Kathleen A. Gagne

Kathie Gagne died 4,641 days ago.

December 9th, 2011 @ 2:23 pm

I just received the following email from Sophia Mas at Stewart-Marchman, in response to my email to her detailing the current medications mom has been taking:

David,

Got it! – In addition to the Respirdal Mtab 2mg BID and the Aricept 5mg po in the am she is taking;
Multivitamin
B Complex
Septra DS for a UTI she had from 12/2 to 12/8
HCTZ for Hypertension

Consulted w/ our ARNP who reviewed the vital signs and added the Lisinopril 10mg q am & the Lopressor 50 mg po bid which will normalize her pulse which has been a bit elevated –
About the vitamins the Physician assistant states that the B complex will do for now –

You may want to check this out:www.ox.ac.uk/media/science_blog ¹

Just in case here are the #s where you can reach your mother – 386-239-6681 & 386-226-0286

I just told your mother that the medications were revised and to be expecting a phone call from you this weekend. ²

Take care of you & your family & let me know any concerns you may have so we can address them – we’ll keep in touch early next week- http://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm ³

Sophia X. Mas, M.A. LMHC
Pinegrove/CSU
1150 Red John Drive
Daytona Beach, FL 32124
386-236-3260
smas@smabehavioral.org

¹ There was absolutely no reason for me to “check out” that website when I visited. I cannot imagine what she thought I would find useful there, and by the time I thought to ask her about it, she had forgotten.
² This is a good, early example of employees at Stewart-Marchman not knowing what is happening at that facility. By the time she sent this email to me, I had already been calling and attempting to talk to my mom twice each day, every single day, for over a week.
³ Wow. Just … wow.

Sophia Mas Conversation

December 9th, 2011 @ 12:18 pm

Here is an email I sent to my sister:

[name redacted],

Sophia Mas called me this morning while I was walking back from Starbucks with two of my coworkers. I returned to Starbucks and talked to her for a little more than 45 minutes.

She told me that mom had been desperate to talk to you this morning, so she let her call you. She said you guys were able to talk for a little while, but Sophia ran out of time before she could call me so I could talk to her, so I am planning on attempting to call mom this afternoon. I am not going to tell her about Buddie, ¹ and certainly will not say anything about Mocha or Paprika. ² (If she asks I will simply let her know that both pets are doing well and friends are making sure they are okay, but not that [name redacted] took Mocha to [name redacted].)

Sophia and I just discussed some of mom’s history, and we weren’t making any decisions or anything like that, which is why I didn’t bother to conference you into the call. Apparently Rodney Curtis, the discharge coordinator, misunderstood when I told him about Buddie yesterday and he thought that Mocha had died. Thank God that you cleared that up. Sophia said that they had been planning on telling her that Mocha had died after the weekend, which would have been a disaster.

After I talk to mom this afternoon — if I can talk to her — I will send you another email and let you know.

I love you,
dvg

¹ We had to put my dog to sleep just a few days earlier.
² Mocha is mom’s dog and Paprika is her cat.

Walking to Starbucks

December 9th, 2011 @ 10:30 am

Sophia Mas from Stewart-Marchman ACT called me while I was walking back from Starbucks with some of my coworkers.

We talked for forty-five minutes. I basically gave her an entire history of mom’s life.

Sophia told me that my sister had talked to mom that morning.

A List of Doctors and Medications

December 8th, 2011 @ 2:30 pm

Here is an email I sent to Rodney Curtis ¹ ², the discharge coordinator at Stewart-Marchman, and copied to my sister:

Rodney,

Thanks for talking to me today. Here is the information I have regarding which medications my mother was taking prior to being admitted to Stewart-Marchman, and the doctors she’s been seeing. This information was provided to me by her friend, [name redacted]. ([name redacted] is a friend of my mom’s from her church.)

Dr. Stephen Oh is her psychiatric doctor – (386) 258-6455
Dr. Dahila Fulop is her psychologist – Neurology Associates – (386) 673-2500
Dr. Dannie Buck is her internist – (386) 676-0505

Prescribed by Dr. Buck:

1. Metoprolol ER 100 mg Tab WAT (generic for TOPROL XL 100mg Tab) – once per day, for blood pressure control
Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart
2. Lisinopril 10 mg tab internal LB – once per day, for blood pressure control
Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart
3. Sertraline Hydrochloride Tablets 100mg Tab Int – once per day, for depression
Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart

She also takes the following supplements:
1. Spring Valley – Fish, Flaxseed, Borage Oil Omega 3,6,9 – 2 per day
2. Spring Valley – Natural Calcium 600 mg with Vitamin D – 1 per day
3. Spring Valley – Follate – 1 per day

Today on the phone you told me that while at Stewart-Marchman she has been taking:
1. Aricept @ 5mg/day
2. Risperdal @ 2mg/twice daily

Thank you for all your help,

Please reply and / or call me to confirm that you received this message. My contact information is below.

David Vincent Gagne

Shortly after sending that, I sent the following email to my sister:

Rodney gave me the wrong email address for himself, that’s why you got two copies of that email.
And I am not even really sure if the second one is the right address either.
I get the feeling that Stewart-Marchman is not on the cutting edge of technology. He seemed to have no idea what his own email address is.

¹ I sent this message three different times because Rodney did not know what his own email address was. I sent it to rcurtis@smabehavioral.net, r.curtis@smabehavioral.net, and rcurtis@smabehavioral.org.
² I also sent the exact same email to Sophia Mas at 12:10 PM PST on the following day, December 9, 2011.

A Message from Sophia Mas

December 8th, 2011 @ 12:50 pm

Sophia Mas from Stewart-Marchman Act left me a voice mail. Here is a transcript of the message:

“David, this is Sophia Mas. I’m a therapist with your mother and Dr. Caliendo received this message from you after he had left so he won’t be here ’til tomorrow but if you want to leave me a message with any information my number is (386) 236-3260. Again my name is Sophia Mas and I’d be happy to answer any questions or pass along any information or, or concerns that you have regarding your mother to the doctor so if you’d like to leave a message on my number that will, that will be fine. OK. I’ll … we’ll talk with the doctor tomorrow and I’ll let him know that you called today. Thank you. Bye”

Three Calls

December 8th, 2011 @ 9:15 am

At 9:15 AM I called and talked to Myra at the nurses station at Stewart-Marchman ACT. She explained the difference between an involuntary release and a discharge.

At 11:15 AM I called in an attempt to talk to Dr. Caliendo. I was told he was with patients and unavailable. I left a message asking to speak with him.

At 11:20 AM I called and left a message for Rodney Curtis asking for him to call me.

Re: Kathie doctor info

December 7th, 2011 @ 7:35 pm

I received the following email from our family friend, in response to my previous email about mom likely not ever being able to live on her own again:

Understood,
The DCF investigator returned my call and left me a voice message that said he only knew of one state hospital close: Macclenny.

I googled it and this is the website you need to go to find out more:
www.dcf.state.fl.us/facilities/nefsh

It is the Northeast Florida State Hospital in Macclenny, FL (Baker County) – the state’s mental hospital under the jurisdiction of DCF (Dept. of Children & Families).

Kathie’s prescription meds are as follows:

Metoprolol ER 100 mg Tab WAT (generic for TOPROL XL 100mg Tab) Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart dispensed in quantities of 30 pills per bottle and taken ONCE a day,

Lisinopril 10 mg tab internal LB qty 30 taken ONCE a day Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart

both of these are prescribed by Dr. Buck for blood pressure

Sertraline Hydrochloride Tablets 100mg Tab Int taken ONCE a day Rx [redacted] @ Wal-Mart – also prescribed by Dr. Buck for depression.

All meds are dispensed in monthly quanities. She also takes the following supplements:

Spring Valley – Fish, Flaxseed, Borage Oil Omega 3,6,9 – 2 per day
Spring Valley – Natural Calcium 600 mg with Vitamin D – 1 per day
Spring Valley – Follate – 1 per day

A Dramatic Turn

December 7th, 2011 @ 9:28 am

I just sent the following email to my mom’s friend in Florida who has been helping us:

Hey [name redacted],

I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you.

Unfortunately at this point there is no way mom can live by herself any longer. I have personally heard her making veiled threats to kill herself, and you have told me that you have heard her talking about both suicide and about wanting to kill [name redacted] and [name redacted]. She has not been able to reliably identify the day of the week for months, and she has been (according to you) having hallucinations. (If she thinks — or thought — that [name redacted] or my sister were in her apartment last week, and — as you said — she is accusing [name redacted] of stealing things from her apartment, that qualifies as having hallucinations to me. If you don’t want to consider them full blown hallucinations, then you must at the least consider them manifestations of a massive inability to comprehend reality.)

My mom is never going to live alone again, and she is certainly never going to go back to that apartment. I am doing everything I can to find — at best — an assisted living facility for her. Until we can find someplace for her, though, it is up to Stewart Marchman to monitor and care for her. Because she has provided multiple examples of being a danger to herself or others, they are legally required to keep her safe.

I am trying to find someone who can take Paprika, and we are working to find a new home for Mocha. (Obviously we cannot — CANNOT — let my mom know that.)

I am horribly, terribly, inconceivably distraught about this; but we do not have many options or alternatives at this point.

I cannot tell you how thankful I am for all of the help you continue to give us. You are a dear friend to my mother and my family.

David Vincent Gagne

Trying to Get Information

December 7th, 2011 @ 8:04 am

I sent this email to my mom’s friend from her church:

Thanks so much for sending this information. Do you also have any details about her current medications and schedule for taking them? That might be helpful to have.

[My wife] and I had to put our dog Buddie down yesterday, and we are both very, very sad about it. He was the best dog I ever had and I already miss him so much it’s indescribable. This has not been a good couple of weeks for us.

She replied to me about an hour later (at 9:11 AM PDT) and said:

Really sorry to hear about your dog.

I had a chance to call the Senior Home Care number and they mainly specialize with wound care. They recommended I call Levin Home Care.

I called Levin Home Care (386/615-9222) and spoke to the owner/manager, Ken Patton, who told me that they have a variety of services and are quite flexible. To go to Kathie’s appartment once a day to help her take her meds would cost $17 a day (their hourly charge for just one hour of service is $17, but for multiple hours it drops to $14.50 per hours starting at 2 hours of service). He has a variety of prices for different services. An example of services could be med assistance with meal preparation for that one hour charge. You can call and get a more extensive list of services.

Kathie doctor info

December 6th, 2011 @ 2:18 pm

I received the following email from our family friend in Florida who has been helping us deal with mom:

David,
Dr. Stephen Oh is her psychiatric doctor – 386/258-6455
Dr. Dahila Fulop is her psychologist – Neurology Associates – 386/673-2500
Dr. Dannie Buck is her internist – 386/676-0505

I called and left a message for the DCF social worker to call back with some resources.
Dr. Oh’s office assistant gave me these following resources:

Grace Manor in Port Orange, speak with a Wanda Bass – 386/310-4995 their speciality is an ALF setting for folks with memory problems and Alzheimer’s

Senior Home Care – 386/672-3381 they care for you in your own home setting

The Vines in Ocala – 352/671-3130 is a mental health treatment (in-patient) facilty

La Amistad in Maitland – 800/433-1122 or 407/647-0660, a mental health & detox (not sure?) treatment facilty

I still want to get resources from some other sources, namely my boss who was a social worker and pyschologist.