SIX TIPS FOR BEING PREPARED
Special to Gasparilla Magazine from
Tina Marrelli, MSN, MA, RN, FAAN
I recently heard from a family friend about a
quagmire of complexity in the making. Here is the
scenario: The 75-year-old wife had a stroke and
was hospitalized while the husband had a heart
attack and subsequent emergency cardiac bypass
surgery and was also hospitalized. The wife’s story is
made more troublesome because she has had severe
dementia for some years and the husband was in
charge. His being the primary caregiver was working
until his hospitalization since they were not organized
or prepared for this possibility. He was his wife’s
primary caregiver until he was also totally
incapacitated after his heart attack, subsequent
cardiac surgery, and projected long stay in rehabilitation
and they did not have a plan in place for this
possibility.
This cascade of events began when a family
member went to visit this husband and wife at home
and found the wife slurring her words (one sign of a
stroke) and incontinent of urine and the husband
complaining of sharp chest pains (He had a history
of cardiac events.) The visiting family member
appropriately and quickly called 911. Because both
the husband and wife were so incapacitated, 911 sent
them both to the hospital. Here they stayed until they
were discharged from the hospital and sent to a
rehabilitation center. The problems continued
because no family member had a power of
attorney, no one knew where the checkbooks
were and there was no written indication of that
they wanted (or did not want) related to healthcare
(i.e., interventions) once they could no
longer make decisions.
Where is this couple now? Because there was
no planning, the wife whose stroke turned out to
be very extensive needs 24-hour care, and this is
very expensive. Because there was no planning
and no access to the checkbooks, the institution
is counting on the husband having funds and
writing checks when he is better.
The husband is still in rehabilitation after his
cardiac surgery and this is projected to be lengthier
than usual given his fondness for cigarettes and
alcohol. Of course, there is no way he can again
care for his wife back at home given her extensive
care needs and his post-surgery needs and
numerous medical problems. His memory also
seems to be impaired, so this sad story goes on
and on.
I will not burden readers with all the twists and
turns, but the bottom line take-away here is that
some of this hassle and complexity could have
been avoided with planning and forethought.
Here are some tips to help avoid such a problem: