Hello from the 7th circle of hell! My mom was an only-child, and I am an only-child. My mom ghosted 15 years ago. I have been my grandma's only caregiver on 24/7 duty for the last 10 years.
I didn't know then what I know now. "Caregiver" was not a job I applied for & accepted with a full understanding of the job's requirements, the employer's requirements, and a mutual understanding of employment termination processes.
I was just a granddaughter that truly cared and adored her grandma in the years before I learned the term "covert/vulnerable narcissist" and that my grandma is one.
My grandma's an 88-year-old with Congestive Heart Failure & Atrial Fibrillation. No history of stroke or heart attack. And I'd argue her heart has failed her in more than one way... zero empathy. Zero compassion. But she's ever so diligent at assigning me the worst character with the worst motivations... especially around anyone else that can offer her pity. She loves herself some pity.
And in our MANY "conversations" about her poor hygiene and stubborn refusals to exercise, I've gotten the privilege of learning how every positive memory I've ever shared with her was a gaslight. She hated every dinner at a fine restaurant where I would treat her... every shopping trip... every movie that had always been my treat.
It's great learning that someone you've served for 10 years and befriended your whole adult life... hates you and has always hated you.
And I'm just loving her daily habit of taking a sharp knife to all the war wound scars of all my life's traumas to tell me what a POS I've always been in response to me requesting her take some personal responsibility for her strength and hygiene.
It's so nice to have someone that knows every single thing about me since the day I was born never let me live down anything while giving me the full credit for every disaster. Of course it was my fault my dad abandoned me when I was 6-years-old! I was a "demon in the womb".
Me: "Grandma you should brush your teeth. You've been complaining about that toothache. It might help."
Grandma: "You've always been a demon."
Awww. Such sweet memories we're building.
She's not been diagnosed with dementia. In fact, her last hospital stay I was told she had a pretty clear mind & "didn't need to go to a nursing home". But I must've got 5 calls making sure I was going to come get her.
I. Want. Out. Of. This.
I'm not her power of attorney (except on her bank account to pay her bills, buy her groceries, etc..). I'm not her legal guardian, and I don't want to be either.
She's refusing to go to doctor's appointments. She's refusing to go to a dentist. She's refusing personal hygiene. But she doesn't refuse a daily temper tantrum response to the slightest pressure put upon her for all of the above.
Our "communication" is pretty much reduced to the silent treatment or rage in response to my calm middle-ground.
I. Want. Out. Of. This.
I threw my great-grandma (my grandma's mom) her 90th birthday party. She was not like this. She could drive & wanted to go dancing at the VFW after sprinting up the porch steps.
My grandma can barely walk for no other reason than stubborn refusals. She screams at me she wants to die (a guilt trip measure) to get me off her back about just standing and walking every now and then.
And I got the medical establishment putting pressure on me to get her to do what she refusing to do, but she doesn't tell them she's refusing. She will blame anything and everything else except the fact that she just doesn't want to do anything.
One doctor. Her cardiologist... told her I was not responsible for her and that she could be more help to herself and me...and she got to see a taste of the rage as my grandma shouted: "What do you want me to do... mow the yard?"
The cardiologist called it: "You're dealing with a personality issue. I have many patients your age that are thriving."
Grandma doesn't want to go back to her.
Your grandma IS NOT your responsibility, and it's only YOU that can make the necessary changes to get your life back on track.
And if that means you have to move into a homeless shelter for the time being, surely that will be better than what you're going through now.
You can call 211 to see what resources are available to help you in your city as well.
Time to take your life back and let the chips fall where they may with your grandma, as like I already said, she IS NOT your responsibility.
You need to get out of this . Do you live in grandmas house , or she with you ? Are you feeling stuck due to the need for a roof over your head ? Answers to these questions , will potentially get you more useful answers here .
You are correct that the hospital pushed you to take her home .
I’m going to suggest the next time she is in the hospital , you refuse to take her home . Tell them you can no longer care for her . Then do not visit or answer the phone . They will then have to get social services involved to place her .
Do not accept POA .
If possible , and it’s grandma’s home , move out and call APS .
Yes. It's her house. A 100-year-old house with all the 100-year-old house problems plus 30 years lack of maintenance to boot. We have no running water. There was a minor toilet leak. I had the water shut-off while saving for a plumber to fix what I couldn't repair myself (tank removal). And I about had enough money saved to get a proper plumber to fix the minor leak.
She called her sister & had her drug-addicted 65-year-old nephew we hadn't seen in a decade come "fix" the problem. He decided to get real helpful & mess with the hot water tank plumbing too. Basically, he messed everything up, turned the water back on... resulting in a 100,000 gallon leak (in one month) and a $2,000 water bill just before ghosting us with the entire mess.
I've been hauling water for a year. Roughly 30 gallons a week (in addition to 6 cases of 40 pack bottled water) and now the repairs would be way to expensive...in addition to other problems the leak created that I've feared could maybe have the house condemned.
Furthermore, grandma made an insurance claim about 12 years ago on the roof. They gave her more than enough money to get a new roof. Did she get a new roof? No. She blew that money paying on old credit card debts, but it wasn't enough to pay them off.
Her credit still went bad & home insurance lapsed with economic inflation. She couldn't afford it.
The roof is now horrible. And because she refuses to walk... I can't even get her to the bank to get some kind of a loan on a paid off property to get a roof and to fix the plumbing. I have rebuilt her credit. She could get a loan now. I could get a job and pay on the loan.
I can't get a loan in my own name currently, because I'm not employed. And I have already spent my $50k life savings floating us through many other messes and emergencies. Besides, I'm not the property owner. I have no collateral for the kind of loan it would take.
Every time I tell her: "This is it! I'm getting a job whether you can walk or not, so do your exercises!" Something ALWAYS happens to sabotage that where she has to go to the hospital & her doctors remind me that when she gets home I need to do this for her and that for her. And I've felt like I had to do it lest I meet some liability for neglect.
I am completely isolated with no concept of boundaries & no unbiased 3rd party to assist with even comprehending boundaries while living with a grandma that has an insatiable need for CONSTANT attention.
She is jealous of anything that takes my attention which includes sleep. So, I'm often running on fumes. While I'm awake she sleeps. Then, when I sleep she wakes & only allows me 3... 4 hours if I'm lucky before she's making as much noise as possible to wake me up... like banging her walker into the floor as loudly as possible.
Many times I go more than 24 hours with no sleep, not just because of her demands... but the demands of the household. Cleaning with no running water takes a lot more time. I have to go do laundry at outside facilities & A LOT of it, because she's constantly soiling her clothes and sheets refusing to use her bedside potty chair and/or oversoiling Depends she refuses to frequently change.
That and in the summer I'm push mowing and weed-eating 4 acres.
So, why don't I just leave? For one, I didn't think I could. For two, animals. I have 2 dogs. One had been dropped off/dumped near our property. Took me a month just to get it to trust me enough to feed it.
I also rescued a momma cat and her kittens. I love these animals wholeheartedly. I have no place to take them, and can't stand the thought of them ending up in a shelter just like I couldn't stand the thought (for many years) of my grandma ending-up in a nursing home.
You have all the power in this situation: you need to simply walk away.
"Says easy but does hard" is what my old Okie pastor used to say. You will need to move out and then call APS to report her as a vulnerable adult. Your Grandma has (probably moderate) dementia (which definitely can look like narcissism).
You don't have PoA. You couldn't afford to pursue guardianship (nor should you want this). The solution for the both of you starts will calling APS, which then starts her on a track to get a court-assigned legal guardian who will then manage all her affairs and make all decisions for her. They will likely move her into a facility where she will get appropriate care.
If she has a house (and you live with her) you will need to move anyway. You won't have any further access to into her accounts. You will be done caregiving. But you have to accept this as the solution.
May you receive clarity, wisdom, healing and peace in your heart as you move forward.
I am assuming you know where the door is.
Your grandmother has been assessed as competent. But do leave her these numbers: 1) 911
2) APS in your area
3) local council on aging
4) any caregiving agency in your area or care.com.
Pack a suitcase, get a job, get a nice little efficiency apartment, get good friends, have a great life.
I agree with the cardiologist.
As to the yard? Granny will have to hire some nice young person in the neighborhood with a good lawn mower, won't she.
You know there are many of us living a life without any children OR grandchildren. Granny will have lots of time to become acquainted with such facts while you are out building a solid life, hopefully about 1,000 miles from Granny.
Good luck.
And hey, just in CASE you choose to stay and bicker with granny?
DO get a solid care contract in place where you get some pay, OK?
I mean, really, you are a grownup now. Time to take care of yourSELF rather than telling Granny what to do with HER exercises, and etc. She already HAD her life.
You have a good grasp of the situation, you're articulate, you can find another situation and get on with your life. I hope you have a job. I hope that if you don't have a job, you can get one.
This is more than a personality issue. It's probably dementia, perhaps mid-stage. There's no getting better, there's no "I love you to pieces, sweet granddaughter," there's no change on her part. You'd be doing her a favor if you stepped away and let someone else do what has to be done - APS is a start.
I'm so sorry, but sometimes we have to cut our losses and run. That's where you are now, and I hope you're angry enough to do it. Good luck.
I read your responses below.
You are living dependent on your grandmother in her home.
You are going to have to call APS, tell them she is a senior at risk and that you cannot/will not be managing her care, and that you are leaving.
Your grandmother will need to be a ward of the state if other family doesn't step up.
I don't know what funds you have; it sounds like nothing. Your grandmother will soon no longer be with us. You will have to address the issue at some point and it might as well be now.
If you have no funds you will need to start at a shelter.
There are many jobs out there, some even in caregiving, and you are somewhat experienced in that already. You can start at kitchen help or whatever level and work your way up. A diligence will see you succeed as you work slowly toward saving to rent a room, then a small efficiency apartment, then an apartment. You can then proceed with education. I was already working as I attended classes working toward my RN. I never stopped working while I earned it.
If there is a free ride in life I haven't seen it; and I know your grandmother isn't it. She needs application to help herself. The state will handle that as you pursue the authorities in wellness checks on her that will get her into care.
I am sorry. I don't know another answer. I am well aware this isn't easy as it may sound written out; not easy at all. But in light of your additional response below I have no other answer. And a refusal to face the hard facts today is going to make tomorrow a nightmare. Our streets are lined with the tents of the homeless to prove that.
Your life matters too and you can no longer do this and you know it.
Read other threads here under caregiver burnout. You need to get your life back.
I know it's so difficult to break from this when you have been told you had to keep grandma home. It is a problem as you know of how unsupportive many can be to the caregiver. I'm including a link of a recent discussion about how tragic it ended for one caregiver. I wish you strength and clarity, You need to walk away call APS and get your own life on track. Grandma will be cared for in a facility. You need to find housing and a job and take care of yourself. Stubborn, abusive, uncooperative elders can not be cared for at home by family.
https://www.agingcare.com/discussions/tragic-end-to-caregiving-491949.htm
Then stop making excuses for why you can't get out and build a life for yourself, and just do it. The animals will be fine somewhere else, so give them to a shelter or other families while you get started on improving things for yourself. You're obviously very intelligent, so please start using your intelligence, skills, and energy in productive ways to rescue yourself. You deserve so much better than this.
Sounds like she should be in a setting where professionals are responsible for addressing her needs. Tell her doctor or staff there and any relatives that may be (if any) that you can’t and won’t be responsible for her anymore. That you have a deadline of May 1st (or whatever date of your choosing) to get her settled. Failing that, wait until she has some crisis like a fall and has to go to the emergency room. Then tell anyone who speaks to you about her that she is an unsafe discharge. You can’t and won’t be able to care for her. You are not her POA. You are in the process of moving elsewhere and setting up your own life. They need to find somewhere else to send her.
Good luck!