My mom can be a very bad patient. The fluid has returned to one of her lungs and she's back in the hospital to have it drained. Normally this could be done as an outpatient procedure, but her doctor doesn't trust her to take care of herself -- eat regularly, move regularly, take her meds as prescribed (not when she feels like it or remembers to) -- so he has admitted her.An assisted living facility has been recommended for a week or two, so that she can recover fully under the watchful eyes of nurses. My kid sister and I are trying to convince her that this makes the most sense. We have to face facts -- my mother doesn't listen to her kids. Passive yet very stubborn by nature, she fibs or omits or out-and-out lies, tells us what we want to hear, and then follows a path that causes her harm over the long term. Perhaps she would do better with trained professionals who have seen all the tricks patients typically have up their sleeves.
