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If you ever need inpatient physical therapy I’d like to give you a tip.

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    If you ever need inpatient physical therapy I’d like to give you a tip.

    My wife(who has MS) had surgery on her pelvic area and after six days in the hospital they released her to impatient therapy. They named a couple of places which I rejected and then suggested ACTS/Evergreens which is a very expensive CCRC facility but accepts short term rehabilitation patients who have insurance which in our case was straight Medicare and a supplement. I cannot praise the place enough. A large private room, individually controlled thermostat, excellent food but most importantly excellent physical therapist, nurses and aides all in a spotless environment. Our Medicare and supplement paid the entire bill for the 60 days Ang was with them.

    I learned you do not have to accept what the hospital or insurance companies recommend.

    Maybe you guys know about this but we didn’t.

    #2
    That is wonderful that you found such a terrific facility. I guess the very wealthy can buy themselves a nice ride to the end.

    My mom broke her pelvis and they put her in a rehab place where she was miserable. So my sister researched and found a facility like the one your wife went to.

    I knew that Medicare will pay for six weeks in a skilled nursing facility. What was new to me was that these elite facilities exist. I always thought nursing homes were like death camps. They are filthy and not pleasant places.

    I am recovering from a back fracture. The hospital was pressuring me to go to rehab but I don’t think there is anything decent in my area. May i ask where your wife went?

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      #3
      palmtree,
      I am sorry you are facing all these challenges. I am hoping things reverse for you and you have some good years ahead of you. You really do deserve it.

      My wife was in an”ACTS” community, Acts/Evergreens in New Jersey. ACTS has communities in New York,New Jersey,Delaware,Maryland,North and South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. There are close to 2000 CCRC communities in the US. What state are you in palmtree? If there is a CCRC community
      in your state and is close enough to you( by that I am thinking two or three hours away) I urge you to accept rehab, in a CCRC if possible but if not available check out other facilities It did wonders for my wife. When the ambulance took my wife to the hospital she could neither stand or walk.After the operation on her pelvic area she could barely eat or move. The hospital transported her to the Evergreens and the very next day they had her sitting on the edge of her bed a week later they had her doing light exercises. She was in the Evergreens for 60 days and when she left she walked out with a walker to our car. She now has had in home PT for six weeks which will end this week and now uses a rollator to walk and will be shifting to a cane and will graduate to outpatient PT for as long as she needs it.

      Straight Medicare with a supplement allows 90 days of PT 60 of which are paid in full. After 60 days they would pay everything except $323.00 a day. We and Most people leave after 60 days. They pay in full for home care and will pay completely for outpatient therapy.Advantage plans and HMOs are different and I don’t know anything about them.

      palmtree, you deserve the best healthcare available. It is out there, take advantage of it, the social worker at the hospital might be able to help you locate a decent place. If you belong to a church ask the pastor to help you. We all need help at sometime in our lives. You can pay it forward when you recover.






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        #4
        Thanks for the tip. There are so many good things in the coastal communities. I left because housing prices had become impossible for me.

        I am now experiencing some of the deprivation of Middle America.

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          #5
          Originally posted by robert152 View Post
          ...a very expensive CCRC facility but accepts short term rehabilitation patients who have insurance which in our case was straight Medicare and a supplement. I cannot praise the place enough....I learned you do not have to accept what the hospital or insurance companies recommend.

          Hi Robert,

          Thank you for the uplifting post. There isn't anything better than seeing knowledgeable personal with compassion doing something they love to do. I benefited from knowing such a person. And as she often would remind me, I'm the one who must make the effort. Your wife is a trooper and you are a worthy support.

          And thanks too, for sharing the "nuts & bolts" information regarding the many services at various Life communities (CCRC).

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            #6
            502E79, thank you for the kind words.

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              #7
              Hi Robert. I am living in the state of Montana. Good medical care can be found here but it’s not easy. If you know how to vet these CCRCs maybe you can find me a good one in Montana.

              Right now, to update everyone on this spine fracture, I only have a few more weeks until my crucial appointment where they do an x-ray and I see the neurosurgeon. If she clears me maybe I can take off the brace and start PT. The Home Health PT that came to my home was very knowledgeable. She told me no crunches, no stretching and in general to call on her when the vertebrae have healed and she will work with me.

              Needless to say, these fractures are very painful. It’s the price I am paying for bending over a drafting board for 15 years when I was working as an architect and all the steroids they gave me to try to control my MS.

              The scary thing in the back of my mind is, will I still be able to walk after being in a hospital bed for 3 months? When I get up now my legs don’t feel solid. I am hoping it is only because of atrophy. The scary part is, a PT told me there could be spinal cord impingement. I am wondering if they can tell whether my loss of leg function is MS or spinal cord impingement.

              lots of questions for the experts. Thank you, Robert for your kind words.




              Comment


                #8
                Hello palmtree,
                I wouldn’t presume to know how to vet CCRCs I just feel based on our experience you would do better being in a CCRC then the run of the mill rehab facilities. I checked in Montana and there a quite a few CCRCs. I think a a lot of them are owned by the same company. Here’s a partial list.

                Helena eagjes manor 800 991 9257/sunset capital apartments 800 991 9257

                Butte marquis butte assisted living 800 991 9257

                Billings mission ridge 800 991 9257(see what I mean about being owned by one company?)
                st johns Lutheran home 406 655 5600/ west park village 800 991 9257/sage tower retirement 800 991 9257


                missoula the springs at Missoula 800 991 9257/ the village senior residence 800 991 9257

                Great Falls benefits senior services 406 655 5903/ Faith Lutheran point 406 653 1400

                Kalispell immanuel skilled care 406 752 9622

                Stevensville the living center 406 777 5411

                I would encourage you to have inpatient Pt for as long as your insurance will pay for it, then in home Pt and finally graduate to out patient therapy.

                I feel your concerns about walking again. Three months in bed is a very long time. Ang was in bed six days in the hospital and another four or five days in rehab sitting on the edge of her bed doing body twisting and arm strength exercisesbefore they had her standing and the first time her legs collapsed. The therapist explained that her leg muscles went to sleep and had to be awakened again( take all the pt you can get).. it took another week before she could take even ten steps. The therapists had her doing different leg exercises including walking sideways and backwards.She was inpatient therapy for sixty days and most of it was walking exercises, then in home therapy again walking exercises and starting this Wednesday outpatient therapy and again the recommended therapy is walking. I encourage you to not expect to much for a few weeks but if you keep telling yourself you will walk again and dedicate yourself to the hard work of making it happen, it will happen.

                palmtree, I suggest you have several conversations with the hospital social worker who will check your insurance to see what assistive devices you are entitled to, what and how much therapy you can have as well as how long home nurses and home aides are needed. Do not rely on your insurance company to automatically do this for you. Ask the the social worker to copy everything and give you several copies to take home. At home please try to have an advocate to look out for your interest. This could be a friend, your pastor or a family member who can be very persistent with the insurance companies. If you have to handle it yourself and they are dragging their feet you should file an online complaint with the insurance commissioner of Montana. The insurance companies see this in real time or within a day or two and take it very seriously and will immediately contact you. Over the years I have had to do this several times and always with a fovorable outcome.

                I wish you good and painfree days ahead. Please give us updates.

                Bob







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                  #9
                  Testing post. Please ignore.
                  MSWorld Administration

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                    #10
                    Additional test. Please disregard.

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                      #11
                      Robert.
                      You are an angel. There is a lot of really helpful information there.

                      i have been curious about CCRCs just in case I am forced to go to one. This back fracture happened in July. In two weeks I think I can start PT.

                      So far I have managed to keep going while I’m home. Hopefully, I will get out of this scrape without going to a CCRC. Fortunately, the physical therapist that I saw from Home Health was really good. She told me to reopen the case whenever I am ready.

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                        #12
                        post test test. please ignore.
                        MSWorld Administration

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