"My husband was a resident of Southern Pines Senior Living. They said they weren't going to put him in the memory care unit because the memory problems seem to be short term, not long term. So, they gave him an apartment in the main building; I was tickled pink about that because we went there a couple times before. We went and ate lunch and everything, he got to meet a few people and he seemed happy there and everything. So, the problem was, he was going to get a studio apartment to begin with, but something happened between when we signed up for the studio apartment. Somebody else moved out and they had a bigger apartment where you had a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. I had to go out and buy some furniture and stuff because I didn't have the furniture from the house to move down there.
But the place was wonderful. It was beautiful. You had freedom, too. You didn't feel like you were locked in, so to speak, like you would have been at the Memory Care Unit. Everybody loved him and he liked it there. He started having some swallowing issues and I had him go through a study and they found out that when he was swallowing, some of the food was going into his lungs. So that's when he got in the hospital and they did that surgery. Once they did that surgery, they told me that they were really sorry, but they couldn't take him back because they don't provide that kind of care for that kind of thing. Everybody was really kind and helpful. They were sad that we were leaving, and we were sad, but that's the way it turned out.
They were all nice. They loved him and he loved them. They do his clothes for him and helped him take a bath. They went in there and helped him get from his room to the main dining room, because it was quite a few yards away from where he was at, and there was more than one way to get there. So, he got shown a shortcut way to get there where he wouldn't have to walk this far; but he enjoyed them, and they enjoyed him. They all came up and hugged me when they knew that we weren't coming back and everything. They were just really sad about it. I'm sad about it too, because I was really excited about him being able to stay up in the main building where he could be around some people and not being just locked up in the memory care unit.
I had several meals there and it was good. Their biggest one was at lunchtime. They had breakfast, but the biggest meal was at lunchtime. Supper time was a lighter meal because they were still full from eating lunch by the time it was supper. They had home baked cookies and stuff like that, and they had little get togethers during the week where they might have some special things going on. Sometimes they had more on crackers and cheese and stuff like that. It wasn't every week thing. They went all out to celebrate Valentine's Day, and they had everything decorated for Easter, all those kinds of things.
They have bingo. One thing special that happened is he got to be friends with one of the maintenance people there. They hit it off really good from the beginning. He told him he would like to ride around some outside because he had hip replacement. He was okay and everything, but he couldn't walk like he once did. So, the guy went up and checked with the administration and asked if it would be okay to take him over across the street to Rose Garden Park. He asked me if I mind, and I said, "No, just be careful with him and everything." So, my husband got taken over to the park a couple of times and he really enjoyed that outing.
I had a little bit of difficulty of understanding it, but you didn't have to sign a contract. I like that part because you never know if something is going to happen. Like what happened with my husband, he had to go and leave before he even been there a month. When that happens, you have to give them a month's notice that you're not coming back. When I gave the notice, he wasn't coming back when they told me they couldn't take him back, I had to still pay for that month he wasn't there for. That kind of upset me because it was not cheap. I asked them, I said, "Can't you give me some break on all the days he wasn't here?" They gave me a little bit of a break, but it wasn't nearly what I wanted it to be. We didn't know what's going to happen, and we weren't aware how long we need to stay in the hospital to get over everything, and then I bought all that furniture. I thought they should give me a break on this because of what I'm having to pay for this month he wasn't here for, but I didn't get much of a break."
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