Family support when overwhelmed

As nearly every caretakers knows it is easy to become overwhelmed. At my advanced aged, I had gotten to the point of considering both of us going into Assisted Living. Our 5 kids had already been discussing "what if Mom dies, what will we do with Dad?" as well as "What about Mom, she seems overwhelmed." Last night the 3 local kids and I had a meeting to discuss the pros and cons of moving into Assisted Living vs how can living at home be done to make that a feasible option. They came up with a plan and each of us have specific responsibilities. One will take over the hiring of someone to clean on a regular basis and someone to tend to the yard and bedding plants. Another will help me find home health services and companions services for my DH and so on. Another will go with us to the Neurologist this week to make sure all my questions and concerns are answered. One who is working in the local health industry and is more aware of how help can be obtained, suggested having the doctor order referrals for a home health evaluation and for hospice. Medicare does not pay for companion services and so on but if the LO is deemed to have a need for physical therapy or speech therapy,etc.,, Medicare may cover it. In Texas ALZ is seen as a terminal disease and hospice is be an option and can be a service for an indeterminate number of years, Hospice services include such things as 1-2 times a week visists, adult diapers, bed pads and so on.

For all you caretakers and families of someone with dementia, I just wanted to point out that there are possibly ways and places that you may be able to find help. For me, it was first having a working family team approach, making a real plan where everyone has responsibilities, get home health evaluation, get hospice care, get a Life Alert for me, install different door locks so DH cannot escape out the front and so on.

All you caretakers out there have been such a great support system, I hope that some of what I wrote above will help at least one person carrying this overwhelming burde.