A few guys will have somewhere to go. A few won’t. There will probably be a Christmas dinner for those with no place to go. Right now I have a place to go. I don’t know about the future. There are expected cutbacks in mental health funding in my state and we may have to take the cheapest meds available for us. I can accept some psychosis now but I don’t know what will happen if I’m put on different drugs. I also wonder if the rent will rise. Merry Christmas.
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I didn’t know you live in a group home… I considered it… what’s it like?
I like the security but I miss some of the freedom of my former apartment to the extent it existed. I lived in a dangerous part of town in that apartment and couldn’t go out much. The worst part is now I have diabetes and the group home doesn’t have a diabetes program outside of a “portions diet”. I can help the situation as we can buy some food of our own for snacks and when the staff doesn’t cook a meal. However the only cooking we can do is through using the microwave. Also they usually don’t make desserts.
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You mean they don’t provide you 3 meals a day? I’m a diabetic, type 2, and have to eat 5 to 6 small meals to keep it, my gastroparesis, and pancreatitis in check.
Sometimes they have us eat sandwhiches which we fix ourselves. So I try to have whole grain bread which I have to buy for that. I also buy a meal for when they have cereal in the morning since it all has sugar in it. I use the snacks for the other meals. Some of my old expenses are saved by the transportation provided for doctor’s appointments, stores, and other things.
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Well, that sucks. It sounds like they need an education, ey?
Some of the workers have diabetes and are sympathetic. Others don’t as much. Overall however the most limiting factors are when they try to save a buck or the stigma of the illnesses we have.
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I’ll keep that in mind, when considering a group home, in the future.
I hope you have a great Christmas, hon! Take care.
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Lautuda is a good medication, and it’s cheap.
I took Latuda and it wasn’t good for me.
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I live in a group home too. It’s not a resort, but it isn’t bad. Sometimes you can get some bad elements in these places, and it can kind of change the atmosphere, but those people generally don’ stick around for long. For the most part, they aren’t bad. They do things differently in each place. We had six internet computers at our clubhouse, but three of them got broken. We had a Christmas party yesterday where we got gifts that staff selected for us. I got a 128 gigabyte flash drive. I love it. There can be large differences in the amount of structure in these places. We usually go to our clubhouse from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm Monday thru Friday. I have briefly been in some of these places that have more structure. You might be able to find one of these places that has a diabetic program. If you’re thinking about getting into one of these places you might be able to check it out.
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I don’t live in a group home, but seriously considered it, recently. There seems to be a lot for men, in my locale. I would hate to have to change docs. It was hearing about the lack of privacy that helped me make my decision. I’m very private.
I’m glad you are pleased with your gifts. Sometimes, it’s the small things that matter most.
Merry Christmas!!
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I lived in a group home from 1990-95.
Except for one month when I was looking for a new job, I was employed the entire time I was there.
The couple who ran it bought everybody presents every year at Christmas. I knew that out of 15 people that only one other guy worked. I was not popular but I had no enemies and I often sat on the porch with everybody drinking Cokes but I only had one real friend. It was OK because I was gone a lot anyways.
Each year since no one else really had a lot of money, I bought one Christmas present for each resident. I would buy food gifts or cd’s or a case of soda, etc. But my last year there, I got realy pissed at them because money was tight and all I could afford was two pairs of socks each. And people who had been there awhile were used to me buying better presents and I heard people grumbling and complaining that
“all they got” was socks. When not one person there had ever bought me anything. I thought they were pretty ungrateful. You just can’t be nice to some people.
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Latuda is about $1200 a bottle. Definitely not cheap.
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Not like that in the UK, it is about £18 for a 30 pill prescription.
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Don’t you have universal health insurance there? The cash price is about $1200.
I get it for free though from the VA.
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No, in England we pay for our medication. Nothing like the health system in the US though. You guys seriously have some messed up prices.
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My schizophrenic Uncle was in the military and had all of his needs taken care of after he got sick. So he let his disability, and monthly military payments build up in his bank account. My father used much of his inheritance after my Uncle died for dental work, and then gave some of it to me and my brothers. Since I was on SSI it was more of a hassle as I had to keep my bank account below $2,000 and I had little idea on how to spend the extra money. I had a similar problem when my father died in spite of his income being greatly eaten up by cancer costs. Joining the military has its perks.
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Have a merry Christmas blizzard. I once lived in a board and care for three years and spent Christmas there cause I was living abroad at the time. I really missed my family at Christmas.
I miss the military. The brotherhood (and sisterhood) you shared with the others was special. Everyone had your back. And you had theirs. The benefits are nice. A lot of people complain about the VA and I have insurance too and don’t have to use them but I do.
I get free dental care from them too.
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