Um, I guess I know what I'm doing.

Well, that was quick. After requesting prayer, I got a call that my mother-in-law has fallen and may have broken a hip. I have a feeling I know what I will be doing for the next while.

I'm very pragmatic. Which makes me seem cold. I found out at 4:00 and within forty minutes I have already alerted my husband and debated with my friend the legality of moving her money in our joint account out to my account. Yes, I know this is very unethical and I wouldn't likely do it but I do want to know my options. Since we handle her money and there is another sibling involved who will want to know where all the money went I need to be on top of options. In case you are wondering what this has to do with anything, well, if you end up going into long-term care the cost usually is more than what one can afford.

The question is is the meagre savings she have safe or will it be dipped into every month to pay the fee so that she has nothing left in order to have some spending money? I interned in a nursing home for a short time and was disappointed to see people forced to wear worn out clothing and nylons with runs in them because the trustee had not dropped off any funds to purchase new items. This was in one of the best (and expensive) nursing homes at the time.

On the other hand, from a strictly ethical point of view it is not fair for the tax payer to pay more for the institutional care because some (many) families start hiding the assets. Just because everyone does it doesn't make it right. So now the question is does long term care go after your cash on hand or just your monthly income. I'm off to find out.

This sounds very cruel to suppose that she won't be able to return home but this is her second broken hip (if it is broken) and if it is the same one I'm not sure how fast it will heal. Hopefully she will be able to return home but for those who have seen loved ones in a hospital you know that the motivation of the patient and the first week of rehab has a lot to do with the outcome. Not to mention that pneumonia is a very common side effect of these injuries which tends to lengthen the length of stay and screw up the opportunity for rehab. Hopefully she will be able to fight off all these things but I've been working with hospital data too long not to know that this is not the best scenario. Its also a Sunday, bad day to be admitted - OR's open tomorrow with a full schedule, specialists are on call and you may not get a bed until Monday morning -since any empty beds from Friday were grabbed up by Saturday morning. The best thing to do is hang around the place like a vulture making yourself helpful to the nurses (doing all the niceties of care) but also checking every detail so nothing gets missed.