My mom had open heart surgery a couple of years ago and she also has congestive heart failure. I had to leave my life behind in New York to come care for her in Virginia a few months ago. My brother doesn’t help her (he steals from her and only “helps” from time to time. Her boyfriend doesn’t really care for her but she claims he does. I am the one there for my mom always, she treats me like dirt and also drinks bottles of wine constantly. She also drinks a lot of water like there is no tomorrow, plus having large cups of coffee which causes her fluid to build up. Which then resorts to her going to the hospital constantly so she can get the fluid down. Her doctors told her to limit her liquid intake but she doesn’t listen. I tell her to limit her intake but, she tells me to shut the f**k up and mind my business. When her legs get swollen and she can’t fit her clothes she curses at me and yells and screams how life isn’t fair, and why does she have to live like this. In all fairness she does this to herself. I spoke to my aunt (her sister) and we think it would be best for my mom to go to a nursing home. I feel bad and wish she can live a normal life but if she keeps making the same decisions over and over nursing home it is. Does that make me a bad daughter to just throw her in a home?
Your mom is of sound and competent mind.
You also cannot change your mom. She is exceptionally young to be in such severe heart failure, and your knowledge of the disorder is lacking.
You have now left a job and where you lived to care for someone who doesn't need and won't thrive with your care.
If you are living with her you could end up homeless and jobless yourself, so it's time to get all the knowledge about this you are able.
FIRST I would caution you NOT to take on being POA for your mother.
She isn't cooperative, and trying to "get her" to do ANYTHING will be impossible.
She is what we in medicine call "non-compliant", meaning she will not cooperate in/for her own best interests.
SECOND Your mother is allowing your brother to steal her money. Soon enough she will have none, and will be dependent on the state and federal government for minimal care.
This spells disaster for her, and once again, there is absolutely NOTHING you an do about this.
THIRD You have a very poor understanding of CHF. You need to look it up online-- what it is, what causes it and what can be done about it. The amount of fluid and what fluid mom takes in is relatively unimportant. The fact is that her body cannot handle fluid as a body must. CHF means Congestive Heart Failure. Those last two words are key. The heart has failed and is no longer a good pump. It can't basically pump fluid through the system for elimination through the kidneys. There is nothing to be done about that other than medications to help eliminate fluid buildup, and medications to replace the electrolytes washed out with said diuretics.
If fluid builds in legs and abdomen it is right heart failure.
If in the lungs, causing shortness of breath and inability to lay flat and breathe well, then it is left heart failure which may quickly become deadly without treatment.
Some patients critically have both left and right heart failure.
Non compliant patients do not thrive with a disease this serious. They do not long survive.
FOURTH It sounds as though your mother has a drinking problem. This is again something you can do nothing about other than to attend Al-Anon sessions.
This is unlikely to change.
FINALLY You need to get on with your life.
There is nothing you can do here but supply your mother with phone numbers for emergency help. She is young still (my daugher's age, in fact).
She will make her own decisions. Don't throw yourself on the funeral pyre of someone who has made these choices in her life. You will never hear what you long to hear which is that you are a wonderful daughter who she just loves so much and who is such a wonderful help to her. And she is unlikely to change her ways.
Get out of the home, get your own place and your own job, help a little with shopping or whatever, and otherwise steer clear of this completely. Do not interfere. Do not offer advice.
I am so dreadfully sorry, but Dr Laura is correct: Not everything can be fixed. You didn't cause this and you cannot change it.
Next time she checks out of the hospital, you won’t be there. If no one will take responsibility for her, she’ll need to be placed by the hospital. That may be the only way for mom to get the help she needs.
Leaving her would probably be the biggest favor you could do for mom. But be advised that she isn’t likely to get better no matter what anyone does for her. She’s an addict who has chosen her path.
Merry Christmas to you.
Go back to NY. She's only 63 and can obviously make her own (poor) decisions.
Go home and leave mother to her boyfriend, her mooching son and her own poor choices. If she winds up in Skilled Nursing care, it won't be for you "throwing" her in there, as NONE of us children do, in reality. It will be for a crisis situation where the hospital or rehab refuse to release her to live independently again.
When a parent is placed in Skilled Nursing care, it's because they can no longer function on their own and/or have dementia bad enough that it's too dangerous for them to live alone.
Focus on your life and livelihood. So many people have ended up homeless with no income messing around with these people.
Get in touch with Al-Anon. There are phone and electronic meetings all over the world. The drinking on your mother's part has taken over her life.
You can't want someone's rescue more than they want it themselves. You aren't responsible for her happiness. You can't keep wanting her to be someone she isn't, never was and never will be.
This doesn't make you a bad daughter at all. It makes you a wise person with healthy boundaries. If you stay to insist on "helping" it would make you a groomed daughter, a dysfunctional daughter.
Also please consider that if you keep inappropriately inserting yourself into her life and affairs, it will delay her getting help from social services in her county. She's an alcoholic. Stay away from her unless she becomes sober and stays sober. Then you maybe can consider a relationship with her. But seek counseling for yourself first (BetterHelp.com) or attend Al-Anon meetings.
If you feel terrible about her situation, this is grief, not guilt. You've done nothing wrong so never feel guilty. She is choosing this and insisting upon it. We can't choose our family but we can choose how (or if) we interact with them. May you receive peace in your heart as you move onward and upward.
While she is in the hospital speak with the Social Worker and tell her what you have said here. Ask if Mom can be evaluated for 24/7 care. If its found she needs it and no one has POA, ask that the State take over her care. If they find she can take care of herself, then go back to school. Ask that she be helped with resources. Maybe someone to come in a few hours a day.
With a mother with this mind set, it will not be easy to care for her. Especially since she is not willing to care for herself. You trying to care for her will be futile and looks like all you will get from your effort is abuse. Go back to school. If Mom is sent home you can call APS every so often for a well check.
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