The guy is getting what he pays for. Cheaper places would have you locked in your room all day long with your roommate watching "Springer" at full volume and you would have no way to end it. Makes you wanna go all Chief Bromden on them. edit to add: I visited a friend in a small room in hospice, and his roommate had the TV right there at full volume, even with me (a visitor) trying to hold a conversation. I had to wheel my friend out of there so we could talk.
This is seriously TRUE ! At the other end of the spectrum completely , is what happened to my friend , Evelyn, a few years ago. Because of health issues, she had moved from her house and was living with her son, while waiting for a small senior apartment to open up somewhere nearby. She had heart problems, and had to be taken to the hospital, where they kept her for part of the week until she was stabilized. Then, she needed to go to an assisted living/caretaking facility to completely recover. She had medicare and Medicaid, which paid for about a month, and then they started taking her whole SS pension check to pay for the facility. In the meantime, her family decided that they were not able to take her back in case she had more medical problems that they could not handle; so she was stuck in the facility, with no way to get out, or money to go with, assuming that she could find a place to go. Robin and I went to Memphis to “bust her out” of the facility. She was in a room with about 3-4 other people, so no privacy, and no choice of what was on the television. Even though she was diabetic, they gave her the same meals as everyone else had. I was horrified ! ! We loaded up what she had with her into Robin’s truck and brought Evelyn back home to Alabama with us. Once she was gone from the facility, she was able to get her SS check back, and everyone contributed to helping Evelyn have enough money for an apartment once we found one, and in the meantime, she lived with Bobby and I . I think we had a thread about the whole experience at the time, because I remember that people here on the forum offered to send money to help Evelyn (Joyce McGregor here) get an apartment and relocate. She lived in the apartment for a couple of years, but now lives with her daughter, who takes care of her, and she seems to be really happy there, and thankfully, not having to go back to the care facility like she had to be in before.
It's the stuff of nightmares. I've mentioned before my mother's experiences with dementia and being in a well-respected hospital and then in an upscale Alzheimer's care facility. My sister worked for the Fed and had all sorts of leave saved up, so she spent time with our mother when she was in both places. -Our mother's doctor thought that an anti-depressant may have contributed to her issues and was weaning her off. The hospital orderly walked into out mother's room with a tray full of meds, one pill looked suspicious, it ended up being the problematic anti-depressant at 10x the level prescribed (5mg versus 0.5mg.) -She was transferred to that dedicated care facility, and shared a room. The Assisted Living orderly walks into the room with a tray full of meds, walks up to our mother's roommate and says "Time for your medication, Mrs. Brunner." The guy was giving meds to the wrong patient...at an Alzheimer's facility!!! Both instances were caught only because some 3rd party happened to be there. These are the stories of such patients having to be taken off of their meds in preparation of an operation, and suddenly the human being inside that shell returns from the fog.
Lon! I've meant to tell you often, I really like your choice of your ap. Such a welcoming sun shiny face!