A Typical Day is Worth--- what?

As part of the process to figure out how much money it will take to take care of Bob for the rest of his life, the attorney's office asked me to keep track of one entire day's worth of all the "personal care" I do for Bob on a typical day. They wanted exact times and duties. So I did, and thought I'd share it here:

January 29, 2013

A Typical Day

Diane’s Caregiving Duties

12:05 a.m.                    Bob wakes me up with arm pain. Heat heating pad in microwave and apply heat pad to arm.

6:30-6:55 a.m.              Disconnect feeding pump. Flush tube with warm water.  Clean tube with cannula brush. Change bed pad. Empty night urinal. Boost (I use a draw sheet) and reposition in bed. Crush and dissolve medications. Syringe into feeding tube.

8:00 a.m.                       Empty urinal and rinse. Supply towels and help wipe off.

8:30 a.m.                       Set Bob up with art supplies: sketchpad on clipboard and pencils

9:00 a.m.                       Empty urinal etc.

9:45 a.m.                       Sharpen pencils per Bob’s request.

10:30-11:00 a.m.          Fold laundry, mostly towels and Bob’s bed pads and sheets.

10:45 a.m.                    Accept Walgreens delivery at door, sign and pay for scripts.

11:00 a.m.                    Gather supplies for bed bath.

11:05 a.m.                    Get fresh water and a fresh Den-Tip swab at Bob’s request.

11:09 a.m.                    Empty urinal, etc.

11:10-11:55 a.m.          Bed bath, then dress.         

11:45 a.m.                    Empty urinal, etc.

11:55-11:59 a.m.          Transfer from bed to wheelchair.

11:59-12:06 p.m.          Perform manual neck stretching exercises with wheelchair tipped on bed. (Trained by OT to do this.)

12:06 p.m.                    Brush hair, secure ponytail, get sunglasses, wheel out to front porch.

12:10 p.m.                    Sit and “chat” for a few minutes.

12:15-12:25 p.m.          Strip hospital bed, flip gel overlay, make bed with new sheets, pads, etc.

12:30-12:45 p.m.          Wheel back into house. Transfer into bed.

12:45 p.m.                     Start new load of laundry.

12:48-1:00 p.m.             Crush medications, dissolve in water, prepare syringes. Administer medications through feeding tube.

1:00 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

1:05-1:15 p.m.               Change pants including underwear. Boost and reposition in bed.

1:15 p.m.                       Throw wash in dryer.

1:16 p.m.                       Wipe down Bob’s bedside table, he spilled water.

1:18 p.m.                       Call the Lab and schedule PT/INR home visits to start next week under new/old insurance plan. (Yes, I switched his insurance back after I found out that the hospital and insurance company kissed and made up! After all that mess I went through..... aaargh)

1:25-3:45 p.m.               Help Bob with exercises for physical therapy, range of motion for occupational therapy, exercises for speech and swallow therapy.

2:03 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

3:02 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

3:45-4:00 p.m.               Change clothes to hospital gown. Boost and reposition in bed.

4:00 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

4:10-4:15 p.m.               Boost and reposition in bed. Put on hand splint.

5:00 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

6:16 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

6:17-6:45 p.m.               Set up night feeding pump. Crush and dissolve medications, prepare syringes, administer medications through feeding tube. Connect pump and start pump. Boost and reposition in bed. Get Bob a fresh Den-Tip swab.                   

8:05 p.m.                       Empty urinal, etc.

9:30-9:40 p.m.               Boost and reposition in bed. Tuck in for night. Get night spillproof urinal. Supply blankets, etc. Turn off lights.

12:45 a.m.                     Bob is cold. Get up and get extra blanket. Turn off ceiling fan.

5:30 a.m.                       Bob is warm. Get up and turn on ceiling fan. Take away extra blanket.

6:30 a.m.                       New day! Start over. Disconnect feeding pump etc. etc…..

Other Regular Caregiving Duties

Weekly                         Schedule all transport rides, make appointments when needed, order prescription refills, fill three weekly pill dispensers (morning, noon, night). Chart bowel movements and administer laxative when needed. Apply pain patches every 72 hours.

Twice Weekly               Change diaper or bed pan, clean up afterwards. (Bowel movements.)

Thrice Weekly               Wash hair at kitchen sink. This takes 20 minutes or so.

1-5 times monthly          Take Bob to doctor’s appointments. Trips take all afternoon on wheelchair transport, usually 1-4 p.m.

2-3 times weekly          Take Bob to therapy appointments, if/when scheduled.

  

The idea here is that they want to figure out how much it would cost to "replace" me! 

There is also talk of asking for the hospital to pay me back wages for the last two years+.

hmmmm, wonder how much that would be?