Why Couldn't Katie Go Home?

One of my Grandmother's greatest fears was to die in a nursing home.

For months prior to my Grandmother's passing, I begged her conservator, Mr. Herb Thomas and her attorney, Mr. Bruce Feder to allow her to go home with 24 hour care.

I had done hours and hours of research regarding the benefits of in-home care versus nursing home care and found that in-home care was overwhelmingly recommended by experts in this particular field.  There was absolutely no reason why Katie could not go home.  The care she receieved in the nursing home could have been done in her own home.  The cost?  Who really cares how much it would have cost.  She had the money to pay for it!

One of Mr. Bruce Feder's clients, his biggest client, provides in home care services.

Mr. Herb Thomas' company provides in home care services.

WHY DID THEY LET MY GRANDMOTHER DIE IN A NURSING HOME?

WHY COULDN'T KATIE GO HOME?

Always in My Heart

Those we love remain with us, for love itself lives on.

Cherished memories never fade because a loved one's gone.

Those we love can never be more than a thought apart.

For as long as there are memories, they'll live on in

our heart.

Picture this....

A non-profit organization with offices in several bay area cities and/or counties.  This non-profit group provides services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, immigrants, people with financial problems and much more.

People learn of the services provided by this organization in a variety of ways.  For example, the exhausted daughter of an Alzheimer's patient searches the Internet because she needs help just a few hours a week, the sister of a disabled man who was has been caring for her brother since a surgery that left him partially paralyzed 3 years ago learns of this organization from a family friend, an immigrant is referred to this non-profit for mental health issues, a caring neighbor calls because they are concerned about the man next door.

Appointments are scheduled, assessments are completed and recommendations are made.  This organization wants to do what is best for its new clients.  You know, help them!

Coincidentally, within the San Francisco Superior Court system, conservators are appointed for incapacitated seniors, people with disabilities, immigrants with mental health issues, people who cannot manage their finances and much more.

Once someone is placed in a conservatorship in San Francisco (or any place else for that matter), they will absolutely need an attorney to look after their overall best interests.  They will also need a conservator and the conservator will also need an attorney of their own.

Conservator Story One:  Since the conservator has been appointed to protect the interests of the conservatee, the conservator makes it a top priority to review the estate planning documents.  "Oh look!  The current trustee has breached her fiduciary duty," claims the conservator.  "I will have my attorney petition the court to obtain a order making me the successor trustee and replace that financially abusive trustee."  The financially abusive trustee just happens to be the daughter of the conservatee.

Conservator Story Two:  On the other side of town, a different conservator visits another home and states that the partially paralyzed conservatee needs 24 hour care even though the conservatee's sister has been caring for him for the past 3 years with the help of occasional respite care.  It seems he won a sizable malpractice lawsuit following a surgery gone bad and received a very sizable settlement.  This is duly noted in the conservator's notebook!  What the conservator does not include in her notes is that the brother obviously adores his sister.  With visions of conservator fees dancing in her head, the conservator calls APS and reports the sister for abuse.  She is eventually removed from the home.  Her brother is devastated!  The sister puts up a valiant effort to get her brother back, but never sees him again.

Conveniently enough, the non-profit organization with offices in several Bay Area cities and/or counties that provides services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, immigrants, people with financial problems and much more is a professional conservator.  They also provide at home care for seniors.  Conveniently, they employ all the caregivers, too.  This organization is even affiliated with a cleaning service that will come in a few times a month to clean the conservatee's house.  They employ a staff of mental health consultants and offer their clients access to a food pantry.  One stop conservator shopping!

An example of a typical monthly invoice might include the following services all conveniently provided by the non-profit organization with offices in several Bay Area cities and/or counties that provides services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, immigrants, people with financial problems and much more:

1.  fees for the attorney of the conservatee

2.  fees for the conservator who just happens to be the non-profit organization with offices in several bay area cities and/or counties that provides services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, immigrants, people with financial problems and much more

3.  fees for the attorney

4.  fees for the caregivers

5.  petty cash fund for the caregivers

6  charges for bi-monthly cleaning service

Believe it!  There really is a non-profit organization with offices in several bay area cities and/or counties. This non-profit group provides services for seniors, people with disabilities, children, immigrants, people with financial problems and much, much more.

The stories were realistic figments of my imagination!

In Loving Memory

Just close your eyes and you will see,

All the memories that you have of me.

Just sit and relax and you will find,

I'm really still there inside your mind.

Don't cry for me because I have gone away,

God called to me, and I could not stay.

There is no pain, there is no fear.

So dry away that silent tear.

Don't think of me in the dark and cold,

For here I am no longer old.

I'm in that place that's filled with love,

Known to all of you as UP ABOVE!

Catherine Rose DeMartini

April 13, 1912 - April 19, 2011

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