More good news!
We attended a staffing on John yesterday and he will be heading home on Friday!
He’s continued to stabilize and has been basically back to his old self for about a week now I think, so he’s ready to get outta there.
Of course we’re concerned about any follow-up “care” with his program Terros, who has messed up in almost every single way they can with him. Both my husband and I let the “case manager” (yes I put this in quotes because there is very little management going on and what happens is mostly mismanagement) exactly what we thought. Words like “I’m a Psychologist and appalled” and “step aside Allison, you are not telling the truth” were uttered.
I was furious at how she tried blaming John AND my Dad for her failure in her job. She claimed John wasn’t showing up for appointments and not answering his phone, therefore that’s how his meds got messed up. Um, if you have a patient in the program that was disconnected and unreachable, you just leave them out there dangling for months? Their office is in the same town that John lives in–about a 15 min. drive in traffic. That’s if what she said was true, which I don’t believe. She’s backpedaling, poorly.
She claimed my Dad told her that day she came out during the crisis and did a sum total of nothing, that John had been off his meds since June or July. That is a bald faced lie. I was on the phone with my Dad the whole time she was there, and the opposite–he reviewed with her the meds John was taking–including two psychotropics prescribed by their rotating, inconsistent cycle of Psychiatrists– and noted the main one needed was not included in his regime. We will never know how/when/why that got dropped off, but a clinician blaming the patient AND his father is unconscionable. Trust me, if my brother had been off all of his meds for eight months, there would have been a crisis point hit long before.
I’m a typical Scorpio. I hate liars.
I let her know that John wasn’t stable for nearly 8 full years by being non-compliant with his meds as she claimed, and that somehow he was making it to all of his other programs–the ones that were open during the pandemic–seamlessly, but only seemed to be “missing” appointments at their office? Bull. When my brother is plugged in to a routine, you can set a watch by him. He will be there and be on time. And he takes his meds daily. They just messed up which ones he was to be taking. When I say they, I’m really referring to the inept case (mis)manager specifically.
Still, even if you take her on face value, it’s pure negligence. I just can’t wait to get him unplugged from that dysfunctional system (if you can call it that too). It’s just pure chaos there. Trust me, there will be reports filed once we get John fully disconnected.
BUT we have to rely on them to fill John’s meds in the immediate (meaning for this weekend after he’s discharged), and the interim time, before we can move them here, as well as necessary bloodwork he needs. He can’t get his meds without the blood draws and we are the mercy of that nitwit to schedule those lab appointments. We are approaching it assuming she will screw it up, so trying to cover as many bases as we can with the excellent social worker at the hospital, before he’s thrown in to that abyss again.
Do I sound bitter? More like exhausted and having zero f*cks left to give over those people, who count on their mentally ill people to not be advocated for by family or other people who care about them, so they can bring in the revenue off their illness while failing to provide services. Most reviews on Glassdoor/Indeed by former employees state that and I believe them 100% by my own experience.
Here is one example:
1.0HorribleCase Manager (Former Employee) – Tempe, AZ – May 7, 2020Terros management at priest is terrible and it all starts with the ceo and trickles down. The company only cares about money and it shows in all aspects. Clients suffer and so do employees. You will burn out within a month on the job and there will be no support or help. There is literally not one good thing about this company. Clients and prospective employees should find a company with morals
Anyway, that’s my John update. It’s looking up in spite of my rant right there. I just had to get that out.
My sleeping issues persist (God I got less than two hours sleep last night–it’s really pretty maddening). If I sound cranky, that’s why. I was able to get a referral to a sleep specialist near me in a couple weeks which should be interesting. I gotta do something here–this is ridiculous.
And we’re still not sure if the Continuing Care Community will accept our family here yet, but we’re exploring other options as well. We will get them here one way or another. There will be a place for them to belong and be near us, even if it isn’t what we originally thought.
Ok, gonna head back to bed here to see if I can catch a few more Zzzzzz’s.
Have a great Wednesday out there.
two innocents 
I’m happy to read that John is doing well and will be home in a few more days. Sad to say I have no helpful suggestions about how to get sleep. It has eluded me for most of my life. I hope the sleep consultation brings you some truly helpful ideas. My best to all of you.💕
Hanging in there with you Kath…there is more light now down the road. Keep visualizing exactly what you want and feeling the gratitude as if it has already taken place.
Sounds like you know exactly what you are doing and glad you got to voice your concerns to say it mildly. Not sure how it works there and what pharmacy they get the medications from? But the statement….We will never know how/when/why that got dropped off? You can request monthly summaries of all his prescribed medications to see when filled or not to maybe narrow it down to when and who… if I am following you correctly. So the pharmacy can be linked to that program and try to cover up any discrepancies but you should be able to figure it out. It is kinda like being a detective in many ways and you know you are dam good at that! We see this a lot in nursing it is called medication reconciliation-usually things go wrong when someone gets transferred from one facility to the next. Drugs get missed, dosages changed and never passed on to next facility…you always got to stay on top of everything. But the case manager does not prescribe the meds the Psychiatrists does but maybe you are implying she(case manager) should of caught it?
It is exactly right that many mentally ill people are not advocated for…when my Dad was in a program-I was his representative payee for banking and handled his bills to the pharmacy and group home etc… They(program) told me we don’t have anyone else that does that-the “program” usually just gets his Social Security/pension money directly and they handle it. I said that’s OK-send me the bills and I will write out a check on his behalf. That way I could see what was going on. So they had to call me each time he needed anything, which was fine with me. Not sure about out there but in PA we have a Ombudsman Program-just google it they can be VERY helpful at times and are federally mandated.
As far as sleep…I would stay of the expired Ambien and try Melatonin 3mg to 5mg but make sure just Melatonin and no other additives. Take it after dinner and it will calm the thought process down to let you ease into a restful sleep by 10pm…hopefully. I forgot to mention I am also a night-shift worker…
Thanks for the update…there will be a place..hoping for a much happier place. All the best!
Yeah, I do know this territory. I don’t know if you’ve read this but I”m a retired Psychiatric RN (with a pushy personality when needed). My last two nursing jobs were as case managers. Trust me when I say, this program is scary dysfunctional. When I said “dropped off” I meant dropped off his radar. He had plenty of meds, he just wasn’t taking the correct ones for some reason, and he doesn’t just do that. They basically have minimal jobs as case managers (most of which they don’t do), but making sure their clients are taking their meds appropriately is way at the top. Last hospitalization, I had to get our mental health attorney involved to just make this program do their job. It’s awful and the records, as the current Dr. in the hospital described are ‘swiss cheese”. It’s not really a matter of digging at this point, but of managing them to not do harm to him as we transition him out here. More harm I should say. Yeah on the sleep, I’ve been dealing with this with my Holistic NP (my primary) since last summer. How I wish simple melatonin would have helped. We’ve gone down every road supplement-wise, OTC wise and the current script which is doing nothing. I don’t know why my brain is doing this as it’s never done it before, but I’m determined to get it sorted out.
Oh wow Ok…had no idea that part of your background must of missed that over the years…sorry. Glad to hear that though…you know way more then I can ever offer. Hope you get the sleep issues and brain figured out-which I am sure you will. Take it easy …thinking of you and respect and admire your fighting spirit to hold people accountable when need be.
I’m exhausted just reading this, Kathy! You are a pitbull (they grab on and don’t let go) and a person after my own heart. I’ve referred to myself as “your friendly neighborhood pitbull” on occasion. You are doing a wonderful job advocating for John’s needs. I hope you can get your Dad and John moved ASAP.
SLEEP! My husband and I both have issues. We approach it a little differently. He has things he rotates like melatonin, valerian, Ambien and another Rx I can’t remember. None of the natural things work for me. I have used 5 mg Ambien for years, but I take time off or skip nights because I don’t want to depend on it. I’ve never had a problem with sleep-walking on Ambien as some do and it doesn’t leave me drowsy in the morning. Currently, I take 1200 mg Gabapentin every night for restless legs (off label) and sometimes that’s enough. Occasionally I’ll use Xanax if I feel anxious or cranky before bed and it seems to work better than Ambien at those times. Everyone is different, so I’m just throwing this out there in case something helps. Sleep is so important to our well-being that I hope you get some help at the sleep clinic. Just know that it’s often trial and error.
I had the strangest thing happen regarding sleep recently. Covid managed to find my husband and me (despite being super careful) and I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia for 6 days. (All is well) Since Ambien is on my drug list, they gave it to me every night which was fine by me, as hospitals can be awful for sleep. But when I got home, I stopped taking it in order to take a break. For two weeks I slept a full 8 hours without even waking up to pee! I was thrilled, but of course it didn’t last. My husband and I have given up on going to bed at a “reasonable” hour and usually stay up until 1:30-2:00 and sleep until late morning. Of course we are “elderly” at 76 and 75, so we don’t have to be anywhere in the morning. 😊
Hugs!
Lilibet
Thank you for sharing all of this Lillibet. I am so ready for getting good sleep again on a regular basis–my whole life revolves around it now. I did dream last night–weird dreams, but still!