Lexington Memory Care

Dr. Jackie (my wife’s doctor) had me looking for a place with a little more understanding about Alzheimer’s. He felt like the facility that my wife was in was just not conducive to Alzheimer’s for a lot of reasons.

It only took one visit to The Breckinridge

How I made the decision (for The Breckinridge) was that I visited there. And I noticed that the staff was primarily mature individuals. They weren’t college kids by any stretch. 

I got there at mealtime and there was a staff member at every table and they were eating the same food that was being served to everyone else. And they were there to help anybody at that table that might need assistance. They were keeping the conversation going and everything. And that was the one big seller to me, because mealtime had been an issue at the other place. 

They Care for the Whole Family

At “the other place”, they would go get my wife at a certain time of day. They would bring her in and set her down for a meal. They would set the meal in front of her, and 10 or 15 minutes later, somebody would come by. And if there was a little bit of food missing, or if she seemed as though she wasn’t going to eat anything, they would take that plate and consider the meal over and take her back to her room or to wherever they wanted her to be.
 
At The Breckinridge, if my wife sleeps till 9:30 in the morning, then, they’ll fix her breakfast and somebody will sit there with her. And if it takes her an hour or an hour and a half to eat it all, then that’s how long they’ll leave her to eat, or watch over her as she’s doing that. 

Good Dementia Training at The Breckinridge

They just have some good training at The Breckinridge from their administrator. She’s so knowledgeable and she can train people. She can pass that knowledge onto the staff. There’s just much better care all the way around.
 
Now, the other facility, when it was time for my wife to take a shower, she would resent that a little bit. These kids, they would push and pull and force and all that stuff. But at this facility, The Breckinridge, as soon as we got there, which has been two or three years ago, showering was a concern of mine. But if my wife doesn’t want to do it right then, they will just simply wait until she is in the mood. Showering became a non-issue, and it had been a major issue at the other place.

The other place did have beautiful chandeliers. You know, it was a great looking, modern place and had a lot of art on the walls, and nice furniture, but that didn’t cut it. It just didn’t cut it. So that’s how we wound up at The Breckinridge. Thank God Dr. Jackie pointed us in that direction. 

Peace of Mind

Having the peace of mind that if they hire a new employee, which we all have to do from time to time for one reason or another, that there’s somebody there that can train that person. That can tell that person how they should act when a patient does this or a patient does that, a resident, or acts this way, that they know what to do. I’m comfortable that even if there is new staff, they’re well-trained, they’re versed on how to deal with dementia. 

Satisfied with this Memory Care Facility

We learned through the school of hard knocks, but we’re so satisfied with this place. Everybody in my family is just tickled to death with it. 

I had narrowed it down to two places (for my brother John) and the kicker was that The Breckinridge really handled John’s entry into their facility during COVID better. And the fact that they have a caseworker, Marie, was really huge. She is excellent. Marie could tell where I was coming from. She could answer every question I had.

Marie spent any amount of time I needed to spend with her. She assured me of things. She assured me of how The Breckinridge operates. She made me feel extremely comfortable that John would be in really good hands. She knew how hard it was, especially during COVID, because I had to put him in there and then know that I couldn’t see him.

And I’ll probably cry if we talk about it too much.

The Breckinridge Memory Care Lexington

John was really starting to struggle. John is 67 and he has Downs. For 66 years he has done fabulously. I don’t know if it was COVID or just coincidental, but he started having delusions that people were getting him and he was starting to have outbursts. But they just assured me that they had seen those things before and they knew how to handle it. They worked with the doctor to get his meds straightened out and get him on a good level. 

But when we first were looking, we disliked the, I, the idea that the rooms were all along the outside of the building and the That was one of my main concerns, to make sure that they regulated his medications, not over-medicated or under-medicated. I’m sure that’s a really tough job to get him at a good level. And they have worked really hard to get John’s meds where they need to be. 

Care and Intuition

One of the nurses is real intuitive and she really picks up on John. And she knows that rather than a whole pill at the first of the day, it’s better to do a half a pill early and a half a pill later. I really appreciate her, she just, I can just tell she gets John. She knows John. She understands where John needs to be. 

Smaller Facility

I like the fact that it’s (The Breckinridge) a smaller facility. I like the fact that they have someone like Marie, who is a caseworker who understands families and needs and clients. And like I said, she was just huge in that process for me.

The facility is tucked away in a neighborhood, not on a busy, main street. I like that. I just feel like everybody knows John, everybody that works there, because it’s a small enough facility that they get to know their clients individually. And I really feel that they all know John, kind of know what his quirks are and what they can and can’t do. 

Highly Recommended

They came highly recommended, that some of them have worked with special needs residents in the past. So that was important for me as well. I also feel from Robin, who is the director, and Marie, that they will be honest with me, that if something needs to change or if something has happened, whatever it is, I feel like they will be honest with me about John – John’s care, John’s future, or any of that kind of thing. 

That’s huge when you can put your confidence in who is taking care of your loved one.

My husband reconnected with a high school friend. They were out to lunch and he told David, my husband, that they had his mother at The Breckinridge and how happy they were with it. We were starting to have issues and knew the time was coming near for Mom to need additional help. So we made an appointment with The Breckinridge and also one other facility.

My brother, Wendy, and I, went and after we toured The Breckinridge, we just stopped. That was it. We knew that that was going to be the right place for Mom.

A Memory Care Facility with Freedom to Garden

We loved the freedom that the residents have to go where they want to go, especially outside. She really used to like going outside and watering in the garden and weeding the garden. And that, that was huge. It really sealed the deal for us because it was so important to Mom to be able to be outside. She was always in her yard planting flowers or weeding when she was able to. It was a very big point of pride for her to be out there and win the award for the neighborhood or whatever, you know. 

They have a handyman, Jimmy, who Mom adores. One thing that they said when we first arrived was, everybody has their job. You have your cooks, you have your handyman, you have your people that do laundry, but their number one priority is patient care. Even though Jimmy was in charge of maintenance and so forth, and the outside, patient care is his number one priority.

Mom adores Jimmy. So when he goes out to do gardening or whatever, Mom will go with him and she will tell him, this needs to be trimmed, that needs to be trimmed, and he says got it. Got it. She’s the straw boss. I like the way they involve everybody.

Interaction and Family Time

They do art day. They get a lot of enrichment that they wouldn’t get at home. They’re not just sitting, watching TV, or whatever. They’re interacting. I like the time of the day when they exercise, we like tea time. We used to visit at tea time because they had great tea-time snacks, nice homemade brownies with ice cream on the side, lemon bars. And no wonder she thinks she’s on a cruise.

They can go to the window in the kitchen, when they’re cooking dinner, they can go to the window and watch and talk to them and they laugh and include them. The window’s huge. They made it even bigger when they remodeled. So mom goes over there all the time to watch. She was always in the kitchen, just hanging out. Seems like that’s where we always hang out anyway, kitchen or the yard. 

A Big Weight Off Our Shoulders

It’s been wonderful to have nursing care because medications at home were a real issue. Dad was not able to provide that on a timely basis. So to have that medication on a timely basis, have physician care, have the nursing staff to watch over her weight, her food intake – it’s phenomenal. That’s been a real plus. It’s been a big weight off our shoulders.

The thing is, she’s safe. She’s emotionally safe. She’s physically safe. She’s medication safe, everything is directed around her. Which is what she loves.