Ch.95 The Transition to Assisted Living was Going Well – Until the Fire Alarm Went Off
June 13, 2021
Pat has been hospitalized for the last 5 days because she is too weak to come home. She is recovering slowly from a urinary tract infection. Yesterday she transferred to an assisted living facility not too far from our home. I’ll call it Peaceful Life Assisted Living Center. The transition had been going smoothly; The staff seemed friendly and competent, although there weren’t many of them; Pat seemed comfortable in her new room; the place was pretty quiet, except for one woman patient who kept yelling for help. My son Joshua was here to keep us both company. We all felt good about the place.
And then the fire alarm went off. The decibel level in Pat’s room was rock concert loud. The staff could not shut down the alarm because nobody knew the correct code. Eventually the police were called as well as an electrician. But by then we had loaded Pat into her wheelchair and taken her outside. We stayed outside for maybe 30 minutes, with Pat occasionally saying things like “I’m not going back in there.”
A little later, after I went home to feed the animals, I received a call from Joshua. He had just learned that the fire alarm had shut off the kitchen oven, so the staff couldn’t offer Pat a hot meal. I heated up a tv dinner and brought it to her.
The evening went much better. Pat and I watched the same show on tv that we would have selected at home. The loud lady was taken to a hospital where she could get the help she needed. Finally, after the show, Pat was given her medications and assisted into bed.
I admire the positive approach Pat has taken to coming to an assisted living facility. She isn’t complaining. She understands why she’s here and she knows that the primary goal is to get her home. Pat has lifted my spirits the last few days, keeping me from becoming overwhelmed with sadness and anxiety.
I just hope we get her back home.
Pat’s comments on The Transition to Assisted Living was Going Well – Until the Fire Alarm Went Off:
That’s wonderful, Ron’s hope that he can get me back home. I’m pretty hopeful. I see myself getting better.