Caregiver’s Corner

Tax Deduction

Consider all of your out-­of-­pocket expenses if it applies to diagnosis, care, prevention or treatment of diseases. May be a deduction if it pertains to medical treatment, over the counter medication, gloves, toilet items, soap, patients clothing, q­tips, body lotion, diapers, bed pads all may be tax deducted. Keep all receipts so that at the end of the year you can provide your tax person with accurate costs.

Hydraulic beds, power scooters, Jenny pumps, hydraulic patient lift, air mattress, air pumps, hearing equipment, special equip telephone, wheel chair ramps: if these items are not covered by insurance they can be a tax deduction. Again, keep all receipts and check with your tax person to see if any out-of-­pocket expenses generated for the care of a person is allowed.

Bed Sores

Bedsores are a big problem in caring for bed patients. Three months after Sharon became a bed patient she contracted bedsores while at a long­term care facility. The sores increased to the size of a golf ball. I asked the duty nurses what they were doing about the sores, and was told that their policy is to do nothing until they get to a scale 3, and at that time they would start skin grafts. The decision to take Sharon home was made at that moment.

Sharon lived at home, other than a couple of trips back to a care facility, until her death. She never had another bed sore. The things that I did were make sure she remained dry, and I left her exposed to the air. There were times I would use a motor fan to circulate the air around her. This appeared to help with the sores.

Caregivers

Please research long­term care facilities and adult day care. In some cases these are allowed deductions. If you pay for a family member to sit in for you, this may be a deduction. Gas for your vehicle to travel to and from care facilities, durable medical equipment, home modification, wheelchair costs, renovation of home i.e., widened doors and special equipment for kitchen and bathroom modifications.

I was much too young to retire. In addition, I commuted two hundred miles a day back and forth to a job that made it even harder on me. This caused me to employ an in­house caregiver. This can be very tricky, as you have a limited budget and you need help.

There are companies out there that will provide you with caregivers. I could not afford the cost to care for Sharon as my household expenses, commuting expense, and fifteen plus dollars an hour for additional help.

I placed advertisements in the Penny Saver personal referrals section. Over eight years, I must have gone through about twenty people, only to find two caregivers, which I would refer to others.

If you decide, or have to travel this route, be careful, conduct background checks, if possible, and protect your valuables. I returned home one day unexpectedly, only to find one of my caregiver, was day sitting three of her grandchildren.

My neighbor informed me that once I left for work, the caregiver would leave, leaving Sharon alone. This is not only, unsafe, but because of Sharon’s medical condition, against the law.

Stress

Being a health caregiver is very stressful! You will learn, as I did that not only will you find little to no help, you will start to pay attention to how uncaring some people are.

• Don’t get angry when you see people driving, speeding up when you approach the cross­walk with your patient in a wheel chair, or hurry to get on the elevator and push the door closure button
• Be prepared when a doctor tells you how smart they are with an IQ as high as 189. Control your anger, because at that moment, the only thing that you are thinking of is trying to get additional help for your patient
• A doctor tells you that you can take your patient home so that they can get another patient to put in that bed.
• Get prepared, understand and accept, when hospital staff walk up to you and ask you to take your patient to a care facility and you need to figure out, once they are discharged, how to get them home because your insurance may not pay for return trips. Or if one of the drivers arrives late and finds out that they have to travel too far and leaves the patient on a gurney in the hallway of the facility.

Your only concern is for the patient’s best treatment. Do not get angry when someone walks up to you and says “I would like to give you a hug.” Accept it, because it will make you feel appreciated!