2023/10/29

XNUMXthSynopsis

After my father passed away, I learned that the family grave was going to be closed, so I had to start looking for a grave from scratch. I decided on a grave in my father's hometown, and was able to hold a "celebration of his life" with relatives and friends. As for inheritance, it took time and effort to prepare the necessary documents because I live overseas.

When you go out, you must have your health insurance card and medicine notebook.

My mother, who suffers from dementia, did not know that my father had passed away for several months, and underwent several brain tests at memory clinics and general hospitals. It was difficult to get an appointment, so I would often take a flight in the middle of the night to be there at the designated time. When she was able to recognize that my father had passed away, we went to visit his grave. It takes about five hours to get there by car, including breaks, so we planned a short overnight trip. I wanted to see my mother's happy face.

However, after visiting the grave, I was in the hotel when I woke up to a loud thud in the middle of the night and found my mother lying on the floor. I called the front desk and explained that my mother had tripped and fallen and was unable to move, and they immediately arranged for an ambulance. At 30am, we were unable to find a hospital that would take her, and we had to wait for over XNUMX minutes. I later learned that people with dementia can panic in unfamiliar places because they don't know where they are.

The hospital explained that emergency surgery was necessary due to a fractured femur, that if the surgery was performed here and the patient was admitted, it may be difficult to find a local hospital to transfer to, and that the insurance card and medication record were needed immediately. When filling out the hospitalization paperwork, I realized that I did not know anything about my mother's medical history. Herniated disc, hysterectomy, colon cancer... I don't remember exactly what year and month it was at which hospital.

Surgery and hospitalization in a remote location

Since it would be a shame to have to move my mother in pain to a local hospital for surgery, we decided to have her undergo surgery and be hospitalized at a hospital in my father's hometown. I took the Shinkansen round trip without sleep to get my health insurance card and medicine book, and got my family doctor to write me a referral letter, and I was able to have the surgery first thing the next morning. I kept in mind documents about hospitalization of the elderly, such as "Hospitalization itself is a risk for the elderly, and there is data that shows that if an elderly person spends 10 days bedridden, they will lose 10 years' worth of muscle strength," and "Unlike young healthy people who are hospitalized, even if the treatment itself is successful, the quality of life after discharge will not be the same as before." I explained the situation to the care manager, and the social worker at the hospital where she was hospitalized, the care manager, and I contacted each other about the timing and location of the transfer. My mother did not use LINE, and the hospital did not allow visitors, so I was unable to see her at all for about six weeks, but the social worker explained the situation to me by email. It seemed that my mother did not know where she was or why she was hospitalized.

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Transfer to rehabilitation hospital by nursing care taxi

We were particular about transferring to a rehabilitation hospital, not a general hospital with a rehabilitation department. We gave the list of hospitals we had researched to a social worker, who contacted us one by one until there was a vacancy. Rehabilitation hospitals with high demand have a waiting list, but the length of hospitalization covered by insurance is determined by the diagnosis, so if you wait, a vacancy will definitely appear. By the way, the maximum length of hospitalization for a femur fracture is three months.

One and a half months after the operation, she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital by a four-hour taxi ride that could fit her wheelchair. This is not covered by insurance. My mother was much healthier than I thought, and she understood me. From the moment she was admitted to the rehabilitation hospital, she began rehabilitation for life after discharge. I measured everything from the step between the road and the entrance of my parents' house, the height of the toilet seat, the width of the hallway, and the condition of the living room floor, and submitted the measurements. I felt glad that the hospital did not compromise after all.

Recommended books written by a caregiver concierge

"A story of caregiving that made the whole family smile" by Shinji Fukushima, Hidewa System

Prepare your home so you can get back to normal life

With the advice of the care manager, we rearranged the house to make it more comfortable for my mother.

- To prevent recurrence of fractures, prefer beds over futons and chairs over cushions

Move the bedroom to the first floor

Eliminate steps

Place shelves in various places in the room to support you if you trip.

If you qualify as a care recipient under the long-term care insurance system as a level 1 to 5, you can receive up to 20 yen in home renovations. To apply, you need to submit a "Long-term care insurance home renovation subsidy application form," a "Statement of reasons why home renovations are necessary," "Documents and photos that show the completed state," and a "floor plan." I asked the care manager to complete all of these, and we installed handrails and removed the steps.

My mother was a good student at the hospital and devoted herself to her rehabilitation, and after three months in the hospital, she was walking briskly on her own without the need for a cane.

Key points of this nursing care

① When going out with elderly parents, take their health insurance card and medicine book with you.

② While your parents are still healthy, ask them about their medical history in detail and write it down.

3) Stay in touch with the social worker at the hospital via LINE or email

For a year I continued running without knowing if I was able to face my grief.

Next time will be the last time.

Rin Miyuki
Canossa Hospital Japanese Interpreter/Grief Care Advisor Level 2/Medical Aroma Instructor

Making use of her 30 years of experience living abroad, including in Hong Kong, and her language skills, she works as a medical interpreter at Canossa Hospital in Hong Kong, and is also a member of the team that runs the hospital's Japanese Care Line service, a free consultation service for medical issues. Her hobby is marathon running. She has written a book titled "I've Run Various Marathons Overseas!" (May 2019, Saizusha).

Please do not worry about anything alone, no matter how small it may be.
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