all the time.  So he went in there with built in friends.  He is having a ball.  I swear he thinks he's at a resort.  He is living his best life and has not said a word about coming home.  He talks about what he'll do when he gets home, but doesn't ask to come home.  We don't think he ever will because he'll never drive again, but it may be possible for them to live in an independent facility connected to assisted living (I'm checking one out here that one of the pool ladies is in to see how it would work for them if needed).

All places are short handed right now.  Because he can't get in and out of a chair/bed/bathroom by himself, he has to rely on an aide and they don't come running every time he calls.  In September, we had dinner with him in the family dining room and we waited 52 minutes for an aide to come and get him.

This new place promises a 5 minute response time, so we'll see.

They also have physical therapy on the premises.  And we will set up his therapy plan up front to make sure he is getting as much as he can stand and private pay what we need to.  We wasted 2 months because the assisted living place in NY signed us up with a therapy company that did not do private pay and they would not release him from service until he was done with Medicare Part A.  So on October 1 we were able to change companies and she is working his butt and he loves it.  He has been begging to work with weights and do more than walk back and forth with a walker.  He go this wish!

Having him here will allow me to monitor his progress weekly and adjust quickly when needed.  It's been tough doing this long distance.  Yesterday was a prime example.  He had a dental emergency and my mother was trying to book the dentist and I was trying to book the aide/transport and coordinate with the assisted living place.  I had 3 phone lines going at once.  But we got it done, he got treated, my brother got his prescription and all is well.  My mother should be calling me soon, so I'll get the official update.

[ChiliPepper]

@VaBelle35 

Hi there! So good to hear from you!

I'm sorry your Mom's husband isn't doing better but it sounds like you have an excellent plan in place.

Boy, when you have your mind set, you are a go-getter for sure! Your Mom is lucky to have you to help her.

How do you think it will be living with her?

[ChiliPepper]

[ChiliPepper]

    

Sausage Pizza Dip

This Sausage Pizza Dip will be your favorite party dip. It has all the flavors of the best sausage pizza in an easy and healthy dip that pairs perfectly with fresh veggies.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time20 mins

Servings: 8

 Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup no sugar added pasta sauce I use Classico Roasted Garlic
• 2 cups cooked crumbled sausage about 1 pound
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400. 
• Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of a deep dish pie plate. Spread the tomato sauce on top. Top with the cooked sausage. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and parmesan. 
• Bake for 15 minutes until bubbly and golden brown around the edges.

Notes

If you need to cook sausage for this recipe do that first. I like to cook and crumble a big batch and freeze it in 1 cup portions for recipes. I cut the casings off with scissors (so much easier than trying to squish out the meat), put them in a big frying pan coated with cooking spray, and just cook until brown. I break up the pieces with a potato masher a few times while it cooks.

Nutrition

Calories: 334 | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 685mg | Potassium: 247mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 610IU | Vitamin C: 1.5mg | Calcium: 143mg | Iron: 1mg

[VaBelle35]

@ChiliPepper  Thanks.

I think living together will be fine.  I had to promise not to yell at her. I said, do you promise not to yell at me???  LOL

Once we get into a routine we'll be fine.  She'll spend a lot of time with her husband.  So I think on the days we don't go to the gym, I'll drive her over there after lunch and pick her up at 5 when he goes to dinner.  We'll plan to have dinner or lunch with him one or 2 days a week.

She likes the games and activities, so she'll do all that with him.  She can also stay a max of 3 nights.  I think if he moves in permanently, we are going to get him a queen bed and then if I need to go out of town, she can just stay with him and eat there.  She just has to pay for her meals, which are $10 a meal.

This assisted living does the big, heavy, hot meal at lunch and a light, high protein meal at dinner.  They gave me all the research on it.  He has GERD, and he takes medicine for it, but he tends to lay down after dinner and I think this way of eating will help him in that regard.

The chef has an Italian cooking background and worked at a restaurant in NY for many years.  I had to go and test the food one night because that is a deal breaker for this family.  LOL I had the omlette because that's what I've had at the other 2 places so I could compare apples to apples.

[RespectLife]

Thanks for posting your update @VaBelle35 

Gosh, you have been organizing and dealing with a lot of big changes....and your mom too.

Bless your heart for bringing her to your home....and her husband close by.

What a gift from Heaven the transportation person is!  So wonderful you were able to find him!!!!!

I will be praying for you all that the transition goes smoothly.

[RespectLife]

Oh @VaBelle35 

Beautiful!!

Those are the coolest lamps ever!

You are a special daughter to think of ALL those little details to make her more comfy.

Sniff, I got tears in my eyes!  Bless your heart.

[RespectLife]

@VaBelle35 

Selecting a facility can be such a challenge but it sounds like a wonderful place!!

[VaBelle35]

We have a lot of care choices near me, for some reason.

I wanted one that had memory care, just in case, because I do think that will be needed down the road as his father had dementia at the end and his mother had alzheimers pretty young.  His daughters were very concerned about him last Christmas but never said anything to us.  They say they said something to my mother but she doesn't remember that discussion.

With this place, they have about 10-12 levels of care.  And 2 levels of care between Assisted Living and Memory Care.  They call it Bridges.  This is for people who need more care but are not at great risk for wandering, so they are not ready for the locked ward just yet.

I did tour the locked memory care ward, because I wanted to see/hear what went on up there.  They were having dinner in their dining room, some were already done eating and were either watching tv or sitting on the sofas.  It looks very much the same as the regular apartment wings, but the rooms don't have doors to the bathroom and their bathrooms don't have showers and they have very little furniture.  The showers are at the end of the hall in what they call the spa with shower seats and hand held sprayers that are easier for the aides to maneurver around.  

The other thing is they only have one seating for each meal.  Sunrise has 2 and it's a real pain because when he's done eating he has to wait for someone to get him back to his room.  The aides are busy getting the second seating to the dining room, so he has to sit there.

At the new place, all the aides will be ready to take him back at the same time so he won't have to wait forever.

They also do a better job of sending us the weekly schedule of activities, meals and other news ahead of time so if we want to have dinner one night when the menu looks good, we can plan.  Same with the movie schedule after dinner.  Sunrise never tells them what the movie is.  Here they have the movies all mapped out for the month.  The residents provide the list of what they want to see and they put it on the schedule.

[RespectLife]

Excellent they have multi layers of care @VaBelle35 

The thing I found difficult was finding a place that would keep my mom when she was no longer private pay.  Out you go to a Medicare facilty of the STATE'S choice!  You then have NO say on location or quality of the facility.

Luckily, the place where mom went would allow you to remain, although you would have to move to a different wing and have a roommate.

Her place had 'family' units, private rooms & baths...about 8 rooms per unit.

You had your own dining room and cooks, your own nurses and aides.

Thank the Lord, mom never had to move to the Medicare unit.  She was able to be private pay her entire time.

So many 'financial advisors' want you to 'dispurse' your assets years before care is needed.  Then Medicare pays for the facility BUT....as I said, you have no choices where they go.

And we all know that some places are just awful.  Both my in-laws were in horrible places.