For Those Seniors Living Alone

Ruthanne

Ruthanne

SF VIP
Location
Midwest
Do you have a plan for someone to help you if something bad happens? Please let me know, I am interested and my health is getting worse recently. Do you rely on someone or relative?

I recently have been sleeping a lot more than usual and am extremely tired much of the time. Coffee puts me to sleep. I am wondering if this could be Hepatic Encephalopathy. It is a symptom of the liver disease I have that I've had for at least 6 years. It's a progressive disease.

Anyhow, I could go into a coma in my sleep 😴. That's why I'm wondering what's next.

Thanks for any thoughts and ideas and your experience.
 

I'm very worried about you Ruthanne. Could you get a LifeAlert or similar system?

My son is a phone call or hour away. He said to call 911 before him if it is real bad, something I am dreading. Hours or even a day or so might pass if I were not able to call anyone.

I'm worried about you Ruthanne. I wish I could give you better advice. I just woke up a few minutes ago and still groggy and in sciatic pain.
 
Pepper said:
I'm very worried about you Ruthanne. Could you get a LifeAlert or similar system?

My son is a phone call or hour away. He said to call 911 before him if it is real bad, something I am dreading. Hours or even a day or so might pass if I were not able to call anyone.

I'm worried about you Ruthanne. I wish I could give you better advice. I just woke up a few minutes ago and still groggy and in sciatic pain.
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Thank you Pepper.
 

Oh Ruthanne - please see if you can get someone to make daily wellness calls to you. I haven't personally convinced my daughter to do this for me, but I keep trying. There are, I believe, some free services available that will do this, so check in your area. I definitely understand the fear that something will go suddenly, terribly wrong and no one will notice for days (or longer.) As for your health, please discuss this with your physician! Wishing you the best. Em
 
very very sorry to hear about your difficulties.

I can relate. I have very severe apnea. My pulmonologist said that my breathing stops once per minute when I sleep (I am not allowed to get CPAP). He said that I could die of heart attack or stroke any night. Been living like that for the last 10 years. Not fun.

My mother went into a nursing home about 3 years ago. Prior to that, my wife and I lived with her for 7 years. I had to check up on her every night, when she went to sleep. She would get into bad positions and breathe poorly. I had to wake her up and re-position her.

We did have a friend who went into a coma when he fell asleep. He did not survive. His medical issue was a blood sugar issue.

The only thing that makes sense to me, is that, you know, you really need someone to check up on you every single night.

Anything else, seems a dangerous risk.



take care
 
Em in Ohio said:
Oh Ruthanne - please see if you can get someone to make daily wellness calls to you. I haven't personally convinced my daughter to do this for me, but I keep trying. There are, I believe, some free services available that will do this, so check in your area. I definitely understand the fear that something will go suddenly, terribly wrong and no one will notice for days (or longer.) As for your health, please discuss this with your physician! Wishing you the best. Em
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Thanks Em... It's great to see you again! I like the idea of getting a personal wellness check daily and will look into that since I also have pets.
 
JonSR77 said:
very very sorry to hear about your difficulties.

I can relate. I have very severe apnea. My pulmonologist said that my breathing stops once per minute when I sleep (I am not allowed to get CPAP). He said that I could die of heart attack or stroke any night. Been living like that for the last 10 years. Not fun.

My mother went into a nursing home about 3 years ago. Prior to that, my wife and I lived with her for 7 years. I had to check up on her every night, when she went to sleep. She would get into bad positions and breathe poorly. I had to wake her up and re-position her.

We did have a friend who went into a coma when he fell asleep. He did not survive. His medical issue was a blood sugar issue.

The only thing that makes sense to me, is that, you know, you really need someone to check up on you every single night.

Anything else, seems a dangerous risk.



take care
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Thank you Jon. I'm sorry you have the same issue. It's nerve wrecking. Take care.
 
JonSR77 said:
At this point, 10 years in, I am numb to it. Once and awhile I get a thought about it, have a nice shiver of fear...and then try to move on.

I am very sorry you are experiencing this. When I was first diagnosed...the first few months were not fun, not at all.

do take care...
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I know what you mean. I didn't take good note of all the symptoms at first and I was doing better then so I tried to not think of what could happen at first. My symptoms have just started to come up more so with more serious ones so now I'm even afraid to go to sleep. Hopefully this too will pass. Thanks.
 
Ruthanne said:
I know what you mean. I didn't take good note of all the symptoms at first and I was doing better then so I tried to not think of what could happen at first. My symptoms have just started to come up more so with more serious ones so now I'm even afraid to go to sleep. Hopefully this too will pass. Thanks.
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I will say this...it really is amazing what we can survive. After my doctor said that, I really thought I only had a couple of years left. Still here after 10 years. Go figure. It is just kind of crazy how it all works.
 
Ruthanne said:
I'm glad you're still here! Hopefully I will prevail, too, through some of this.💥✨🌟⭐
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Listen, it is not like sometimes, I just don't, you know, have tears. I do. Sad for me. Worry for my wife. Don't want to pass before my mom. She has dementia. You know, I think I am going to call my brother...and tell him, that if I do pass, not to mention it to her. With the dementia, she won't remember enough...so at least she can live without knowing that.
 
JonSR77 said:
Listen, it is not like sometimes, I just don't, you know, have tears. I do. Sad for me. Worry for my wife. Don't want to pass before my mom. She has dementia. You know, I think I am going to call my brother...and tell him, that if I do pass, not to mention it to her. With the dementia, she won't remember enough...so at least she can live without knowing that.
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I can certainly understand that. I worry for my pet family so I know what that's like--keeps me awake many a night.
 
Ruthanne said:
I can certainly understand that. I worry for my pet family so I know what that's like--keeps me awake many a night.
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Yes, now that I have a dog in addition to my four parakeets, that is a major concern. One thing that I did was to write out care instructions for my pets. They are attached to the bird cage and the bulk dry dog food container. Also, I told my daughter not to blame the dog if it chews on my dead body for lack of the customary two meals a day. Again - this is why having someone establish contact with you every day is so important. You have motivated me to really work on getting SOMEONE to give me a daily call!
 
First, I'd see another doctor. Dr. Ruthanne's specialty is not Hepatic Encephalopathy.
All these "alert" devices require that you are aware enough to press some button. Well, if you can do that, you can dial 911. I had a device with a" fall" feature. Well, I was on the floor, and the damn thing never went off. Most of the devices have very short battery lives. That's what happened to me, The battery was dead. And why do you need to tell someone in Omaha to call the EMS down the street?
I have a phone in every room, and I keep my cell on me at all times. "Siri" can call for help.
As far as being comatose, unless you have live-in help, you're on your own.
 
Em in Ohio said:
Yes, now that I have a dog in addition to my four parakeets, that is a major concern. One thing that I did was to write out care instructions for my pets. They are attached to the bird cage and the bulk dry dog food container. Also, I told my daughter not to blame the dog if it chews on my dead body for lack of the customary two meals a day. Again - this is why having someone establish contact with you every day is so important. You have motivated me to really work on getting SOMEONE to give me a daily call!
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You've touched on something I have feared. I don't have a hungry dog, but I worry about passing away, and not being found for a while. I think that will lower the selling price of my home, and decrease the amount of inheritance I leave,
 
No solutions here, but I have similar concerns.

Maybe it's time to start looking at an independent or assisted living facility where there are people to help in the event of an emergency.

As others have said, talk to your PCP about providing documentation of disability, in-home care options as well as different housing options in your area.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
You've touched on something I have feared. I don't have a hungry dog, but I worry about passing away, and not being found for a while. I think that will lower the selling price of my home, and decrease the amount of inheritance I leave,
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I agree with something that I believe you said elsewhere about always carrying your cell phone. I have been looking for a very basic phone for my ex to carry (flip phone) while he is outdoors or driving... or, on his person in the house too! He's a no-tech guy, but he is definitely at the stage where he might need medical help immediately. I have a Lively Jitterbug 2 that has an Alexa app and other options for medical emergencies. Unfortunately, it's probably too "high tech" for him. But any phone with a shortcut to call 911 is probably an economical idea for most of us. I'm glad you mentioned this!
 
JonSR77 said:
very very sorry to hear about your difficulties.

I can relate. I have very severe apnea. My pulmonologist said that my breathing stops once per minute when I sleep (I am not allowed to get CPAP). He said that I could die of heart attack or stroke any night. Been living like that for the last 10 years. Not fun.

My mother went into a nursing home about 3 years ago. Prior to that, my wife and I lived with her for 7 years. I had to check up on her every night, when she went to sleep. She would get into bad positions and breathe poorly. I had to wake her up and re-position her.

We did have a friend who went into a coma when he fell asleep. He did not survive. His medical issue was a blood sugar issue.

The only thing that makes sense to me, is that, you know, you really need someone to check up on you every single night.

Anything else, seems a dangerous risk.



take care
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Why can't you get CPAP? It's a main treatment for sleep apnea. I was having 18 breath stops an hour before i got on one.
 
Ruthanne said:
Do you have a plan for someone to help you if something bad happens? Please let me know, I am interested and my health is getting worse recently. Do you rely on someone or relative?

I recently have been sleeping a lot more than usual and am extremely tired much of the time. Coffee puts me to sleep. I am wondering if this could be Hepatic Encephalopathy. It is a symptom of the liver disease I have that I've had for at least 6 years. It's a progressive disease.

Anyhow, I could go into a coma in my sleep 😴. That's why I'm wondering what's next.

Thanks for any thoughts and ideas and your experience.
Click to expand...
I really feel for your concerns, Ruthanne.
Many good suggestions from our caring members.
I hope you're able to do something, to ease yourself......i know being alone, is not easy, to say it mildly, maybe the time has come when you're of need of help.....even if it's a wellness check daily, i'm sure that for starters would be very settling.....and of course you have your pet family to care for and consider.....i hope you'll be able to make a decision soon that would be the best to you and your little family.
You are very cared for from everyone here.💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
 


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