For the past 16 years I have been a caregiver for my husband....it has been a difficult role as we also have three children....for many of the 16 years things were ok, n the last two years things have gone south....two years ago he had a heart attach, there was no damage done as he got help quickly, but due to other problems my husband spent 1 month in the hospital/rehab.....that was the beginning of the hardest two years of my life....he has literally been in and out of he hospital every 8 weeks or less for two years.....I don't know how much more I can take.....
Just not sure...l
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 22:22
#1
Just not sure...l
Sun, 08/18/2013 - 18:42
#2
I understand that while your
I understand that while your have been trying to help your husband for the last 16 years you have also given up a very big part of yourself int he process. The daily demands of caregiving are overwhelming on top of the emotional toll you take. There are a ton or resources like this discussion group but also there are caregiver support groups you can attend, and there are also programs that can help by sending a professional caregiver a few times a week for a couple of hours to give you the break you deserve. I helped provided care for my great grandmother for several years, she had AD. She passed on New years Eve. I have witnessed the stress burden that can come from caregiving. You really need to take of yourself despite how impossible it might seem.
I am also a doctoral student and my passion for caregiving has led me to conduct research on caregivers. If you are 18 years or older and identify as Latino(a)/Hispanic, and are a caregiver of a person with dementia or dementia related disorder, please click on the link below and complete my survey. This survey is looking at the experiences of Latino caregivers. Also if you know someone that meets these criteria please forward this to them.
Tue, 08/20/2013 - 06:39
#3
My mother died on April 7,
My mother died on April 7, 2008. She and Dad had been married 64 years and after Dad's retirement in 1970, they were like Siamese twins. Before she died, I told her I would take care of Dad. Shortly after she left this world. I lived 300 miles away but was the one of the three children (middle) that took on my father's care (then 88). He had a mini-stroke 3/12 and since that time it has been so confining that I'm about to lose it! He is 93 now. I have sitters during the day M thru F but lately he is obsessed with urinating all night and is up 12-15 times every night. Tonight, 8/19-8/20/13, he has gotten up so many times that I've lost count. I have had no sleep, have bronchitis, and the sitter won't be here for another hour... I've tried three facilities and he walks the halls looking for me, refuses to bathe or get involved in activities. The staff is so limited in most facilities that I end up having to pay sitters on top of he 3-4K per month. I'm exhausted, have chronic bronchitis, I miss my home and family including three grandchildren desperately! If anyone has any words of encouragement, I'd be delighted to hear them. Oh, by the way, he is legally blind, hard of hearing, has dementia and is probably getting ready to go in for gall bladder surgery. HELP!