susanpe
Caring for my mom Member since October 28, 2010I currently care for my 87-year old mother and am her legal guardian. My mother lived in Michigan, where she lived close to two of my brothers and a sister. My sister was supposed to be taking care of my mother, but I found out she had been stealing thousands of dollars from mom, and she also was not making sure that mom was being taken care of medically. Mom had been exhibiting signs of alzheimer's for years, but she was never taken to the correct doctors to actually get diagnosed, and to to get on the correct medications. Mom also had two bouts of sepsis caused by a UTI and a wound on her leg, where she almost died, and was left with only 35% kidney function and congestive heart failure. That is when I went to court and gained guardianship. I brought her to my home in Indiana to live with my husband and myself. I took mom to a neurologist and a geriatric specialist where she was "officially" diagnosed with alzheimers about five years ago. Unfortunately, we have a family history of AD, as my mom's identical twin sister passed away with AD about 10 years ago, and I have an uncle and two aunts with AD. Dealing with all of this has been so stressful, however, this site and the wonderful caregivers on it have been the outlet I needed to keep me on an even keel. Just to have someone to talk to who is going through the same thing really helps me to know I am not alone. I go to it on a daily basis, not only for support, but also to share information. I highly recommend this site to anyone who is a caregiver.