Page 26 - The Jewish Voice - March '23

Page 26, The Jewish Voice

Lifestyles from page 25

for 24/7 home care. For the most part, home health care and a punishment and may try to destroy it and it will take much Wexner, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Ellen Leifer Shulman and
assisted living care must be paid for privately. longer for him to get used to it. Patients can eat, drink, pee, Steven Shulman Digestive Disease Center at Cleveland Clinic
5. The Quality of Care Will Suffer If I Go on Medicaid poop, and sleep with a cone on and absolutely will get used Florida in Weston. “Patients can live long, quality lives after a
While it is certainly true that some nursing homes offer to it. colorectal cancer diagnosis thanks to treatment advancements.”
better care than others, virtually every nursing home in There are some alternatives to an E-collar such as wearing Advanced Surgical Care
Florida accepts Medicaid. The key is gaining admission to a T-Shirt or a “Onesie” to protect wounds or surgery sites. Treatment options for colon and rectal cancers vary
one of the better homes as a Medicare or private pay resident But the decision to use an alternative should be made by your depending upon a person’s health, age and cancer stage. While
before Medicaid ever becomes necessary. If a resident veterinarian, not by you. You trusted them to treat or do surgery surgery is the most common treatment, chemotherapy and
converts to Medicaid following admission, the facility cannot on your pet, so trust them to know what is best during the radiation therapy may be needed as well. The type of surgery
involuntarily discharge the resident or reduce care provided. healing process. A quick note on inflatable “donut” collars. I performed will depend on the extent of the cancer and where
6. I Have to Be Totally Indigent Before I Can Get Help like to call them, “Let’s do the surgery again collars”! They it’s located.
From Medicaid are appropriate for a very limited number of situations and Some patients will require the removal of part or all of the
Medicaid allows recipients to own assets of great value so patients (those with short noses) and will not prevent a pet from colon (colectomy) or rectum (rectal resection). Others may
long as those assets are considered exempt under the eligibility reaching most areas of their bodies. Never replace an E-collar require the removal of both. These procedures can be done
rules. In addition to exempt property, a married couple can own with a donut collar without consulting your veterinarian. during open surgery, through one large incision, or using
non-exempt property valued as high as $148,620. Non-exempt Some pets’ unique body type, size, or shape may require some minimally invasive techniques, which include laparoscopy,
property for a single person is limited to $2,000. ingenuity. If a standard E-collar will not fit, we have made our robotic, and transanal endoscopic surgery through a few small
7. I Must Sell My Home to Pay for Private Nursing Care own with plastic radiographs, buckets, or flower pots, but these incisions.
Your home is the most sacred asset in the Medicaid world cases are rare. “Patients benefit from minimally invasive surgery in many
with equity of $688,000 being exempt when eligibility is The E-collar may need to be cleaned. This can be done ways, including less pain and scarring, a shorter hospital stay, and
determined. So long as your equity is at or below this amount, without removing it. Just use a rag or paper towel with warm quicker recovery,” explains Dr. Wexner, who led the Cleveland
ownership of the home should not complicate Medicaid water and wipe up any food or saliva. If it becomes damaged, Clinic Florida team that pioneered this approach. “Most
eligibility. The limit does not apply if a spouse still lives in small cracks can be repaired with duct tape, etc., or just call importantly, we can perform these less invasive procedures
the home. your veterinarian for a new one. With a little care and patience, while still minimizing the risk for cancer recurrence.”
8. I Would Never Qualify for Medicaid Because my Assets you will get your pet through the short period of healing time Preserving Quality Of Life
Are too Great when the E-collar is required. Advancements in surgical care have made it possible for
Even if your non-exempt assets are currently over the Established in 1981, Palm City Animal Medical Center is many patients to achieve normal bowel habits and bowel
resource limit, it is often possible to achieve eligibility before dedicated to providing the best possible care for your pets. With continence after colorectal surgery. Fewer patients today require
exhaustion of savings with the help of a qualified attorney. focuses on compassionate care in surgery, physical therapy and a permanent colostomy, in which stool is diverted from the lower
Although planning for eligibility can take five years in other rehabilitation, preventative medicine, extensive diagnostics, part of the digestive tract by connecting the end of the colon to
states, eligibility in Florida can usually be achieved much and emergency service, Palm City Animal Medical Center an opening in the belly. Thanks to newer surgical techniques
more efficiently using crisis planning techniques. combines exceptional medical care with a caring philosophy developed and/or refined at Cleveland Clinic Florida, it is more
9. Medicaid Planning Primarily Involves Giving All my for pets and their owners. For more information, call 772-283- common for patients to need only a temporary ileostomy to let
Property to My Children 0920, visit www.palmcityanimalmedicalcenter.com or find us the body rest and heal, rather than a permanent colostomy.
Due to changes affecting how Medicaid penalizes gifts, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PalmCityAnimalClinic. “Preserving and improving the quality of life are always
gifting now plays a smaller role in Medicaid planning. While our top priorities, and the work being done by my colleagues in
careful gifting can still be helpful, Medicaid planning in Living Longer, Living Better Florida, Ohio, London and Abu Dhabi attest to these priorities,”
Florida has never really focused on gifting. Rather, Medicaid After a Colorectal Cancer says Wexner. “For patients with colorectal cancer, that means
planning really focuses on the process of reinvesting savings eliminating their cancer while helping them preserve bowel
in assets that Medicaid considers exempt. Diagnosis continence whenever possible.”
10. The Government will Take Everything from Me if I Cleveland Clinic Florida is home to South Florida’s only
Go on Medicaid An estimated 150,000 U.S. adults will be diagnosed with gastroenterology and gastrointestial surgery program ranked
Florida has an estate recovery program whereby certain sums colorectal cancer this year. Excluding skin cancer, it is the third nationally by U.S. News World Report’s “Best Hospitals”
paid on behalf of a Medicaid recipient will be recovered from most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women each rankings (2022/23). Identified as “high performing” in colon
their estate after death only if there is an asset that is subject to year in the United States. cancer surgery by the magazine, the team offers a full range of
probate. For estate recovery in Florida, homes are exempt even Now for the good news. The advanced treatment options for colon and rectal cancers. The
if owned in another state as long as the recipient claimed the five-year survival rate for colorectal Maroone Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic Florida is an ACS
home as their residence. IRAs are not subject to estate recovery cancer has more than doubled since Commission on Cancer Accredited Program and Cleveland
®
either if there is a person named as the beneficiary. 1970, climbing to 65 percent, due Clinic Florida in Weston was the first in Florida and second in the
If you have questions about your estate plan and what to medical advances and early nation to earn accreditation from the ACS National Accreditation
documents you should have in place to plan your estate, screening. For people with localized Program for Rectal Cancer.
schedule a free consultation today by calling our office at colorectal cancer (stage 1) the Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Department of Colorectal Surgery
561-694-7827, Anné Desormier-Cartwright, Esq., Elder & survival rate is 91 percent. is world-renowned for achieving excellent outcomes and using
Estate Planning Attorneys PA, 480 Maplewood Drive, Suite “Colorectal cancer is both innovative state-of-the-art treatments for colorectal conditions.
3, Jupiter, FL 33458. preventable and highly treatable Learn more at ClevelandClinicFlorida.org/Colorectal or call at
The content of this article is general and should not be relied when we catch it early,” says Steven (877) 463-2010 to schedule a consultation.
upon without review of your specific circumstances by competent
legal counsel. Reliance on the information herein is at your own
risk, as it expresses no opinion by the firm on your specific
circumstances or legal needs. An attorney client relationship is
not created through the information provided herein.
To comply with the U.S. Treasury regulations, we must
inform you that (i) any U.S. federal tax advice contained in
this newsletter was not intended or written to be used, and
cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding
U.S. federal tax penalties that may be imposed on such
person and (ii) each taxpayer should seek advice from their
tax advisor based on the taxpayer’s particular circumstances.
Tip of the Tail

Elizabethan Collars Are a Must! (Sometimes)
An Elizabethan
collar, also called an
E-collar, lamp shade, or
satellite dish, is a plastic
hood or cone placed
around the head to prevent an animal from licking at a surgery
site, wound, or bandage. It is attached to the pet’s usual collar
with strings or tabs passed through holes punched in the sides
of the plastic or just tied around the neck. Every patient doesn’t
need an E-collar for every situation. But there are certain times
when it is without a doubt essential to your pet’s recovery. One
of these situations is eye and eyelid surgeries and wounds,
when a very fine suture is used and the tissue is thin. A pet can
completely destroy a surgery in seconds and require a second
surgery. Another time an E-collar is necessary is when a pet is
a known chewer/licker, witnessed in the veterinary hospital or
at home. If your pet is sent home with an E-collar, use it 24/7
until instructed otherwise.
Leaving the E-collar on at all times is the best way to get
your pet used to it and ensure proper healing. If you take it off
then put it back on when you leave, your pet may take it as