Aunt Annie’s pair of broken hips complicate my caregiving situation

Hi, everybody. The Malik Report remains offline due to a significant medical setback for my aunt:

On Saturday, April 13th, my 81-year-old Aunt Annie, for whom I am the primary caregiver through the State of Michigan’s Home Health Care program, had a fall.

She fell into our raised toilet seat’s railings in the bathroom, and she appeared to suffer a very bad bruise to her pelvis. She also fell on her way back to her bed, falling backward out of her walker onto the floor.

For the next two days, Aunt Annie’s condition slowly deteriorated, though she repeatedly refused to go to the ER or Urgent Care.

On the recommendation of a nurse, on Monday, April 15th, we visited her primary care physician, who noted that Aunt Annie was in pain whenever she put weight on her left leg, but was still able to do so, and I employed our wheelchair to get her into our janky 17-year-old Pacifica and to the doctor’s office.

We were told that if she simply couldn’t put weight on the leg, or her pain level increased, that we should head to the ER. Aunt Annie joked with her physician of over 40 years as we headed out the door and back home, and we were able to wobble her up the three stairs to our condominium with assistance.

By Monday evening, however, Aunt Annie was unable to put any weight on her left leg, and while she was refusing treatment as I pled with her to head to the ER or Urgent Care to get some x-rays, she was becoming quite fuzzy mentally. She was “in and out.” I waffled and decided to let her sleep, and see what would happen in the morning.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I found Aunt Annie almost unresponsive, twitching on her bed. So I called 911 at 7:15 AM, and she was taken in an ambulance to Providence Hospital in Novi.

Aunt Annie remained “in and out” and fuzzy mentally, not really understanding her surroundings, and she was taken for a CT scan, which determined that her left hip was broken. It also appeared that there was some sort of old break in her right hip, but the doctors believed that she would “only” require a left hip replacement.

Remarkably, the hospital was able to schedule AA for same-day orthopedic joint replacement surgery, and Dr. Martin Jenter was going to perform the procedure.

By 2 PM, Aunt Annie was being prepared for surgery. As I relayed some information of her state and mine to my Twitter and Facebook friends, she was placed under anaesthetic and wheeled into the operating room.

Four hours later, I received a call from Dr. Jenter in the OR, and he informed me that while performing X-rays, it was determined that AA’s right hip was also severely broken, and required replacement. I was asked whether I would consent to replacing both hips, or whether I would prefer to put my aunt through two hip replacement surgeries.

It was kind of like being told by a car mechanic that your car requires more repairs than you’d thought when it was lifted up on the hoist, but I weighed the circumstances and ramifications, and decided that my aunt would end up having double hip replacement surgery.

Four hours later, I was watching Game 82 of the Red Wings’ season in the surgical waiting room, and Dr. Jenter came out and reported that everything went well in terms of the surgery, and we talked hockey for a bit as he is also a Red Wings fan.

Remarkably, Aunt Annie was encouraged to get up onto her feet with assistance and a walker that very evening, and in this day of “assembly line” joint replacement, she’s been encouraged to put weight on her titanium hips as often as possible.

After a three-day hospital stay, in which she received fantastic care from the Providence Hospital staff, we were transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Novi, and it was determined at that time that it may take Aunt Annie somewhere between six to eight weeks to meet the bare requirements to come home, which are:

1. Being able to use her walker again;
2. Being able to self-toilet and get back to bed;
3. Being able to climb the three stairs up to our condominium in South Lyon (with assistance).

All of this is complicated by a simple fact: the State of Michigan refuses to pay a caregiver if their patient is hospitalized or finds themself in a rehabilitation facility. I’m paid seven days a week by the Home Health Care Program when she’s in my care, but if the patient is “unavailable,” they’re unavailable for care.

I make about $800 a month for my caregiving, which includes an array of activities, and instead, I’ve been driving the rusted-out Pacifica from South Lyon to Novi, first to spend for eight-to-twelve-hour days at the hospital, and now similarly long days spent at the rehab facility. I won’t be paid for as long as Aunt Annie’s not at home.

She’s been able to walk with her walker, do some transferring from bed to wheelchair and wheelchair to restroom and back, and her pain tolerance is extraordinary, so she floored Dr. Jenter when he was able to see how much she could move on Thursday, and she’s impressed the physical therapy and occupational therapy staff here…

But there’s a long road ahead of us. And we’re probably going to spend a month or so working to get Aunt Annie ready to come back home, more or less.

Without a paycheck, we’re kind of hosed. So I’ve started a GoFundMe to help us raise the funds necessary to pay bills and just plain old get me to and from Novi on a daily basis.

If you’re not the GoFundMe type, we also have used the following methods for fundraising: PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check. I’m also on Cash App under “georgeums.”

I wish I was able to at least write something about thrilling end to the Red Wings’ season, the end-of-year pressers by the players, Derek Lalonde and Steve Yzerman, or discuss the offseason to come, but I’ve been putting in 12+ hour days for the last nine days, and at the end of the day, there’s not much that my mushy brain can do other than try to chronicle what’s been going on over the course of the day.

That’s what’s been going on, and I hate to ask for help again, but I have to ask.

If you can’t or choose not to assist, we ask that you please share the fundraiser, as this has been a difficult time for both of us, Aunt Annie more than me.

Thanks for your time,

George and Aunt Annie