The Professional Geriatric Care Manager’s Blog

Diary of a Geriatric Care Manager in Bergen County

Monday:  M went to see the ENT today.  He could not find much that was bothering her, so he believes that it is just irritation from the esophagus.  He prescribes medication for that.  We then discuss the nodule that was found on her thyroid gland, he believes it could be nothing, but orders a biopsy to be on the safe side.  After the appointment with the ENT, we go for her blood work, since we are already there.  She is happy they get the vein the first try.  We go back to her place and I fill in her medi-minders and we sit and talk for a while.  They are getting ready to celebrate her Aides birthday.

Tuesday:  I go to visit Mr. A, he is going to be moving soon into an Assisted Living facility.  He is more worried about what he is going to do with everything, then anything else.  I believe that the move will be good for him and he is looking forward to being close to his son.

P is doing well.  She is still having some pain in her shoulder from the fall, but is trying to hide it.  I have arranged for her to get physical therapy and they will be coming to her house.  We spend an hour going over this, because she is really confused by the whole thing, and would like me to be there when they are there.  I tell her that I will be there for the first 1 and then after that she will have an Aide twice a week for will be there when they are there.

Wednesday: PA, I go to visit her and get pulled to the side by the Head Nurse.  She has gained 11 lbs and they are worried, he believes that she may be taking food from somewhere, because there should be no other reason for her to gain so much weight.  I go in and talk to her and she tells me that they want her to eat.  I asked if they are giving her the food and she says no, she is taking it from the snack tray.  I tell her that she is only to eat the food that is giving to her and she says fine.  Otherwise, not much else is going on with her and she seems to be doing well.

G, I only visit with her once a month and she is doing well.  She has recovered from her last fall and seems to be very happy.  The nurses are now keeping an extra eye on her, so that she doesn’t fall again.

A complained as soon as I walked into her home, that she was slightly dizzy, her head hurt, and that she was weak.  She told me that she had taken some Tylenol and I told her to drink plenty of fluids.  I also reminded her that her doctor wanted to hear from her if she was feeling this way, and that maybe she should call him.  She wanted to give it a little while.  I filled her medi-minders and called the refills in as well as a list that was made for me.  A began to panic, because 1 of her HHA wanted to order something and she was not there and A could not remember what it was.  I told her that it was not a problem to have her write it down and that anyone could call it in, that it doesn’t have to be me.  She said ok.

MA had an appointment with her primary care today.  When I arrived to pick her up, she was still eating and not quite ready.  She said “I wish I had known so that I could have been ready for you”.  I reminded her that I called a few hours ago to remind when I would be there to pick her up and that I wrote it on the calendar.  She seems a little more forgetful lately.  We discuss this with her doctor and he suggested a new medication, which we will bring up to the neurologist when we see him.  I want to get all the test results in first to make sure that there is nothing else going on before we start adding more medication and he said that was fine.

Thursday:  M goes to see the pulmonologist; he wanted to see her and had called for her to come in this week.  When M was in the hospital she had a CT scan done and it showed pneumonia.  He just wanted to check on her and make sure everything was fine and he ordered a chest x-ray to make sure everything is clear.

Diary of a Geriatric Care Mgr in Bergen County NJ

Monday:  Mr. A to the psychiatrist, she said that he is doing well, and that she doesn’t need to see him back for 6 weeks unless something  comes up.  He will be moving into an Assisted Living Facility within the next few weeks and is handling it quite well.

M is doing well, she was not home when I went to do her medication.  I was happy to see her out and about.

Tuesday:  I went to visit our new client Mr. J, he had a little bit of an issue over the weekend, but is now stable and doing well.

Wednesday:  A day with P.  First we go to the orthopedist for her shoulder.  He believes that there could be a small tear, but doesn’t want to do much but PT, since she is 90 and still has full strength and ROM in the shoulder.  Then we go to the primary care, which was a good thing.  P spent a good portion of the day in the bathroom, but not really going to the bathroom.  I had the doctor check her urine and it turns out that there is a small infection.  Other wise she is doing well.

Thursday:  A, is doing great.  She had good coloring today and did not complain about feeling sick at all.  I am so happy that she is feeling good.  She thinks that the pedialyte she drinks is doing it.

(tomorrow) Friday:  Ma to the hospital for an EEG and blood work.  Visit with Pa.  Check in on Mr. J.

Have a nice weekend

Diary of a Geriatric Care Manager

Monday:

I met with M to fill her medication.  She seems to be doing much better and is feeling good.   She told me that she is still thinking about going to have the Synvisc shots in her knee again.  I told her to let me know and I will make the appointment for her.  For now we are going to see the ENT about the nodule on her thyroid gland.

Mr. A, seems to be doing much better.  He is now showering and changing his clothes on a daily basis.  The companion that was hired is doing a wonderful job.  I took him to the doctor to get a PPD and will check it on Wednesday.

Tuesday:

Today I took the day to catch up on phone calls and I had a lot of appointments to schedule for my clients.

Wednesday:

MA had an appointment with her psychiatrist today.  The psychiatrist said that she has seen a vast improvement in MA and that she was very alert and talking about happy times in her life.  I am very happy to hear this.

I go to read Mr. A’s PPD, which was negative.

I go to see P, she fell last week and her shoulder still hurts, but she seems to be doing much better. I am still working on getting a better appointment then I have, but it is very difficult getting an appointment with a good orthopedist.  I remind her that she needs to take the Tylenol every 4 hours.

Thursday:

I see PA and everything is the same with her.  There is nothing new and she seems to be doing well.

A, I go to do her medi-minders and call her shopping list into the pharmacy.  She is doing much better than normal, only complaining of her head.  She is drinking pedialyte and said that it helps with her stomach, I suggest Gatorade, since it is close to the pedialyte and much cheaper.

Friday:

I will be taking Dr. G to the doctor.