My husband is coming home!

judiz

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Happy to report that the doctors expect to release my husband from the hospital the first week of January. He is still ill but no longer a danger to himself. His depression has lessened due to ECT but anxiety is still high. Doctor is optimistic medicine will take full effect before he is released. Meeting with doctors next week to go over discharge planning including out patient care and home care needs.

In all honesty I am very nervous about him coming home still so anxious.
 
Happy to report that the doctors expect to release my husband from the hospital the first week of January. He is still ill but no longer a danger to himself. His depression has lessened due to ECT but anxiety is still high. Doctor is optimistic medicine will take full effect before he is released. Meeting with doctors next week to go over discharge planning including out patient care and home care needs.

In all honesty I am very nervous about him coming home still so anxious.

Hoping for the best for you and for him. :)
 
I know the feeling. I thought it was hard trekking to hospitals every day, but it was sooooo much harder when my husband came home. It did get better, but it took time. Believe me, you are in my prayers, @judiz.

One of the first things I did was to hire an aide from his rehab hospital to give me 7-8 hours of respite per week, on the strong advice of my sister, who raised a daughter with autism and several other major disabilities. She wanted me to have more like 20 hrs a week, but I refused to raid our savings. But the little bit I had for about 6 weeks saved my sanity. A lot of health care aides work side jobs (they aren't paid much) and if the first one you ask isn't available, chance are s/he will know someone who is. I paid $15/hour. You can also hire them through agencies (the hospital can give you some names) for $16-20/hr in my area (n. NJ). Oh, and they don't do very much -- they are too tired. Hubby didn't like his aide much either. But she was pretty good and I will always be grateful to her for being there in that awful period when he was falling twice a week and couldn't get up.

Also, I think I have mentioned before how helpful a closed FB support group was for me. That was the other big thing that helped me. That, and my many pets. God be with you!
 
Hoping for a transition that is as smooth as possible for you and your husband, judiz. Continuing to hope that you both see substantial changes in his anxiety levels.
 
Judiz, this sounds like good news to me. Of course it is natural to feel nervous about it. I hope everything works out for both of you. All the best.
 
Judiz, I hope that your husband's return home goes well, and that the new year begins well for you both.

BTW, is the doggie in your Avator your doggie?
 
(((judiz)))) Glad the doctors have gotten your husband well enough that he can come home. I absolutely second the recommendation for respite support for several hours a week, and any kind of support group. Wishing you strength and patience.
 
Yes, that is my black lab Hamilton, we rescued him in 2011 when he was four years old. Poor thing had spent half his life being bounced from shelter to shelter.

I hope he will bring your husband (and you too) some comfort and joy on his return home - dogs have a way of doing that.:)
 
Judiz -- sending lot of good thoughts for you and your husband. I hope the medication helps him find a better normal.

Do you have family or friends IRL to be with over the holidays?
 
Thank you everyone. I am waiting to hear from a home care agency on Monday to see if they have anyone with experience working with someone with a mental illness. The doctor told my husband it would be 3 more weeks until he feels the maximum benefit from the medication.

As for me, we do not celebrate Christmas so I am going to follow our usual tradition, a movie on Christmas Day followed by Chinese food with my brother and his wife. I made an appointment to speak to a therapist for myself next week.
 
JUDIZ... sending you thoughts and prayers for both courage and strength. What you are facing has got to be terrifying. It may go smoothly and it may be rough. The not knowing what may keep you in an alert status that is draining mentally and physically. I hope you will find a fabulous professional who can come and help. Someone for you to have for reality checks and support for you as well as your husband. Please keep us posted when you can. And Spun Silver's idea for a support group is a solid one.
 
He had a really bad day today. He's worried the medicines are not working and he's worried how he would be when he comes home. He told me today he felt like hurting himself. The on call doctor didn't seem too concerned. I think the doctor is chalking this up to being hospitalized since November 19th.
 
He had a really bad day today. He's worried the medicines are not working and he's worried how he would be when he comes home. He told me today he felt like hurting himself. The on call doctor didn't seem too concerned. I think the doctor is chalking this up to being hospitalized since November 19th.
That sounds like a second string holiday-weekend doctor to me. Do you have a good doctor at home he can see? Does this give you second thoughts about his coming home?
 
That sounds like a second string holiday-weekend doctor to me. Do you have a good doctor at home he can see? Does this give you second thoughts about his coming home?

He doesn't have a doctor he can see at home, the psychiatrist he was seeing when he was hospitalized dropped him as a patient. The psychiatrist at the hospital said he would set my husband up with a full time out patient program and they would set him up with a psychiatrist once he is ready to be discharged from outpatient care.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried.
 
Judiz, I hope they do find an outpatient program for you, a good one that your insurance covers. FWIW, when my hubby was ready to be discharged from Mt Sinai in NYC, to our home in NJ, I had to do my own post planning because they didn't know NJ. The discharge planning at his next rehab was also ridiculous. I figured it all out myself. The only useful social workers were at his first hospital, Roosevelt. (He was at three in all, a month in each, then in-home care for a month, then outpatient rehab and doctors. Our insurance covered all that: ICU, acute rehab, subacute rehab, home care, and outpatient care.)

If they don't come up with something you like, they can at least explain to you what types of programs exist and what your insurance will cover. (You could find out all that yourself but they know it by heart and can save you the trouble. You need all the help you can get!) Once you know exactly what you are looking for, it is not that hard to find lists and go check them out or get recommendations. The closed FB support group I keep mentioning had members with lots of helpful experience to share. A local support group also put me in touch with someone whose husband had had an injury very similar to my husband's - she gave me some very helpful advice and info. Sometimes, often even, an experienced caregiver is more helpful than an average social worker.

About psychiatrists, everyone in my FB support group stresses the importance of finding one with expertise in TBI -- in your case, it would be expertise in your husband's specific illness. To some extent you can find that out on the internet if you can't get a personal recommendation. I asked three different people in NJ, two doctors and a caregiver, to recommend a psychiatrist with TBI expertise, and all three independently recommended the same guy -- in NYC. That is how specialized it gets. We ended up not using a psychiatrist though.

Please excuse me if I am telling you things you already know. I just remember how overwhelmed and alone I was with all these decisions. Feel free to PM me if I can be of any help. God be with you!
 
UPDATE: He is being released on Tuesday after being hospitalized since November 19th. I'm talking Tuesday and Wednesday off so I can bring him home and get him settled. I hired home care to be with him after Wednesday. I will hear from the doctor on Monday as to when my husband will start outpatient care. The home care will drive him to and from therapy, sit with him at home and drive him anyplace he wants. Once he feels confident enough to drive himself and stay home alone, we can discontinue the home care.
 

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