My 83 year old Mother-in-law is in the final stages of Parkinson’s. Upon admission to the nursing home, she signed several directives about her end of life care. She is basically frozen and cannot move except for one finger. She has had several life threatening infections but when asked if she wants treatment she always says “yes.” We are now going on year three and she is going through all of her savings, which were targeted for care of her developmentally disabled daughter. Right now, medicare doesn’t pay for much of her care except for her medications. Everything is private pay until you spend all of your savings. She is miserable but is afraid to die. It’s her money though and she can spend it as she pleases. She gets very little joy out of life and complains constantly. She refuses to participate in anything. I admit to wondering “what’s the point?”. The care of her daughter will fall on me and will be a long term burden without extra cash assistance. Publicly funded group homes are now required to house mentally ill patients along with the developmentally disabled. I could go on... Suffice it to say it’s a big problem and until you experience it yourself, it’s hard to understand why something needs to be done.
I hope you live long enough to find the answer to that question. I hope you find the answer before it becomes an issue for the developmentally disabled lady in your care.
Suffice it to say it’s a big problem and until you experience it yourself, it’s hard to understand why something needs to be done.
This is the issue. Perhaps a counselor would be helpful.