Day 19 - D-Day (Discharge Day)
Its 07:10... I had an excellent night's sleep, thanks to ambien... slept right through any karoke-ing and roosters crowing. I should have thought about using the stuff more regularly.
Today is the big day. Jojo and Tess should be here around 11:00 (at which point I'll have checked-out from the hotel) and we'll go to the hospital to get mom discharged.
I have everything ready. I got her scripts filled for a one month's supply: $250+ out-of-pocket for just the orals (thorazine, epival, and seroquel.) Not bad when you think about how much it could be in the US. Everything here in the Philippines is a cash-only basis. Medicare doesn't cover healthcare costs outside of the US. Ironically, its cheaper to pay for her care on a cash-only basis here in the Philippines than to have her treated in the US under Medicare.
The doctor started her on Risperdal... a long-lasting injection that is administered every 2+ weeks. This drug is not available in Cabanatuan, so I cut a deal with the doctor and the med rep (thanks Janssen Pharmaceuticals) and purchased the drug in bulk. She'll have enough to last her for the next 3 months...another good deal. Only cost me $500. This morning, I have to run around and search for a cooler and some ice... the drug needs to be refrigerated for the 4-hour trip back to the province. Once back in Cabanatuan, the drug will be refrigerated at home, and then provided to the new doc for each scheduled injection. (Luckily one of mom's compulsive purchases was a full-sized refrigerator which she keeps in her bedroom. Yes, weird, but its actually coming in handy.)
Once we get to the hospital, it will be a race between buildings... go to the doctor's office and pay off the remaining professional fees and cost for the Risperdal. Afterwards, off to the accounting office to pay off the hospital. Then, we can go to the Community Center to have mom discharged.
So within the span of a couple of hours, I'll have dropped somewhere around $1K. All things considered... not bad. I keep it in perspective. She's worth it. Plus, the same cost of care in the US would have been astronomical. I guess my grad degree in healthcare policy is paying off.
_______________________________
Mom was in good spirits for yesterday's visit. She had accumulated a lot of clothes and sundries during her admission to the hospital, so I brought my prized Victorinox gym bag for her to use in packing her goods. She fell in love with the bag and asked if she should keep it... I paused... then said, "sure.... the shoulder strap is in the hotel... I'll bring it tomorrow."
(For those who know me closely, I go through my own purchasing fixations... shoes, electronics, stuff... The bag was one of those fixations. At some point in the past year, I HAD to have the Victorinox gym bag; no other gym bag could compare to it. So, you could imagine how I hesitated to give it to her... but I quickly got over myself ;-) It was worth seeing her smile, and I can easily get a gym bag on eBay.)
We were all smiles and laughs on this visit. I asked her if she would mind if I went to Boracay on my last week in the Philippines. I told her that I needed to go relax somewhere. She said it was ok, and actually asked one of the “bakla” (gay) male nurses if he wanted to go swimming with me at the beach. I think that was her schizophrenic way of setting me up and making sure I was happy. The nurse and I just looked at each other, shook our heads and rolled our eyes… we both knew that she meant well.
The BIGGEST surprise of this visit: my mom asked me how my dad was doing. Was he married? Is he ok?
My jaw dropped, but I kept my game face.
(In March of 1983 (I remember it was the night after Palm Sunday) in the early hours of the morning, my mom stabbed my dad in his sleep. She was psychotic. I was only 9 years old. I was in the next room and heard everything. He was able to force her out of her bedroom, lock the door, and call the police.
I remember him screaming. I remember me screaming. I remember the sounds of the ruckus and fighting and then a slamming of the door. Then silence.
I emerged from my bedroom and saw my mom in the hallway leaning against the wall in her pink robe with arms crossed in front of her, looking down at the floor. She asked me to go to the kitchen to get her a Coke.
The rest is a blur of police, paramedics, an ambulance, flashing lights. Lots of activity in our house. I don’t know exactly what I did… I must have just watched it all like a movie. I think that I remember crying, trying to sort out what had happened… but at the same time, I knew what she had done.
Funny… even as a 9 year old, I knew that my mom was crazy.)
I told my mom that he was doing very well… still living in the same house in Bensalem. Not married. Doing very well.
“I’ll let him know that you asked about him. He gave me money for this trip because he still cares about you and your welfare. He wants to make sure that you’re ok.”
I could see her taking the information and processing it.
She always ended our visits the same way. She’d look at my watch and ask me, “what time is it?” I’d tell her the time.
“Ok, you better go now so you can.”
It was always something different. I don’t remember what it was this time. How funny.
She walked me to the doors.
I gave her a kiss and a hug, and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Today is the big day. Jojo and Tess should be here around 11:00 (at which point I'll have checked-out from the hotel) and we'll go to the hospital to get mom discharged.
I have everything ready. I got her scripts filled for a one month's supply: $250+ out-of-pocket for just the orals (thorazine, epival, and seroquel.) Not bad when you think about how much it could be in the US. Everything here in the Philippines is a cash-only basis. Medicare doesn't cover healthcare costs outside of the US. Ironically, its cheaper to pay for her care on a cash-only basis here in the Philippines than to have her treated in the US under Medicare.
The doctor started her on Risperdal... a long-lasting injection that is administered every 2+ weeks. This drug is not available in Cabanatuan, so I cut a deal with the doctor and the med rep (thanks Janssen Pharmaceuticals) and purchased the drug in bulk. She'll have enough to last her for the next 3 months...another good deal. Only cost me $500. This morning, I have to run around and search for a cooler and some ice... the drug needs to be refrigerated for the 4-hour trip back to the province. Once back in Cabanatuan, the drug will be refrigerated at home, and then provided to the new doc for each scheduled injection. (Luckily one of mom's compulsive purchases was a full-sized refrigerator which she keeps in her bedroom. Yes, weird, but its actually coming in handy.)
Once we get to the hospital, it will be a race between buildings... go to the doctor's office and pay off the remaining professional fees and cost for the Risperdal. Afterwards, off to the accounting office to pay off the hospital. Then, we can go to the Community Center to have mom discharged.
So within the span of a couple of hours, I'll have dropped somewhere around $1K. All things considered... not bad. I keep it in perspective. She's worth it. Plus, the same cost of care in the US would have been astronomical. I guess my grad degree in healthcare policy is paying off.
_______________________________
Mom was in good spirits for yesterday's visit. She had accumulated a lot of clothes and sundries during her admission to the hospital, so I brought my prized Victorinox gym bag for her to use in packing her goods. She fell in love with the bag and asked if she should keep it... I paused... then said, "sure.... the shoulder strap is in the hotel... I'll bring it tomorrow."
(For those who know me closely, I go through my own purchasing fixations... shoes, electronics, stuff... The bag was one of those fixations. At some point in the past year, I HAD to have the Victorinox gym bag; no other gym bag could compare to it. So, you could imagine how I hesitated to give it to her... but I quickly got over myself ;-) It was worth seeing her smile, and I can easily get a gym bag on eBay.)
We were all smiles and laughs on this visit. I asked her if she would mind if I went to Boracay on my last week in the Philippines. I told her that I needed to go relax somewhere. She said it was ok, and actually asked one of the “bakla” (gay) male nurses if he wanted to go swimming with me at the beach. I think that was her schizophrenic way of setting me up and making sure I was happy. The nurse and I just looked at each other, shook our heads and rolled our eyes… we both knew that she meant well.
The BIGGEST surprise of this visit: my mom asked me how my dad was doing. Was he married? Is he ok?
My jaw dropped, but I kept my game face.
(In March of 1983 (I remember it was the night after Palm Sunday) in the early hours of the morning, my mom stabbed my dad in his sleep. She was psychotic. I was only 9 years old. I was in the next room and heard everything. He was able to force her out of her bedroom, lock the door, and call the police.
I remember him screaming. I remember me screaming. I remember the sounds of the ruckus and fighting and then a slamming of the door. Then silence.
I emerged from my bedroom and saw my mom in the hallway leaning against the wall in her pink robe with arms crossed in front of her, looking down at the floor. She asked me to go to the kitchen to get her a Coke.
The rest is a blur of police, paramedics, an ambulance, flashing lights. Lots of activity in our house. I don’t know exactly what I did… I must have just watched it all like a movie. I think that I remember crying, trying to sort out what had happened… but at the same time, I knew what she had done.
Funny… even as a 9 year old, I knew that my mom was crazy.)
I told my mom that he was doing very well… still living in the same house in Bensalem. Not married. Doing very well.
“I’ll let him know that you asked about him. He gave me money for this trip because he still cares about you and your welfare. He wants to make sure that you’re ok.”
I could see her taking the information and processing it.
She always ended our visits the same way. She’d look at my watch and ask me, “what time is it?” I’d tell her the time.
“Ok, you better go now so you can
It was always something different. I don’t remember what it was this time. How funny.
She walked me to the doors.
I gave her a kiss and a hug, and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
posted by YodaBeesh at
9:48 PM
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