I repeatedly called the “day room” at the Halifax Hospital Psychiatric Unit, but the line was busy. Then I called the “main line” and Julie answered the phone. I talked to her for about ten minutes. She told me that Dr. Caliendo is very well-respected and she really likes him. She also told me that […]
A good friend of my little sister’s emailed me to ask how mom was doing. At first I started writing a long reply, but could never manage to finish it. Here is what I did send: Dear [name redacted], Thank you so much for your sweet note. I have tried to write you (and [name […]
I called and talked to a nurse named Dan for about a half-hour this morning. He told me that her doctor is Dr. Caliendo, although I already knew that. We discussed her current medication schedule and he said that Dr. Caliendo had recently prescribed: Benadryl to calm her a little and as an anti-anxiety drug […]
I started to write this email, but never finished and never sent it. I was sending it to my little sister’s good friend, and her older brother: Hey, [name redacted] and [name redacted], Thank you, [name redacted], for sending this email. I really appreciate it. I don’t know how much of the story you two […]
Dr. Caliendo called me at 5:15 AM PST and we had a thirty-five minute conversation. I gave him permission to administer Zyprexa to try to stabilize mom. I tried to give him a history of mom’s medical and psychological issues, but he made it clear that he was spending much too long on the phone […]
At about nine o’clock tonight someone from the Halifax Hospital Psychiatric Unit left me a voice mail asking me to call as soon as possible. (I didn’t get to listen to the message until about 9:30 PM PST.) I was told that mom was being very anxious and the nurse wanted my permission to give […]
Here is an email I just sent to Constance Wade at Halifax (and copied my sister): Dear Connie, Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me this morning. I very much appreciated your interpretation of the MRI she received on Friday, January 20, 2012. I am still somewhat in shock at […]
Nurse Rhonda from the Halifax Hospital Psychiatric Unit called me again to ask about administering Namenda. She said it was prescribed by Dr. Mandeep Garewal; this is the first time I was informed of this doctor’s involvement in mom’s care at all. She told me that Dr. Garewal is the one who ordered the EEG […]
I sent the following email to Sophia Mas at Stewart-Marchman: Dear Sophia, I spoke with both the Elder Help Line at (888) 242-4464 and C.A.R.E.S. at (386) 238-4946 and neither one of them has any record at all of my mother. I spoke with a woman named Linda at C.A.R.E.S. and a woman named Deborah […]
Sophia Mas from Stewart-Marchman called to tell me that mom had received another card from me in the mail. I asked Sophia if she liked it, and she told me that it was hard to tell because she didn’t seem to be aware of anything, and that when she tried to get her to read […]