My son called me on Friday, he has bronchitis and needed his disability drug card to fill his prescriptions. There wasn't too much that I could do until my husband got home from work so once that happened we headed to see my son. On the way we stopped and got him some acetaminophen in case his throat hurt and some cough syrup for at night. We took him to fill his prescriptions at a different pharmacy then the one he originally went to which saved us some money. I would have to say that really bothers me that some pharmacies charge more, especially when it's for people on disability. Due to my previous job where part of my duties was to be the administrator for the companies insurance, I was/am aware of why at some pharmacies you have to pay more. It's because they are charging more for their services or medications then the insurance company or in this case disability, thinks the service or medication is worth. So luckily the one pharmacy was already closed so we went to another one, one that didn't charge more for their services then disability was willing to pay.
My son wanted to go for pizza afterwards to which I agreed if he cleaned up first. He was wearing the same cloths from when I saw him on Tuesday and they didn't smell too good. With no resistance he changed cloths and cleaned himself up. I had also brought him a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, Q-tips and nail clippers, although I haven't been able to get him to use the nail clippers yet. He goes through phases where he likes to have long nails. It seems to go hand in hand with his phases of instability and I only remind him that if he is going to keep then long then he should try to keep them clean. We also got him a new fanny pack since his was taken and I wanted him to have a safe place to keep his ID and other items. We then took him for pizza which he seemed to enjoy. I had to pick off the hot peppers since we let him pick the toppings.
I was impressed during the visit to see staff at the shelter checking for drugs etc when certain people where coming in. One boy even had to remove his shoes! All my son's belongings are in a locked cabinet that only staff can access. Not sure how but he also got another cell phone and this time kept the paperwork although I didn't take the time to read it. His left over pizza was put in a locked fridge with his name on it. We had to hand in his prescriptions, even his puffer that he was prescribed. All prescription medications have to be monitored and he signs every time he has access to and takes his medications. After watching my son take his first set of antibiotics and use his puffer, my husband and I said our good-byes. This time my son actually hugged me back! and told me he loved me too!
Saturday my husband and I went to see his family as his sister passed away over a month ago but due to circumstances everyone couldn't get together until now. It was nice to see everyone.
Yesterday we went to see my son again. He seemed genuinely happy to see us. Got him to change his shirt as again he was in the same one. Took him his track pants as the nights are a little colder now. He can do laundry there but without monitoring and reminding he doesn't follow through so I guess he did start a load when he first got there but the cloths went missing. He hasn't looked for them so they are probably there somewhere since no one else is wearing them. He can't be bothered to look for them as according to him he can buy a whole new wardrobe for $400 so why worry about a set of cloths. I guess this $400 is part of the full check disability is going to pay him... I have been bringing home his dirty cloths. Also took him some vitamin waters, beef jerky and more cigarettes. He wanted to go for a car ride so we drove to Tim Horton's, got a coffee and went to a park to drink it.
Even though he is physically doing better, his thinking is still a little off. I was asking him about how the food is at the shelter and he says that it is actually pretty good although he still doesn't feel like eating much. He is still in the frame of mind that he is doing his body good by forcing it to survive on less. I tried to explain that his body is like a car. It needs oil, fluids and gas to run properly and if he really wants to show his body respect then giving it the proper nourishment is the best way to do that. I do believe that he is eating as I see no indication of weight lose and even though he is somewhat delusional in his thinking he is doing better.
Paranoia, delusional thinking and general confusion becomes obvious at certain times. The shelter has tried to get him to sign a release for PACT however it seems a little paranoia may be causing this resistance along with his normal defiance. He seemed less resistant to the idea when I brought it up to him a couple of times. He is starting to get low on his Clozapine so I'm hoping that I can get him to open up about PACT so that they can interact with the shelter and make arrangements to have this brought to him as well as receive information about his blood work for next week. The shelter or my son is going to need a requisition and I can't provide it, PACT does. Also it would make things so much easier in trying to find him a bed somewhere else if everyone could talk to each other and get things moving faster. I really wish that he could see all that everyone is trying to do for him. I know that his case worker called the shelter again today but they couldn't talk to her. I'm not sure how long they can continue to offer their services if he is not open to it. I'm not sure I even want to think about the problems that could arise from him not having a psychiatrist to prescribe his medications or who is going to pay for his Clozapine since PACT took care of that. He was lucky to have a lot of people advocating and pushing his referrals through so that he didn't have the usual wait time it normally takes to get in to see a psychiatrist. One problem at a time right!
He did ask me yesterday what was going on with his Grandmother and Father, that something didn't feel right or was off. At first I wasn't sure who he was referring to as we usually refer to his grandmother as Nana. He wondered about his Dad not calling him and I let him know that his Dad had asked for his cell number but his cell had gotten stolen right after that and my son seemed confused by my reference to the stolen cell, like he didn't know or remember that it had been stolen. I'm not sure what he thinks is off with his Nana and he couldn't explain it but I told him that she has been going through her own stuff and I don't think it's anything that he needs to worry about. It could be his own paranoia acting up as well so it's hard to tell.
I did make sure he took his antibiotics before leaving yesterday. Let him know that I might not make it back until Wednesday. I also got the name and address of the pharmacy that filled his antibiotics as I'm going to have to figure out something for when he needs to refill his Lithium. Either transfer the prescription from the pharmacy here to the one close to him or have this pharmacy get the disability information as we had to give the pharmacy the original disability drug card and they keep it. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing and I don't run into problems of not being able to do help with this since he's an adult and should be doing it himself. He did hug me good-bye and told me that he loved me too.
So today I'm doing my usual phone calls of checking on him, making sure everyone is aware of what they need to be aware of and now I will try to get a hold of his case worker and keep my fingers crossed that he finally agrees to sign the release.
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