James R. Locke, M.S.

James R. Locke, M.S.
Geriatric Consultant/Mediator

James Locke is a former Probate Court Investigator and Probate Manager with the Sacramento Superior Court. Prior to his public service, Mr. Locke worked with a Law Firm specializing in Social Security Disability. Jim is well versed in current Medicare and Med-Cal issues. Mr. Locke has a master's degree in clinical counseling. Early in his career he was a family counselor in the Family Crisis Intervention Unit of the Contra Costa County Probation Department where he acquired valuable knowledge and experience mediating family disputes and cries. In addition to the extensive training in Probate law, elder issues and accounting requirements received while working for the court, Mr. Locke has also taken certified postgraduate courses in adult development, physiological psychology and cognitive basis of behavior, all with the emphasis on geriatric issues such as Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

GOLDEN QUILL AWARD

I am not affiliated with any other business, agency or facility. I do not accept any commission or referral fee from any source that I may refer you to.

My Own Case
My wife, Karen, and I have faced many of the same issues and problems trying to care for our parents, raise our son, and keep our jobs that you may be experiencing. For several years we had four generations living under the same roof.

Karen's grandmother lived with us for about ten years. She was living alone in Portola, a small town north of Truckee. During the winters she would stop eating and drinking. After she was hospitalized with dehydration the family decided that she should start spending the winters with us. This worked well for a few years but it became clear that she needed someone to remind her to eat and to take her medications year round. She then moved in with us permanently. Nannie had two daughters who could also take over when my wife needed a break or we were going out of town. Nannie was never a bother. She was alert and able to bathe and dress herself without assistance. There were some issues with trying to get her to eat and to go to the doctor. Nannie often helped around the house. I tell people that I wore the same pair of underpants for a whole year, because after I went to bed she would wash the clothes and I would find them clean and folded on my dresser in the morning. She was active and spry until she had a stroke in our kitchen. She died three days later in the hospital at the age of 93.

Karen’s mother survived inflammatory breast cancer for seven years. She lived with us for about five of those years. After the initial diagnosis Karen had to take her mom to chemo or the doctor once or twice a week for about four months. This was followed by a double mastectomy, radiation therapy and then more chemo. She lived with us for that first year. She then returned to her own home and job as a caretaker for an elderly man for a while. After her client started requiring more care than she could provide she moved in with us for most of the next six years.

During this time Karen had to take off a lot of time from her job. Fortunately she had an employer who was able to accommodate this. But there was no one else to do her work so she had to work late at the office or at home in the evenings and she put in a lot of weekends.

One huge issue for her family was the cost of the medications she had to take to slow the advance of the cancer. Medicare did not cover these drugs. When we discovered that she as only taking half doses in order to save money her children agreed to each pay for a third of the meds each month. After five years she was declared cured and was taken off the meds. The cancer soon returned.

The last two years were hard. She was in almost constant pain. She worried about being a burden to my wife. Karen was constantly torn between caring for her mother and doing her job.

Karen’s mother received hospice care for the last two weeks of her life. She died in her bedroom in our home with her three children gathered around her. She was 76.

My mother died about twelve years ago from lung cancer. She was in intensive care for over a month after the surgery did not go well. During this month my son was born. My mother never saw her only grandchild.

After my mother died my father was living alone in Fremont. My brother had lunch with him almost every week and I called him frequently. We had him visit our house one or two weeks every few months. We both always asked if he was taking his medications. He always said that he took them “just like clockwork,” but neither of us actually checked his medications. One night about three years ago I received a phone call from my brother. He just got off the phone with a fireman who was at my father’s house. A neighbor had called 911 when my father did not answer the door. He had collapsed in the house. He had had a TIA or mini-stroke. He was later diagnosed with congestive heart failure. When we looked at his pill bottles we could see that he had not refilled his prescriptions in over five months. It was clear that he was no longer going to be able to live by himself. My two brothers and I decided that the time had come for dad to move in with my family.

He lived with us for about a year. It was harder for us than when Karen’s mom and grandmother lived with us. My mother had always taken care of him. He expected Karen to do the same thing. He acted as if he was helpless. He could not even clear his dishes from the table. After one time where he grabbed my son Connor became afraid of him. We think that he had another mini-stroke because he quickly became confused and then incontinent. We could no longer leave him alone during the day. My brothers and I agreed that the time had come to place him in an assisted living facility.