Caring for Grandma Mary
Donation protected
Hey, everyone, it’s me, Tyler Lloyd . I know you haven’t seen me in a while. I miss everyone so much. There’s a very good reason for that. I’m here in Wabash, Arkansas caring for my Grandma Mary who has dealt with several serious medical issues over the past year, including
(UPDATE) June 29th, 2017
This has been a really hard year. Grandma came home May 10th, 2017 after spending 5 months in ICU before and after having Spinal surgery. She had been in 2 different hospitals,3 different rehabilitation facility's.
Monday June 26th we returned to the hospirai. Grandma was suffering from more spinal breaks and a bad UTI. She is not able to return home. She has used all of her physical therapy for 2017. I was able to get her into Saint Vincent in Sherwood Arkansas. It is a rehabilitation hospital and is billed like a hospital visit. As you already know I will not leave her side. I will be with her every step of the way..
Because of your love and support I know my grandmother is the only reason grandma is still alive today. You have made it possible for me to be her caregiver, grandson and health care decision maker. I ask with so much gratitude and appreciation that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you can spare $20 know it is going to gas, food and any other cost we have while away from home. We have 4-6 weeks of intense therapy. She always does better when I am with her to push her. I will never give up on her because I love her and she never gave up on me.
· September 2015—surgery which complications caused her to have to go to rehabilitation therapy for mobility issues for two-and-a-half months
· January 2016—heart attack from which she is still recovering, coupled with lack of complete mobility from the previous hospitalization
If you’ve kept up with me on Facebook , you know what a difficult time she has had and how much she relies on me. Due to her health issues and age, I’m not able to leave her home by herself, and she requires round-the-clock care, so I’m Grandma’s primary caregiver since we cannot afford a paid nurse.
Though she does receive an income of $840 a month from a combination of Social Security and retirement benefits, this is barely enough to meet our needs, but still too much for us to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds or ElderChoices , an Arkansas-based Medicaid home and community-based waiver program. With ElderChoices, there is a limit to the number of seniors that qualify, and the program maxed out which excluded Grandma from enrolling the two times that we applied.
I am unable to work a regular job that takes me away from her for long periods of time and have had limited success finding employment that would allow me to work from home. Therefore, there is no ability to build an emergency fund or help out with needed expenses.
As you can imagine, she has multiple doctor’s appointments (anywhere from 1-2 a week, up to 6-8 a month). Since we live in rural Arkansas, most of her appointments require transportation anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes from home (usually, Helena, Forrest City or Memphis).
Those of you who know me well know that I don’t like not being able to take care of myself and Grandma, but sometimes I have to reach out to friends.
She relies on me as much as I rely on her.
Thanks for reading this. Whatever assistance you can provide today will be greatly appreciated by both of us.
(UPDATE) June 29th, 2017
This has been a really hard year. Grandma came home May 10th, 2017 after spending 5 months in ICU before and after having Spinal surgery. She had been in 2 different hospitals,3 different rehabilitation facility's.
Monday June 26th we returned to the hospirai. Grandma was suffering from more spinal breaks and a bad UTI. She is not able to return home. She has used all of her physical therapy for 2017. I was able to get her into Saint Vincent in Sherwood Arkansas. It is a rehabilitation hospital and is billed like a hospital visit. As you already know I will not leave her side. I will be with her every step of the way..
Because of your love and support I know my grandmother is the only reason grandma is still alive today. You have made it possible for me to be her caregiver, grandson and health care decision maker. I ask with so much gratitude and appreciation that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you can spare $20 know it is going to gas, food and any other cost we have while away from home. We have 4-6 weeks of intense therapy. She always does better when I am with her to push her. I will never give up on her because I love her and she never gave up on me.
· September 2015—surgery which complications caused her to have to go to rehabilitation therapy for mobility issues for two-and-a-half months
· January 2016—heart attack from which she is still recovering, coupled with lack of complete mobility from the previous hospitalization
If you’ve kept up with me on Facebook , you know what a difficult time she has had and how much she relies on me. Due to her health issues and age, I’m not able to leave her home by herself, and she requires round-the-clock care, so I’m Grandma’s primary caregiver since we cannot afford a paid nurse.
Though she does receive an income of $840 a month from a combination of Social Security and retirement benefits, this is barely enough to meet our needs, but still too much for us to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds or ElderChoices , an Arkansas-based Medicaid home and community-based waiver program. With ElderChoices, there is a limit to the number of seniors that qualify, and the program maxed out which excluded Grandma from enrolling the two times that we applied.
I am unable to work a regular job that takes me away from her for long periods of time and have had limited success finding employment that would allow me to work from home. Therefore, there is no ability to build an emergency fund or help out with needed expenses.
As you can imagine, she has multiple doctor’s appointments (anywhere from 1-2 a week, up to 6-8 a month). Since we live in rural Arkansas, most of her appointments require transportation anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes from home (usually, Helena, Forrest City or Memphis).
Those of you who know me well know that I don’t like not being able to take care of myself and Grandma, but sometimes I have to reach out to friends.
She relies on me as much as I rely on her.
Thanks for reading this. Whatever assistance you can provide today will be greatly appreciated by both of us.