I have been happily married for 59 years and although our daughter and I noticed some loss of memory and comprehension in my husband when he reached his mid-seventies, it was a complete shock when he was recently diagnosed, at the age of 80, with severe Alzheimers and other dementias. When I had to make the painful decision to find an Alzheimers care center for him, I was lost and did not know where to turn. I found a center that had been locally recommended, and moved my husband there. It is so hard to be away from him - so hard to place your trust in someone you do not know to care for your loved one. My daughter and I visited several times a week and it was obvious he was not getting the care he needed. He was given multiple medications that resulted in either aggressive behavior or complete sedation. We would arrive on our visits to find him in the dark in his bedroom, curled up on the bed with stinking urine on the floor. There was no one really in charge of his medical care (one doctor didn't know what the other was doing) - and if we wanted better care, we had to find our own doctor who could come to the facility, as the facility pointed out they were not responsible for his medical care. When one serious incident occurred, no one at the center would return our phone calls. And so I made the painful decision to try to find a better place to move my husband to, and that is when I found Horizon Bay Memory Care by the Bay care center.
Horizon Bay has been a blessing for both me and my husband. In his first week there, he saw his primary physician (who made immediate med changes and ordered tests for him with results that were immediately acted on), the Horizon Bay-provided home care nurse, (who assessed and organized his individual physical, occupational eating and dressing, and psych therapy needs), and the on-site director of health and wellness, who is managing his nursing staff and daily care and assisting with getting him on the right medication. He has now settled into his bedroom, designed so that the bed faces the open bathroom (no doors to confuse him) and with comfortable furniture and a large window to let the light in. The director of maintenance introduced himself to us the first day and made some adjustments to improve my husband's room. The dining room chef introduced himself and talked about the dining room food choices. All the staff wear clearly identifiable uniforms/badges and are so friendly and helpful. They are both knowledgeable about Alzheimers and very professional. The facility is only 2 years old, but purpose-built for Alzheimers as a part of the Brookdale managed community organization, so this is a stable, well-run organization with a lot of history in senior health care. They are very well-organized and provided us lists, with cell phone numbers, of all their senior staff, doctors and therapists. Their integrated therapy service ensures a thorough approach to my husband's care - I do not have to go find good doctors on my own.
In the time that my husband has been at Horizon Bay Memory Care by the Bay, he has already gone from being "a difficult patient", who was either acting out or so sedated we couldn't wake him, to my husband again... someone who still has severe Alzheimers and limited capabilities, but who can walk and talk with me, share a meal in the dining room, smile and laugh, and hug me and tell me he loves me. He is cleanly dressed and groomed and hardly ever in his room but out socializing with the other residents. There are so many things he can't do now, so our time together is even more precious. I want to know that he will spend the rest of his life in a caring, bright, clean facility with the proper medical care and staffing attention for the best quality of life. I believe Horizon Bay Memory Care by the Bay provides that. Their director of health and wellness said it best - "we don't believe in behaviors - we believe in unmet needs". And with that attitude, they are finding and meeting my husband's needs - and giving me peace of mind for the first time in a very long while. I recommend Horizon Bay Memory Care by the Bay to you highly, if, like me, you face the terrible decision of where to care for your Alzheimer's or other dementias-affected loved one.
