Long Term Care at Home

Around 70% of long term care is provided in the house by a spouse or a loved one. This is so true in my home. My Mother has many illnesses that make it hard for her to perform many of the activities for daily living. My Father works 7 days a week to help pay for her medical bills and is not around much to help her. My Brother and I try to help as much as we can. Some days she feels good and can bring my brother to school, but others she cannot move. I try to pick up the slack and help her. She gets dizzy and passes out a lot and has suffered many injures from this. I like to keep an eye on her to help make sure she stays safe. About a month ago, around the time she would be getting home from dropping my brother off, the dog was barking relentlessly at the door. I finally went down to see what she was barking at and found that my Mom had tripped just outside the door and could not get up. This all started happening a few years ago when she fell down a concrete flight of stairs that had no railing and severely hurt her head.

I moved up to Orlando to go to school in August of 06 and then moved back home to save money two years later. Now that I have been home for a little under a year I think I will feel guilty leaving. My Mom has progressively gotten worse over the years and my Dad is working so hard just to keep up. I don't know if I will be able to leave for my senior year like I had planed. Is it fair to my family to tell them that I care more about my life then theirs? It is not like it is any one of their faults. My Mom has been very unlucky and economic times have been tough on every one. I also think that my brother would have a higher burden if I leave. He is only in 7th grade and he deserves better.

Even If custodial care, which is non skilled care aimed at helping individuals like my Mom to be able to function for daily activities, was paid for by Medicare; she would not want it. She keeps thinking she will get better. She also hates getting help. People need to feel needed. She is only in her early 50’s and she just wants to stop being a burden and start being a part of the family again.

I know I am not the only person who experiences this. As I stated earlier, over 70% of LTC is provided in this way. No one knows why they are giving the challenges they have but there is a purpose for everything and I’m sure this experience will make me a stronger person.