Stories from Caregivers: David from HAWAII
HI
David
FROM HAWAII
My name is David Wilson, and my wife Ellen and I are my mother, Alice Wilson, primary at-home caregivers. In 1998, my mom and dad were struck by a drunk driver and my mom ended up breaking her back which resulted in her becoming a paraplegic from the waist down. She and my father were living in St. Louis, Missouri at the time when the accident happened while I was living on Maui. The distance made it very difficult, but I flew home every 3-6 months to check up on my mother and to help my father out with the caretaking and hospital visits. When my father died in 2009 from a heart attack, we decided to move my mother out to Maui in 2010 so we could become her full-time caregivers. This was big step in my life, because my wife and I became 24/7 caregivers for my mother. I care for my mother because I put myself in her shoes and thought about how one day I would be aging too, with the hope that I will have someone to take care of me. Caregiving is a lot of work; however I wouldn't trade what I do for my mother for the world. We take her to her appointments, bathe her, and do pretty much everything for her. Because I have a lot of experience in the healthcare field, I have become very knowledgeable about caregiving and the correct procedures to follow which has made caregiving much easier. The discharge procedures have been a big issue for my wife and I when we take my mother home. A few weeks ago, the hospital discharged my mom, when they gave us the discharge report the medication was not correct; luckily I had done my research and caught their mistake and had them fix it immediately. Two weeks later, she was readmitted into the hospital due to a blood clot, they performed a filter implant procedure, and released her from the hospital a day later. During this discharge they gave us many supplies to keep her comfortable at home, however there were no instructions for these supplies. We were also not given any instructions for the surgical wound site, such as how to take it off, clean it, or take care of it. Fortunately nothing detrimental happened because of the hospitals lack of care during the discharge procedure. I truly believe the Care Act would have helped during our discharge experiences with my mother, because I can't help but think today, "what if something had happened."�
