About who needs care: My mother has ALS. She is total care. I lift her to the potty chair for toileting but a caregiver may use the bedpan. She requires daily treatments with an afflovest, cough assist and suction. she is very weak and mostly unable to speak. She spends 20-22 hours a day on a Trilogy BiPAP. Homehealth does visit twice weekly to provide a bath, OT and PT services so bathing is not a necessary duty. There really isn't an ideal structure as some therapies are more responsive to symptoms rather than recurring for prevention. Typical morning on needed days involves me getting up at 5am, lifting her to her chair, giving her a respiratory treatment, applying an Afflovest, toileting her, bathing her bottom post-toilet if needed, giving her several medications and then putting her back to bed. this occurs in the space of two hours and I am constantly late or having to resort to using unpaid FMLA time as I am low on PTO hours. It would be nice to transfer some of this to caregiver from time to time that I can continue to keep my job. About the care needs: She doesn't talk but she does like to listen. She watches a lot of TV since she is unable to move around on her own without me or my brother. She is very weak. Caregivers need to have a basic understanding of the ALS and be willing to learn how to use a few pieces of equipment. My mother is a nurse of 50 years experience and knows when something is not quite right and will use her facial expressions to communicate. Services needed include: feeding, bathing / dressing, and mobility assistance.
Mobility Assistance
Bathing / Dressing
Feeding