After 8 years of taking care of Mom, we are going on a vacation, just the two of us, for 10 days. My brother has offered to come, alone, and stay with her her in our home and take care of her, our animals, the house, etc. That just blew both of us away. Real estate is and has been his life with no real concerns except his work and rental properties. This will be a real eye opener for him considering he said in the beginning if she goes in a NH put her in one near you.. He said it should not be all that difficult. You haven't truly lived until you have changed your mother's diaper. We have a back up plan in place, just in case. This should give him a new perspective as to our limited lifestyle. Hopefully he will gain an even newer respect for us as caregivers. We will have a great time but worry will always be in the back of our minds. He also said we deserved it and needed to get away by ourselves. Another blow away moment.
You can tell a sibling about caring for your mother, about the fluid accidents, memory loss, rude noises and habits, loss of common sense, outbursts, nodding off, selective hearing, etc. Experiencing them first hand 24/7 is a whole new world. An elderly adult with a 2-4 yr old's mind that can't think for herself. OMG this will be a Guinness record book moment. Pray for us all.
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I hope your brother appreciates you more after this but in my experience they dont get as stressed as they can still head home and have thier life back.
Just enjoy your time and dont worry! i am more worried about my cat as ive never been away from him for this long!! but you have to force yourself to swtich off!
have a great time!