It is heartbreaking. I have no words. My son and I visited this afternoon.
Tag Archives: Elderly Parents
Jess- 3 Days Post Cheat Day & 3 lbs Down: Keto Over 40- The Stress & Obese Teen Edition
Down another half pound since Monday morning- 161 lbs or about 3 lbs lost of cheat day weight (half)
11 lbs gone in 16 DAYS- down from 14 lbs in 12 days
Wearing my 26 yr old junior college sweatshirt and it fits!
It’s been a very stressful week. My 3 yr old is sick again with croup, my mother was just moved into assisted living, and other things like stress eating and exercise.
Trying to get my very overweight 19 yr old son with Aspergers into keto and yoga with me- very worried about his health. He is 5’10 and 276 now. Today will be his first day.
Court or No Court? Consent or No Consent? Panic Attack or No Panic Attack? PLUS UPDATE and VLOG
Trying not to have a panic attack right now… woke up to a call from the social worker at the psych ward my mother is currently in. Apparently, she can’t tell me much, due to some confusion as to whether or not my mother has given consent to release information.
HIPAA law is an asshole, in my opinion, at this very moment.
I am her POA (Power of Attorney). I’ve been having her ‘flag down’ a nurse every time I talk to her to give VERBAL CONSENT on the telephone since she’s been in this facility.
We did not have this type of runaround at Pine Rest, so it is very frustrating.
Things my mom’s current social worker DID/was able to tell me:
1. No, my parents aren’t compelled to divorce as per the group home owner’s questioning.
2. She is compiling a list of ‘safer’ homes that would be (in their mind) a better fit. AFC homes aren’t locked facilities. The doctor recommends a locked facility right now, as she is not stable on meds.
3. When I asked about the paper I received last night re: the mental health court hearing on the 6th, I was told that I should contact the court house- specifically a person in the probate court that the hospital itself deals with.
Apparently, there may not even BE a court hearing that day, as she was given 3 options and one was to waive the hearing- which would mean she would be agreeing to treatment.
UPDATE:
Left a message with the guy the social worker directed me to and received a call back. He confirmed that my mother had indeed met with her court-appointed lawyer the other day and signed a waiver agreeing to comply with medical treatment… when I asked if this means I should still pursue the guardianship or not, I was told to absolutely do so.
Now I have to go to visitation tonight and have her sign a written consent form to allow these people to talk to me.
I am really anxious about this, all of it.
Pursuing guardianship is a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. I do already make almost all of the health decisions and do the legwork for my parents, but not in any official sort of capacity. My sisters don’t want the responsibility- they live far away and are very ill themselves.
Leaving guardianship up to a stranger would be unhumane and irresponsible, in my opinion.
I am going to vlog the rest. This is too much too type for me this early in the morning.
Dealing with Psych Wards, Dementia, Courthouses, and Guardianship
It’s too much to type for me right now- super overwhelmed, but here’s my vlog:
Guilt and Waking Up at 3 am
Tonight I didn’t answer the phone when my mother called repeatedly from the psych ward at Lakeland.
I wanted to have one night this week where we could pretend life was ‘normal’ and not falling down around our heads- so that we could all enjoy Halloween and not spend it crying.
She left a ton of messages on my voicemail, each wondering if I knew she was in the hospital.
I woke up abruptly from sleep,with this huge sense of dread and guilt weighing heavily upon me. I wouldn’t even call it guilt- it was remorse. Stomach churning, benign neglect of another human being. I have been doing this a lot lately- just to try to save my own sanity- and it makes me ill inside.
I could tell that she didn’t remember her previous calls and it scared me. I could clearly hear the panic and confusion in her voice, the not remembering part… and it was heartbreaking.
What a difference it was from our visit with R’s 93 year old grandmother tonight! She lives alone and is only a bit forgetful, but otherwise sharp as a tack. It almost served as a painful foil, a bittersweet contrast.
My mother is 20 years younger than Nana. This monster that has consumed her entire life, seems to be now eating away at her brain, like pac man.
It is hard to distinguish the bipolar, the mental illness, from the dementia- she is so clever and sad and angry and anxious and lonely. She is still HER inside of her core and it is going away bit by bit.
Tomorrow, I finally head to the courthouse to apply for guardianship. We had been ill (and I’ve been depressed) since the previous week, so it hasn’t been done yet.
If you ask me how I feel, I’d say so sad. I feel as if this is my lot to bear, not because I truly love or respect or even feel like she was or is my parent- but because she is my parent, I have to do this. I don’t know if this makes any sense to anyone else.
I would never want my children to feel the same apathy that I do about my parents. All of this, including Maisie being born so recently, has given me a second chance to re-examine my relationships with my family, myself, and those around me.
Unfortunately, I come up lacking in so many regards, but I know I can fix ME. I can’t fix her or my dad or my siblings.
I wish I could make them love me or me them, really.
I wish I had a magic wand to fix this for everyone.
My only solace is giving my 2 youngest kids the magical childhood- as much as I can- and love that I wish I would have had myself.
I thought I felt better today… and I do… but I am kind of upset to have woken up crying at 3 am, sad all over again and typing.
The people who know me in real life know that I am not prone to being this weepy mess- so it is really bothering me to feel this raw and exposed.
So, like any brave Aquarian would- I’m going to go with it and try to learn to love me and be authentic.
If anyone else is going through similar, I want you to know you’re not alone.
xo
