My 102 year old mother fell and broke her hip in early July. She had surgery and has been in a rehab facility. She has made little progress mostly because of her attitude. The care team decided she should probably move into the long term care area where they could continue to work with her. My mother only cares about two things, going back to her house and screaming to the heavens for father. I have spent every single day of the last two years caring for her. I begged her to allow me to bring help in the home to aid her walking, bathing, etc. She refused. She fell down and the rest is history. Yesterday when we tried to move her she became violent trying to strike the physical therapist and an aide. They stopped the move, but I am now waiting for the call or letter telling me they have strict rules about residents hitting employees. My mother said things yesterday I couldn’t believe or forgive. My wife who works in the medical field tried to reason with her to no avail. My mother kept screaming I will fight all of you. I am not going in assisted living. I am going back to my house. I don’t need anyone there with me. This from somebody who cannot stand and needs help doing everything. I am so tired of dealing with her. If she had her way I would be living with her and taking care of her. She said to me you are no son of mine. You should be taking care of me either in my home or hers. Neither home is set up to accommodate a wheelchair. I am ready to resign as her power of attorney and have the court appoint a guardian.
Last time she talked was when I asked her my name, and she said her sister
s name, and I said No.. That was the last time she spoke...
It's hard, very hard, and you need to know YOUR BOUNDARIES. If you know you cannot take care of her and that is not in the best interest for her, you get her into a place near you, so you can visit with her often.
Know, that is okay.. Your mom has interests, and if you find the right facility, they may find fun things for mom to do... Bingo, games, trivia, art, activities, dance, music, etc etc...
If you think it may be better, get a doctor to say she is not allowed to live alone and she needs to move into a safe environment.
Mom was always one who would give you the food from her kitchen, the clothes off her back if she felt you needed it. But she was stubborn. I cared for her for about 2 to 3 years and still handled her home/finances after she was admitted. A week before her death, my husband was diagnosed with dementia leading to alzheimers. I am exhausted and know the time is quickly approaching when he will need more than I can give. He does get violent at times and all the guns were removed from our home because he is constantly plotting my death. He now just sits and stared at the tv and smokes. His muscles are failing from disuse, his glaucoma has taken all but about 10% of the sight from one eye. I am seeing the same thing with him as you are, I am trying not to feel guilty for being exhausted and wondering when if ever I will have a life. We can't take care of our loved ones if we don't have help and take care of ourselves first. You are not selfish, you are practical. I wish you the best. Don't let it destroy you. She needs a lot of care. And our children are not supposed to be our caregivers. We have made pre-arrangements for ourselves which include a nursing home. Please talk to her dr.
I just got home from a very horribly stressful visit with my 92 year old mother who lives in Memory Care. She was in a fit-to-be-tied mood and argued with every single word I said. She wound up saying she'd be 'moving out and walking the streets' so I trotted right into the Executive Director's office to have a little chat with her about mother's behavior. The ED trotted right into mother's room to have a little chat with HER, which kind of let ME off the hook a bit, because now, someone else was taking responsibility for her, if you catch my drift. But hey, I get to go home after such a visit because she is paying $6400 a month for others who are trained properly to care for her and assist her with 100% of everything she does.
If my mother lives to 102 I shall literally SHOOT myself and I'm not kidding. God bless you for all you've done, and continue to do, for your mother. Please, my friend, get her placed NOW before YOU wind up being the one to go before HER.
She is 102! Wow. Do you know that only 0.0173% of the population live to be 100? She is lucky to have a son who cares about her well being and will find a clean, safe, qualified long term care facility to make sure she gets what she needs during her time left on this earth.
Don't feel guilty Jim. Take care.
I think it's important for you to remember that at 102, I'm sure she doesn't have the all of her faculties. When she says hurtful things and you are seeing your Mom saying them, it's hard to remember that mentally, she isn't really "Mom". Her not allowing doctors to take care of her and not having the abilities to take care of herself (which I'm sure doctors have signed off on) means that as POA, you can make the decisions for her and whether or not she likes them is, at this point, irrelevant.
Don't feel guilty about getting her into a LTC facility. It's where she needs to be for sure, whether or not she believes it to be so. She's not the first combative patient places like this have had and maybe once she realizes that this is the way it is, she will be less combative.
Hang in there, Jim. It's so hard, I know. While I'm not in the same boat as you, yet, I'm at the dock waiting to get in my own boat. It's hard, some days moreso than others. I hope, if you just know in your heart that you are doing the best for her because she no longer can, that will make your decisions easier. Prayers to you.