She has no guardianship. Will not allow my Mom to visit/home. I filed for petition of guardianship for my Mom but my sister has POA with a forged signature and the nursing home will not allow my mother to visit me or for me to take her home with me without her approval. She's been in the nursing home since October 2014 because my sister's place of residence was closed down by the city - inhabitable. I lost the petition due to a forged POA that was ruled valid. I am appealing, .but how do I get my mother home as bed locks have been left off of her bed, under staffed, no therapy with stroke, mother losing weight rapidly, and osteoarthritis? She's 86 with good vitals.but she is wheel chair bound but refused access to the city or myself...holding her against her will.
Make peace with your sister. Stop the drama. As long as your mom's POA has been deemed valid in a court of law, you are not going to be able to effect change. Further, to say you KNOW it's not valid because her signature doesn't match her signature on your birth certificate -- after you tell us yourself she had a debilitating stroke -- is ludicrous.
Visit your mom at the nursing home. Nurture her presence there so she can bloom and grow within that atmosphere. Let her see all kinds of smiling young faces around her every day. Get three nutritious meals a day...sometimes an ice cream snack come afternoon. Attend entertainment programs...socialize as much or as little as she'd like with her peers...be helped by people who are well rested, young and strong.
Find your bliss by being the salt-and-pepper in mom's life instead of the main course. Stop fighting. Accept the findings and limits of this meeting and wake up every morning thinking about how you can make your mom's live just a little sweeter.
Bring her flowers. An occasional pretty all wrapped up with a lively bow. A plant for her room. A pretty nightlight. Some beautiful lotions and soaps. Attend some of the special programs at the nursing home with her. Bring five milk shakes one day and pass them around. Be kind and appreciative of the nursing staff...ALL the staff.
In short, love your mom by helping her fit in. She's safe there. Now love her, not by fighting tooth and nail with everybody in the place, but by helping her adjust.
I know that you don't want to acknowledge the horror that is dementia, but if you won't look at it as what could happen to your Mum please at least try to be aware that for some of us, no matter how much we love it can't be enough.
You can love someone 24/7 with every ounce of your being, but that does not mean that you can cope with being punched, threatened with being stabbed/strangled, kicked, spat at, sworn at by the person you love and who once loved you.
To see the terror in the eyes of your loved one who know longer knows you and sees you as a frightening stranger intent on doing them harm is one of the most heartbreaking experiences.
To constantly (as in 5+ times a day) clean up your dearly beloved who has smeared faeces on every surface, every inch of their body, eaten it. Even though they lock their jaws shut at food.
To spend every night, all night on alert so that your cared for doesn't hurt you or themselves.
Sometimes, sadly all to often loving means letting professionals do what we want to be ours to do. It means letting go and letting them take daily care of our loved ones. It's steeling our hearts when our foul mouthed loved one gazes adoringly at a member of staff and speaks gently, lovingly to them.
So please, please be aware that there are times when outside intervention is vital.
With dementia we all have to meet it where it takes our loved ones, in the end you can keep fighting the system, keep ignoring advice assured that You know best, but please because you do love your Mum realise that you need help too.
If she is competent then she can simply say "I don't want this daughter to be my POA any more. I want to appoint someone else." End of problem.
Why do you want to take your mother home with you? Often that is a bad idea for persons in a nursing home. You don't mention that you can't visit her at the NH. Do you do that frequently? Can you take her down the road for an ice cream cone, if you have her back within the hour? Just what are the restrictions here?
It sounds like you are trying to remove your mother from the NH permanently. Are you? Sneaking her out on the pretext of "visiting" at your home is not likely to be successful.
Did you have a lawyer helping you when you filed for guardianship? Because it sounds like you need a lawyer now. Straighten out the questions of whether Mother is still competent, who has what kind of authority over her care, and who can decide whether nursing home care is appropriate for her. If she is competent, she cannot be held against her will, and a lawyer and take action on the aspect of the case.
Personally, I wonder if your efforts might better be directed to advocating for her care where she is -- at least until legal issues are settled. For example, why did she not get therapy after the stroke? Is she a good candidate for therapy at this time? Pursue that. What does the NH think is causing the rapid weight loss? What are they doing about it? (What would you do about it if you got her to your house?)
Is there any chance of you and Sister working together in your mother's best interest?
In any case, there are legal issues here that you should consult an Elder Law attorney about.
My daughter works in a very nice assisted living facility which also has "memory care" units. She says that 60% of the residents of the "regular" ALF units also have dementia.
Not being in the dementia units does not mean you do not have dementia.
This is just another example of your lack of understanding about dementia. You are certainly right that it doesn't take a PhD to love someone! But your lack of taking Mom's dementia seriously and apparent unwillingness to learn about that has me very worried. Dismissing it as "insignificant" is scary.
Almost all of us with loved ones with dementia started out ignorant on the topic. No shame in that. And it doesn't take a PhD to be able to learn.
My husband wanted to go home for a solid 3 months early in his dementia. Where was he? At home with me, in the house we'd liked in for 12 years.
Wow.. so to summarize your mom is 88 with mild dementia, in a wheel chair that requires large men to lift her on to the toilet, with arthritis... and you are fighting to get her out of the nursing home? Do you really know what you would be in for if you brought her home? Sounds like she would require 24/7 care.
I am a registered nurse and I know I cannot care for him properly, I know I do not have the strength for 24/7 care, I do not have the ability to provide a safe environment for him, I do not have the ability to detach myself as his daughter and become his nurse. I am smart enough to know that he needs more care than I can give. I know he deserves better care than I can give, and I know that he will be provided very good care and that I have done all I can do by finding the BEST and the SAFEST nursing home for him. I will be a better daughter to him, I will have patience for the smartest man Ive ever known, I will sleep at night knowing he is safe as he kept his family safe at night. My heart says one thing ,but my head says I AM PROVIDING HIM THE BEST CARE that I can give him! I am at peace with that.
I hope you find out all you can about the facility, I hope you feel good about your decisions and enjoy the good days with your loved ones and let the bad days go. I hope you find your peace in all the chaos!
My advice is 1) stop feeling guilty. You've always done the best you can for your Mum and judging with hindsight won't help change things. 2) stop fighting the people who are trying to help your Mum. Try to see them not as the enemy but as part of the team helping to make your Mum's life as good as possible. Get them on side, ask them how You can help. You're the expert in Your Mum, But, they're the experts in dementia care.
3) Elders lose weight even with the most loving care. So treat her often to high calorific treats that don't interfere with her meds. 4) use the time energy your expending in fighting the system to love yourself and your Mum. Find ways to brighten her life now. A memory box of small gift wrapped things that remind her of better times. Special hand cream, if she'll let you massage her hands when you visit. 5) be gentle with yourself and others around you. It's true that honey is nicer than vinegar. Good luck and my thoughts are with you.
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