Human Health Aid Companies.

Hello folks,

I am here to tell you that I am not very happy with service companies. Especially ones that profess to help sick, ill, and injured/handicapped people.
My situation is that my wife is an invalid and has recently been injured. Specifically, her leg was broken above the knee and required a steel rod be inserted up through the middle of the bone in order to repair it. She is currently bed ridden.

Our family is helping us out by paying for home health aids twice a week for five hours each time. The main purpose for doing this, is to give me some breathing time and rest from taking care of Claudia 24/7. My wife and I have been married 38 years and I am committed to taking care of her. So getting some help was expected to be a God send.

Well I am here to tell you it ain't so. Home Health aid companies are in this business to make a profit, not to actually help somebody. They hire people that are not in it to help people, but just to make a buck. (I don't really blame the people hired to help, they are just trying to get by, just like me.) Anyway, the company doesn't send the same person out each time, they send somebody new. This practice requires that I have to spend the first hour and a half training them on how to wash my wifes hair, and give her a bath. Then on top of that I am expected to help them do it. Then the aid sits on his/her ass for 3 and a half hours doing nothing while I am expected to continue doing the cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc.

The end result of sending the home health aid out to my house, is more work for me. I don't get any relief, rest, or recreation. I can't really feel comfortable leaving my wife alone with the aid, because they don't know where anything is in the house. My wife is bedridden and can't get in or out of bed without help. So my wife cannot show the aid where anything is.

Am I done venting? I am not sure. More later.

gahillbilly.

A bitching day.

Today has been a bitching day. Today was the day for the home health aid was to come and stay with Claudia and help her with bathing, washing her hair, changing her clothes, etc. Well the aid person arrived but it wasn't the same person that came the last time or even the time before that. So I had to train this person on the location of things such as shampoo, soap, bucket, pan, towels, bedding, clothing, etc. If hadn't been there, the helper would not have been very usefull since she didn't know where anything was located, and Claudia can't get up and show her since she is bedridden.



I have got to call the Company we are contracted with and raise hell. We can't continue with this kind of service. It is more of a hindrance then it is a help.



Compounding the problem is the fact that Claudia's condition is not just a broken leg, but it also includes Post Polio Syndrome, and a broken neck. Each of these conditions have there own unique effect on the body and requires extensive explanation by either myself or Claudia in order to ensure the aid conducts herself properly.



Then while all of this was going on, I was on the phone with AT&T trying to get my billing squared away, and get my Ultra High Speed DSL connection working properly. I may as well have a dial up connection for all the good my current condition supplies. I spent over an hour working with their DSL people, only to find out that my modem is old and completely out of date for the modern network systems software. In other words it is obsolete. So now they want me to pay $100.00 for a new modem. This is after I have been paying through the nose for my telephone and DSL lines for over 14 years. I told them, it isn't my fault that their equipment became obsolete. I should get a new modem for free.



Essentially the tech I was talking to said bend over, we are sticking it too you.



Just like all of the other companies in this country, we just want your money and screw you on service.



Anybody else have an opinion? I'd love to hear it.



regards,



the gahillbilly.