Home Health to Palliative Care

The night we returned from the hospital, my brother flew in from South Carolina. I've never been so happy to see him. I was depleted from the hospital experience and needed a break. I was so scared for my parents to be on their own at home, and having my brother there was priceless.

Before we had left the hospital, we had arranged for Home Health visits provided through his insurance company. He had two visits each from a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. They were helpful and gave us some tips and things to buy to make care at home easier. Some of the most valuable tips were transition times (pausing from laying down to sitting, pausing again from sitting to standing), adding a triangle bar above his hospital bed, and some bathroom aides. 

My brother and I were hell bent on getting him stronger. Hand weights in bed and walks with the walker in the neighborhood. My brother was able to stay for three weeks which was truly a gift from God. My husband and I had planned a trip to Hawaii for my 40th birthday before my Dad got sick. There was no way we could have gone if my brother wasn't staying with our parents.

My brother helped my parents figure out his catheter bag, he helped coordinate home health appointments, he went shopping for them, cooked for them, took him to his immunotherapy appointment, etc. We had a meeting with Home Health to discuss if my Dad wants a Home Hospice team or a Palliative Care team. He wanted Palliative Care - he planned to fight.