My mom has MS and has been in nursing homes the past three years. My husband is active duty army and we have already moved my mom with us from GA to TN. She is currently in a nursing home that mostly tends to her needs. All rooms are private, it’s very clean, and for the most part they are decent people trying to run it (she only has Medicaid or is it Medicare, I always confuse the two :) ). My husband can retire from the military in less than two years and we are itching to move somewhere where we can choose what state and town to live in. Only thing really holding us back is my mom, who is generally up for change, but has been in unmanageable pain the past 1 1/2 years. The issue is that she is very sensitive to medications and it’s really hard finding what works for her. We are currently trying neurotin, she just asked for them to start it 3 times a day, but it can make her very confused and drowsy. She can barely make a trip 5 minutes away.... How could she manage a trip out of state with her is a wonder to me and I am thinking there is no way. But I thought I’d ask on here if anyone has experience with this, with moving someone in pain far. I cannot think of any way. We are working on managing the pain but I just don’t see it happening to the point where we can move her. Should we just accept that we should stay where we are at? That would be okay and we would be fine, but we really dream of living in the mountains and our young kids having that experience growing up. Any advice or experiences are welcome! :)
3 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
If the move is close enough for a day drive, you might consider hiring an ambulance transportation service. Many have a gurney bed that's wider than a normal ambulance and as comfortable or even more so than someone's traditional hospital bed. For some people the vibration (even when riding fully reclined on a nice soft bed) is a problem. Anyone with prior motion sickness issues wouldn't do well either.
As to managing her pain, during the trip I would recommend using whatever handles the pain best even if it makes her drowsy. You can restart the normal medication schedule in her new facility.
ADVERTISEMENT
A lot of soul-searching is required here. Do you visit Mom very frequently? Since her Care needs are being met in a facility you say is satisfactory, could you forgo visiting often and perhaps visit less frequently to live in your dream location? Or, get out a map and determine a location that would be agreeable to you and that is also close to Mom?
Since Mom’s health is so compromised right now, I wouldn’t move her.