Mom's better and new teeth are in the works

After several days of illness, Mom is on the mend; her teeth however, are gone for good.    After calling for several days, I finally got her on the phone today and she sounds much much better. I am so relieved.   They have not found her bottom denture so we assume it was tossed into the garbage.   The social worker at the nursing home will make an appointment with the denturist, arrange to get her there in their van and tell me whom to call about payment.   I used to feel pressure to make all of Mom's appointments and then be there to go with her - I've given that up.  These facilities - assisted living & nursing homes - are getting paid REALLY well so they can do it.   I have decided to take FULL ADVANTAGE of their expertise.  I will ask that they arrange these sorts of things and then get Mom to the appointments.   They have the knowledge of providers in Mom's home town, they have the van with the doors and safety equipment to get her there easily.   They also have people who will go with her if I or other family cannot make it.   It's one less thing to stress me out and thus I can be more carefree in my conversations and visits with Mom.

I decided not to make an issue out of the missing denture because Mom was due for a new one anyway.  I believe the loss is their fault, their staff should be more aware of things like that but it's an understandable mistake.  The denture was wrapped in tissue and Mom probably didn't tell the aide what it was when she said, "please put this away...". The aid was likely more concerned about safely getting mom to bed or to the toilet since it happened while Mom had upset stomach, a cold and diarrhea. 

Old people often need dentures every few years even though they don't get them.   Without teeth the bones that make up our gums gets smaller so there is nothing there to hold the dentures in place - thus the need for all those commercials for denture goo, pads and gels - "adhesives" is the proper term I guess.  Mom refuses to use them.  She might not have a choice after this next appointment. 

Mom's latest dilemmas - three illnesses at once and lost teeth

Talk about bad days, Mom's had a whopper yesterday .  She sounded bad on the phone and bravely said, "I feel a bit better than I sound, and I'm on the mend."   Long story short, she has a urinary track infection, a cold and diarrhea.  To top things off, she's lost her bottom denture.   These infections leave her weak so she requires assistance to get in and out of bed and to and from the toilet. She hates being so dependent on someone else.  Though she's weak, her spirit sound strong.  I'm relieved about that anyway.

Lost dentures are pretty common in nursing homes.  Residents take them from each other. If someone's tired they just take them out and put them down, leaving them in weird places.  In Mom's case, she was trying to be polite. Her lower gum hurt so she took them out, politely put them in a tissue and handed them to an aide.  She asked the aide to "put these away for me..." - they most likely ended up in the trash.  She didn't want to hand some ugly teeth full of spit so she put them in a tissue.  I called the nursing desk today, a Monday, and they were unware of the missing teeth. It's been 7 hours and they still can't find them.  So now the question - who pays for the replacement teeth?   Honestly, I don't care - it's really a minor thing to fuss over when I'm more worried about these infections.  She needed a new bottom plate anyway so this just means it happens sooner than later.

I'll work with them to ensure she gets "soft" foods until she's able to get to a dentist for replacements.  I'll also try to talk with Mom even more to make her feel better, to understand that we'll deal with the new denture as soon as possible and let her know she's loved.   It's about all we can do for now.