I moved my mother into my husband's and my home in November of 2005. She had fell at home and broke her hip. She was not able to live on own any longer anyway. This gave us an excuse to move her into our home. She was a very independent woman before the accident, but things have changed in the last few months.
Her short term memory is not good at all any more. She can not wheel herself around the house any longer.
She just got out of the hospital back in June about a 2 week stay with a blockage in her colon and then she contracted VRE. That is not fun to have in the home. I felt so sorry for her.
I am starting to have crying sessions it seems like every other day anymore. I do not see my mother any longer I see a person declining quickly. I am feeling overwhelmed and I don't think my family sees it. I have told them I need to get away for a few days, but that never seems to happen. No one has time to watch or be with mom except me. I am the only child so this is all on my shoulders. Her brother is not any help they have not spoke in several years now.
I do not know if I am just going through a stage or if I am starting to get depressed. I am with mom almost 24/7 except when a homemaker comes in daily. A person can go to Walmart just so many times to get out of the house. I seem to have lost my friends because I can not get together with them anymore.
This on-line discussion is a life line for me. This way I can communication with people and see how they handle different things that come up in their caregiving also.
So if anyone has advice please let me know how to get myself under control.
Losing Control
Hear my cry, O God
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely
incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author
and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell,
life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God
wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my
body---but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants
us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't
going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming
out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your
life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest,
with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and
something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, “which
is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of
pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands
of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance,
this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it
made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with
before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to
live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to
do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan
to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to
serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am
I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if
I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more
interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human
beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
NOW . PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Hang in and try to get more medical help.
Carol
Girl, you know you have to breathe, take a breathe in, now let it our slowly. Another one, ok, now another one. I am sorry you and Cat are running on empty today. Maybe it's something in the water. Some things were said to me today that has taken me all day to sort it out. I swear I do not know where she comes up with this stuff sometimes. I got so hurt, which I usually do not take things so personal, but today, as Cat said, I am tired and having heart flutters.( I take medication for it, but it also makes me tired!!)
We need to have a "fill our empty buckets " party. I would bring a day out for all of you. Lots of hugs and pats, and just get stupid like I do sometimes and make you all laugh.
our job is hard , but thank God we all have each other. Breathe, ladies, breathe. Texas size hugs for all of you.
sincerely Dare
Austin, I am sorry for your continued pain. I am wondering if you can talk to the aide and inform her that she must shield you from this and do her job without you....I wish that there was a way for you to get at least a few days of healing time without all of this stress and physical pain. You are so strong, but at some point you are going to have to get some respite.
Noodlehead - you are wise - thank you for the thoughts in your post. They helped me, just to let you know I printed out a copy of your post and gave it to a neighbor who is having a hard time with her own issues....thank you!
I am always amazed at how much stress and physical exhaustion is on our backs - I am not telling you anything that you all don't know already - but sleep deprivation can trigger depression, which in turn creates a vicious cycle - the more depressed / tired you are the more your responses to stress keep you in the cycle. I hope everyone will seriously look at the physical symptoms that they are experiencing and give themselves a break. Once your body is hurting like that there is no easy fix, so remember to be kind, and sleep a little bit more, be a little bit kinder to yourself. even if it is a nap - or buying earplugs the next time you pick up prescriptions at the drugstore. we are all in the same spot - so I hope that what I am saying does'nt come off as preachy....as of this day, I am definitely running on empty too.
This is a place to vent. It is better to share what you are feeling with others who may feel the same way. Thoughts are not right or wrong, it is the actions we take that define us. I just feel you said what others feel at times, but just do not say it. I can only imagine the stress you are feeling . Please keep posting and you will learn ways to cope with your feelings, get suggestions on how to take better care of yourself.
If you can, go online to read some things that might help you to feel better. You don't have to leave the house, and maybe having positive things to replace some of the resentment will help you.
There is a book called "The 36 Hour Day". Maybe you can find it and it may help you. there are a lot of things to help you on the Internet. Don't give up on yourself, or even ol' Granny either. Take care and let us hear from you. You will be in my prayers.God bless.
Dare
sincerely Dare
I don't think I've ever read anything on here more disturbing than that. Might I suggest your FIND THE TIME AND THE MONEY to get some professional help for yourself? Whatever has gone on, has gone on too long and you need to find your way back.
the doctors only thought 1 or 2 years well look at me now! Dare
Dare
Noodle I definitely feel like i am taking care of another child
We need to take care of ourselves somehow because if we go nuts, get sick, give up, there is no one to take care of our loved one. I guess I've watched too much TV, but they stress and pound into our heads to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST!
(grin)