Michigan Falling Short in Long Term Care

It is no surprise that the way our society functions is failing million Americans. I just read an article on NPR that is something that I think most Americans can relate to in some way shape or form. But this is not the only issue we are having. Medical care (insurance), child care, education, maternity/paternity leave that is paid, paying for college, or just paying for groceries are some of the everyday issues that American grapple with every day. The American wage is not allowing people to save for their kids, retirement, heck even a vacation. We also don’t have the means to keep some of the elderly in their homes because the cost of in home care is so high, you have to be a millionaire to afford it. One topic that I think is left out over and over again is adult care, specifically care of the elderly or vulnerable in the nursing homes.

I can only speak specifically for Michigan because that is the state in which I reside, not to mention spent many hours reading Michigan laws, rules and regulations about nursing homes. I understand that our country is divided in so many ways right now and we are going through some sort of “wake up”, and for some things that is beneficial to what we need, but what about our elderly?

My grandmother who is immunocompromised asked for 3 weeks for a booster shot. No one would give her an answer as to when she could get one. She finally got one on Veteran’s Day, yet it may have been too late as she was exposed to a CNA that was covid positive on the day prior.

People are pushing their call lights to have assistance, and no one is coming. Why? Because there are not enough CNAs to work. One aide may have up to 20+ people a day to take care of, and this is considered quality care when the room and board bill ALONE surpasses $8,000 a month. Um, I think not. Sounds just like another get rich scheme instead of remembering that these residents that need care are actually PEOPLE and they matter too.

The food that residents get in a nursing home is worse than what prisoners get at MDOC. The food is cold, barely palatable. Once my grandmother was given a head of broccoli for dinner and that was all. One time it was cold scrambled eggs for breakfast. Don’t even get me started on the diet she is supposed to follow because of her medical conditions; after many conversations with the administrator and dietary nothing changes. Still food shes not supposed to have and cold food that cannot be eaten followed by unreasonable excuses one after another or in some situations, ignoring me (the advocate) all together.

You may say that I should go ahead and report these nursing homes. I have reported 4 nursing homes. It took 3 months before any were investigated. Do they know what can happen in three months? Maybe they do, but just don’t care. For example, one nursing home I reported was cited for not following state guidelines. While I was reading my report, I was able to see other reports in which the same nursing home had been cited. One report was a nurse in the nursing home was under investigation for 2 deaths happening under her watch in suspicious circumstances. And guess what? While the investigation was happening they allowed her to continue to work there even though there was a possibility that her actions or lack of could have been causing residents deaths. Another nursing home I reported was cited because they withheld a schizophrenics medications from him for over a month. A month. Why? Because they said it cost too much. If you ever have a moment and want to know what is happening in these facilities look up some state reports.

I have written to my senator, my local ombudsman, my governor. and have reported numerous nursing homes. They get a slap on the wrist. The nursing homes come up with a plausible plan that makes the state happy but never follow through and are not truly held accountable for what goes on inside those walls.

I don’t know why I am writing this. Maybe to vent. Maybe to get people to be aware. Maybe to get someone who has more power and authority to listen and DO something for these people. I’m just tired of it. These people have spent their lives doing great things, working hard paying their taxes, doing community service and going on great adventures. Maybe gardening, rescuing animals, making care bags for the homeless. And this is how its allowed to be repaid? Cold food, ignoring call lights, all for sucking all the money they can from their insurance to only get sub par care? No. Absolutely not. We can do better. We need to do better.

The Garden Diaries

How many of you had a garden this year?  First year?  Twentieth year?  I have a small raised bed garden and it puts out a lot of amazing produce.  It is my 3rd year, and I feel confident with my growing abilities.  So much so that my husband thinks that we should expand it for next year.  (Not sure how I feel about that.)

So there have been things that I have done the last couple years that have helped me learn what I am doing with all the produce I grow as well as where I want it to take me in the future.

I love the tomatoes I grow.  I have experimented with tomatoes, and I have learned that Sweet 100s and Purple Cherokees grow amazingly, and I get an abundance of them.  But that is a problem.  I can’t eat them fast enough or give them away fast enough.  So, I think the best thing to do for the next growing season is to grow the types that are best for canning.  I have never canned but have watched videos and read article on how to can.  I think the best way to preserve my awesome tomatoes is canning them mainly into pasta sauce.  Maybe soup.  I may not get a lot, but I can also compensate with getting extra from the farmers market if I need to.  I am thinking next year I am going to go with a Roma tomato or something similar and then the sweet 100s I will make into pizza sauce because its delicious.

I need to calm down on the zucchini.  This year I planted 4 plants and I have 13 bags of frozen zucchini in the freezer.  Now I am not crying about it because I see lots of muffins in the winter, but it is a bit overwhelming.  In 2021, I think I will just do 2 plants and that should be plenty.

This year was the first year that I planted lettuce.  I also planted some collards.  Man oh man, it was amazing!!!!  I loved it.  I loved being able go out and get lettuce for salads or BLTs.  I had Buttercrunch lettuce and another, but the name evades me.  My collards were excellent too.  Since I had never grown lettuce before, I didn’t plant a lot but 2021 will be the year of the lettuce.  I want more of it in my life because it was so great.

I did not plant squash this year and I regret it.  My first year I planted 2 buttnernut squash plants and it gave me 7 large squash.  It got me through half of the winter.  Last year everyone’s gardens sucked because of the rain and we all ended up with blight covered plants, thus I yielded 2 squash.  This year, I didn’t even plant any but got one by accident because it was labeled a cucumber but obviously was not.  Oye!  So, this upcoming year I plan on doing a butternut and spaghetti squash and we will call it good.

Radishes.  I can grow them but they are puny.  (Hold on to this thought.)

Cucumbers…cucumbers are erratic.  Sometimes they produce like wild and others not so much.  I do know that I like the small pickle cucumbers more than the standard cucumbers.  I usually plant 2 or three and this next year will be about the same.

On a side, I have also had an issues with critters this year that I have never had an issue with before.  For the most part my garden is fenced in so most critters can’t get in.  I suspect some of them with their little “hands” somehow make it in as I have found some half eaten tomatoes outside.

There are a few plants in the hot seat.  Eggplant is on the list.  Spinach.  Radishes. Potatoes. Onions and Garlic.  I say these because my husband has come up with a thought about expanding the garden and making another bed for some of these plants so we can grow more of our own food.  Now I have never grown any of these(except radishes and they seem to be tiny) so I am not sure how well it would work out for me, but I would be willing to give it a go.  No harm in trying.  Also, we have been getting our meat from a nearby farm and I am hoping that they could also supply me with some manure that I can turn into the soil before the freeze and in the spring.  I feel like some of my plants are struggling with success because the soil needs some tending to.  Which is all par for the course.

So there is the garden rundown of 2020. Hoping the garden of 2021 is epic and provides just as well, if not better, than this year.

 

Food

Sometimes it is really hard for me to find food that I can eat. I have been following a completely gluten free diet for more than 2 years now and strictly limit how I consume dairy and eggs. For health reasons that are beyond my understanding, I avoid these foods because the havoc that happens to my body after eating these items are horrible. With that being said, it can be rather difficult to find food that I like and that tastes great.

Now I have my staples that I eat that get me through, but sometimes I long for food of my past. Like doughnuts. Or cinnamon rolls. It can be challenging. So there are times where I go to the best place-Pinterest. Sometimes I need to find something new to eat and it is my go to. Now, I am sure many of you hop on there, find something you like and make it only to find that the recipe was completely messed up. Been there. Too many times. So I thought that I would periodically share some of my fav recipes from Pinterest that are legit and work well. Along with sharing any modifications to them.

Original link: https://pin.it/sqlvisxfk46jjw

I came across this recipe a while ago from kirbiecravings.com and it is so amazing. I have a hard time finding gluten free cookie recipes that don’t call for a bazillion eggs. This recipe only calls for one egg. I can handle that as long as I don’t eat the whole batch. And they are naturally gluten free since there is no flour in them and they take care of a sweet tooth. Now my husband likes to bake more than I do, so I let him try these out and they are amazing. He made them once with almond butter and once with peanut butter; both were very good. But I did find that peanut butter was a bit too sweet. And you could use any butter you wanted to and they would be great. We also did notice that the description for the size of the cookies yielded huge cookies so the second time around we made them smaller. They were just the right size.

Ingredients to make the cookies are:

1 egg

1 cup almond butter (or what ever you like)

1tsp baking soda

1 cup coconut sugar

3/4 cup chocolate chips

*mix cookie dough thoroughly

Preheat oven to 350. Please remember ovens will cook differently based on elevation where you live. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 tablespoon sized balls of dough on the lined baking sheet. Place cookies in oven and cook for 18-20 minutes. The recipe says to cook for 10 minutes but the cookies where no where done at that time. We also noticed that when the cookies were just done, they started to collapse a bit in the oven. Take them out. These cookies can be a little over done because they will have more chew to them the next day. Also it is so so so important to leave them on the baking sheet to completely cool to room temperature.

These cookies are easy and so tasty. Next time that sweet tooth strikes, give these a try.

Who Dis

Honestly, I have no idea. I am a person who had one life then decided to have a baby. Now I am that person living with a child but really don’t have a clue who I am. What do I even like anymore? What makes me tick? What makes me happy? I am having to relearn all of this. I am sure every mom has gone through this to some extent, but it’s like I had amnesia and now have to relearn who I am all over again.

So with that, I do remember my name. I am Heather. I live in Michigan. I am married and have a 6 year old daughter. Beyond that I am trying to figure it out. Sometimes I think I know, sometimes not so much. But what I do know is life is short, and I want to do as much as I can in my limited time. So I am gonna do what I like. And I am going to do things and fail. I am going to succeed. And laugh so hard I pee my pants.

I plan on sharing a little of everything. This blog is not a one size fits all. Not just fashion or my kid. Not just food recipes or new restaurants. I want it to be all the things because life is all the things. Life is the hectic, the good and bad, with some ugly. Sometimes it’s sad or upsetting. And sometimes it’s a blast. I want to share it all.

So stay tuned. We have a wild ride ahead.