We have a member here at the club who is quite a challenge. She has an artificial leg.  Her son tells me that she had to have it amputated because she did not tell anyone about the ulcers that formed on her ankles and they were infected when he found out about them when she came to live in his home. The infection was even in her bone. He took her to the doctor twice a week for treatments, and the doctor told her to stay off her feet, to elevate the leg, and to leave the bandages alone until her next doctor visit, but she would not follow the doctor’s instructions. Her leg was amputated in 2008, and she was fitted with an artificial leg. In 2011, she was fitted for another leg because the original one was too short, causing her to lose her balance easily, and she refused to use a walker or a cane. She refused to use the new leg and when asked about it, she said her daughter in law had thrown it into a truck with some junk to be hauled away and her grandson drove the truck away with her leg in it. Her son says she has the leg in her closet. Her son took her to the orthopedist last week in hopes of getting her examined to see if the leg she got in 2011 would work for her or if she needs to be fitted again. The orthopedist sent them away with instructions to see her primary care doctor for a referral so Medicare will pay for it. Why didn’t they tell him that when he made the appointment?

When she first came to the club, we noticed her eyelids were inflamed. So the son took her to an opthamologist, who recommended some over the counter eye ointment. It only has petroleum jelly and mineral oil in it…nothing that could cause more inflammation. After just a week of using the eye ointment, her eyes were looking better. Then, one day, she came to the club looking as if someone had been beating her about the eyes! I asked her what happened to her eyes, and she said “That doctor did it…that cream he told me to put on my eyes did this”. I asked our nurse to look at her eyes and she said it looked as if she had rubbed her eyes so vigorously that the skin was irritated. Each day after that the skin around her eyes looked more and more irritated. I asked her if she was using the eye ointment….she said no, she had been washing her eyes to get it off.

Her skin is extremely dry and flaky. If anyone asks if they can put lotion on her, she agrees, but then makes sure her skin gets even more irritated by scratching it over and over.

Her mouth is a mess of broken and missing teeth and she cannot chew or bite. If you ask her what happened to her teeth she will tell you that her daughter in law’s brother cut them off with a knife and then he went home and beat his five year old daughter to death and now he is in prison. We have a food processor here at the club so we grind her food so she can eat. Her son took her to the dentist, who recommended her to a specialist because her teeth are broken and her gums are receded. She should have had dentures years ago. Her son does not have the money to pay for the extractions or the dentures and neither does she. Medicaid does not pay for dentures.

She has been wearing the same shirt for over a week. I asked her son to ask her to change her shirt three days ago, but it has not happened yet. I am helping him find someone to help her bathe or shower. Two women from an agency came to the club to assess her, and then someone else from the agency called with more questions and they said someone else would call me to schedule, but that never happened. I started the process over a week ago. It costs $35 for someone to help with bathing. We could give her a shower here at the club, but her son said she would prefer to shower at home.

She has only had one accident here at the club, but it was a doosey. Diarrhea everywhere. Fortunately we had emergency clothes here because she did not bring any from home to keep here, as we like members to do.

Her son has asked for help finding a psychiatrist for his mom. Do you know of someone to recommend? Her family has a history of mental illness. Mental illness mixed with dementia makes for an extremely complicated and challenging member of the club!