If you knew then what you know now, would you still be a caregiver to your parents?

I am the OP. Just an update. I went on Monday to see my new heart specialist. I like him. He seems very knowledgeable and he is kind.

I have to start taking my health more seriously. I did tests. More tests lined up. My primary doctor said my lab work was off. Taking different meds. Changed dosage on some meds. So we are working on getting things in balance. Lots of follow up visits scheduled. Big step for me because I am not one to run to the doctor. I hate going but I cannot neglect myself any longer.

Stress is a killer! Not eating properly, or should I say, skipping eating isn’t good for me, so I need to change that too. Not getting enough rest because of caring for mom for so long. Caregiving absolutely takes it’s toll on us.

I had this dumped in my lap which made it more stressful for me. Like many people in New Orleans mom was left homeless after Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home. That is how she came to live with us. There was no time to plan anything. The city was in mayhem after Katrina.

I must say I was not properly prepared for any of this. In spite of dearly loving my mom it would never have been what I would have wanted in my life, 14 years and counting of caring for mom in my home.

Has been a long winding road for both mom and my family. Lots of bumps in the road as well. I am still looking at alternative solutions and trying to care for my own health needs. Takes time. I thank God for a loving and supportive husband.

My heart sincerely goes out to every single caregiver on this site. Hugs to all of you for being there for me. I appreciate it so very much!

If I knew what I know now, way back when, I would have left the country to get away from both my parents. They near destroyed me and my life. They are both gone now, but I've had to wait until I'm in my mid 60's to start living.

I have been taking care of my mother for atleast 10 years now and she lives with me. This arrangement has cause Depression and anxiety and I am exhausted and stressed out just about everyday. I love her dearly, but knowing what I know now, I would have moved far away and written my father while he was still alive and ask him to make arrangements for themselves because I have to work long after the official retirement age. And hopefully, he would have made the proper arrangements instead of leaving me alone with her 24/7 care and total isolation. No it may sound selfish, but it is reality.

No, I wouldn't. When my mom came to live with me and my two children (12 and 17), she wasn't driving anymore but other than that, we thought she was fairly stable. It wasn't long before we started noticing things like her forgetting to turn off lights, appliances, or faucets, not being able to handle her own paperwork/mail, constant health issues, and finally the wandering and auditory hallucinations. Her personality also changed and she became combative over small issues. She'd call my brother and sister as well as friends and other family members and tell them how she hated living with us and we were "mean" to her. While I was going through it, I gave it my best shot and tried to support her in every way I could, but nothing I did was good enough. We lived like that for 5 years and my kids, although they love their grandma and did a lot for her, couldn't take much more. I can say honestly that it's much better being her daughter again than being her caregiver - it just wasn't possible to be both.

Yes I would do it again. However I should have had all my mother's legal documents checked by an attorney. NEVER BECOME THE CARE TAKER UNLESS YOU HAVE POWER OF ATTORNEY OVER ALL FINANCIAL AND HEALTH CARE DECISIONS. Being caretaker is hard enough without having an uninvolved sibling having control over any decisions. If they will not give up control make them the caretaker.

If I could rewind the clock I would..taking care of my parents has ruined my life. Siblings disappear...they don’t help. And nobody gets it. I’m alone, exhausted, broke, nothing left. They have literally sucked the life out of me. I have no energy left to even pick up and leave...and go where? I will be dead way before them. The depression alone and isolation are going to kill me. The hurt is to intense to explain. I wish I were dead.

Never. I stupidly never saw this as a possibility. Thinking back , why would I? All I know , is this situation is bad, even with help. Aides coming in twice a week to bathe her. 24/7 with dementia is what some one on Dr Oz called domestic terrorism. My husband, daughter and myself are not able to combat demented behaviors every single hour of every day, but currently that’s what we are doing. Not combat, but deal with, and reassure. My mother is third on a waiting list for memory care. I know this is absolutely necessary.

People will never truly understand it unless they do it themselves, right? I know I didn’t have a clue how hard it was going to be.

If I had known then *everything* that I know now, having been on that learning curve, then yes. Probably. But only because armed with all that information I would have made a much better job of it, better for my mother, better for me, less damaging to other relationships.

But would I go through those years again? Would I recommend our choices to anyone else? ROFL! - No.

No, definately would do things altogether differently! My FIL came to live with us, just as we got our last child (of 4) independant and out on her own at 21, and only days after we had buried my own Mother and My Dad and MIL all in the previous 14 months, we just were not thinking clearly, still suffering extreme grief, which I never got to properly address.

FIL living with us X 13 continued through his natural decline into old age, and we should have forced him into Independant Senior living right from the get go. The Toll it took on our family, our marriage, was just too much especially those last years until his last major illness (Cancer) and his death on Hospice care, us caring for him, dying in our home.

We still and Always would have been there supporting him along the way, but we definately did him and ourselves a diservice by not encouraging him to stay active and amongst his peers, and which would have alowed us to have better boundries and more control over our own lives. Live and learn, I wish I had found this forum 15 years ago!