My horrible nephews put my sister into a nursing home, they live 1,000 miles away, I take care of my elderly mother who needs 24 hour supervision and attention so I cannot, sadly, care for 2 ill people, if I could I would. I had begged my nephews not to put their Mom away and instead come here and we could all take turns caring for her and my mother, I obviously would still care constantly for my mother, but on occasion I could care for my sister as well as long as they did most of the caring or whatever they could do to help her. They flat out refused. I told my useless nephew, the one who made all the major decisions that if he put his Mother ( my sister) away she would deteriorate, the narcissistic oaf said, "Not necessarily." and has she ever deteriorated, she can no longer walk, nor feed herself, nor bathe herself, nor dress herself, I call a lot and she barely says one full sentence. She cries on occasions, My heart is broken for her. And she is NOT old, she is by far the youngest resident there ( the nurses all have told me that). But I feel like she has been sent there to die. I care for my mother and it is so hard, but it is the right thing to do, I am young, healthy and able, my nephews are both even younger than me, the jackass , the one who made the decision to put her away is a lazy no job holding ass , I feel he loved that he had some power in life by making every decision about his mother, and every decision was the worst possible and most selfish ones, He and his brother inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars ( from their late Dad's Mom who btw they never did anything for, they never bought her gifts even though she sent them 500 and 1,000 on birthdays and Christmas ( can you imagine their greediness and selfishness?) It is sickening to think they have all that money when they did ZILCH to deserve other than share their Grandma's DNA that's it!. The least those two selfish swine could do is pay to get my sister physical therapy so she will walk again, get a great nutritionist to feed her the healthiest meals, rent a handicapped/wheelchair accessible van and just get her out of there once a week, ( I asked 1 of the nurses if she can leave the grounds she said yes, it would do her a world of good , but she would have to be in some kind of vehicle that a wheelchair could easily get in and out of), but nope those two unfeeling slobs do nothing, they ohhh wow visit her maybe twice a week for wow maybe an hour a visit, but they do nothing otherwise. But I cry thinking that my horrible nephews sent her there to die, obviously she is going to die there among tons of other sick people and strangers, no matter how nice that staff there is they are not her family who knew her so many years like my dirtbag nephews and shared life experiences with her. I read of Belle who wrote way back wishing her mother was dead, see for my nephews I wish the hell and sadness they put my sister through, and the added stress and sadness I have as a result they get tenfold. It is so sad to see how quickly my poor sister deteriorated simply because two selfish curs ( mutts!) have no desire to give her the freedom and love she gave them. She should had aborted them! I wonder will they care when she dies all alone in that cold nursing home?
One of my sisters died trying to care for Mother. My other sister is 75 YO. We could not have cared for mother at home.
As far as taking Mother somewhere in the car, the NH would not help us load her in the car. They cannot be responsible for that. Her 50 yo grandson isn't even capable of getting her (dead weight) in a car and then, change her Depends, while out.
I celebrate those families that are able to care for their loved ones, but some loved ones are very difficult patients and need skilled care.
Good luck. I think that you have enough on your plate, without taking on your sister, too.
I can tell from your post that you are very angry and very resentful but you also live 1,000 miles away and don't know the day to day responsibilities your "dirtbag nephews" had when dealing with their mom.
Second, you obviously have a huge load of anger. This can't be doing you any good. For you to be so continuously over wrought can't be doing your mother any good. And, unfortunately, it isn't doing your sister any good. You need your emotional strength for yourself and for your mother. Being a full time caregiver is a tremendously stressful (and rewarding) job. You need to take care of yourself. I hope you will see a counselor or therapist to help deal with all this anger. You don't deserve it. Get help.
Thirdly, your nephew has guardianship, appointed by the court. This means your sister is not competent to make decisions in her own best interest. Those of us who are regulars on this site have seen post after post of a caregiver despairing over not being able to get their parent to take care of themselves. If your sister refused to see a psychiatrist, if she refused to take anti depression medication or anti anxiety medication and she refused to cooperate with her diabetes care plan and she won't exercise or take physical therapy or attempt to lose weight, if she refused to let "strangers" into her home, that is a very, very hard situation for the caregiver or guardian. I can understand the mental health hospitalization. Sometimes this is done to evaluate medications and to try to get the patient on a stable regimen that could be continued at home of in a care center. Sometimes a suicide attempt is behind the admission. But it can't be just a whim of somebody who wants her out of their hair for a while. There must be a serious reason. Similarly, nursing homes do not admit residents just to satisfy a guardian's whim. There must be medical need, and it has to be the kind of need they can address. Your sister really and truly needs lots of help. Her guardian's assessment is that it is more help than he can provide at home. Please accept this. Help her be happy and to know that you love her very much, right where she is.
Fourth, sounds like at this point your nephews refuse to talk to you. So you are hearing from your sister. We know from our own experiences and from readings each other's posts that the word of a person with mental health issues or dementia is NOT reliable. They often focus their misery on their main caregiver. We caregivers get accused of all kinds of things that are not at all true. (You are very lucky that your mother does not do this with you. Is she mentally competent?) If Sis is accusing Nephew of something specific and you can't determine whether it is true or not, that may be when it is appropriate to call APS. But placing his mother in an appropriate care center and visiting her regularly is not abandoning her or abusing her. You would prefer that he takes care of her, but that is not his legal obligation, and it may not even have been possible. APS can't help with that.
Do what you can do for your sister, given your distance and your lack of authority. Talk to her. Send her cards, and the occasional bouquet. Encourage her to cooperate with efforts to improve her health.
Let go of what you have no control over. That includes where she is and what her sons do with their inheritance.
You are a wonder daughter to care so much for your mother, and a loving sister. You deserve some peace.
Some of us have NO CHOICE but to place our loved ones there.
I'm 61. My neck and back are bad from years of being a nurse. I'm still working but in a limited capacity. I am an only child.
I had to put my mom in a memory care facility because I have to keep working to pay the bills. I also have physical limitations on picking her up, etc.
WHY would I want to throw my back out, be on disability and not be able to care for anybody? She deserves caregivers who can properly care for her.
Mother, in stage 6 Alzheimer's, took to getting naked and urinating on the floor, also screaming at the top of her lungs at 2 am. The landlord wasn't pleased, to say the least!
What was I supposed to do?
Am I horrible for making sure someone can lift her in and out of the wheelchair?
Am I dispicable that she's watched 24 hours a day?
Is it unspeakable that she's in a place where the doctor visits her in the facility the SAME day she gets sick?
They can do more for her than I can.
She will die (probably there) and I'd rather it be where she is well cared for by 3 shifts of rested staff members than by a daughter who has no reserve energy to care for her "special needs".
No one will make me feel guilty for my decision. In my eyes, I had no other choice.
Eventually the daughter put her in a nursing home. Our dear friend had warmth, good food, proper meds, and company. She put on weight. One of my sisters who visited our friend in the nursing wept afterwards saying it was so hard to see her in a nursing home. I said, "Why? She looks great and she's cared for."
Though our dear friend passed in the nursing home, I'm relieved for her that she didn't die cold and alone.
Mom had medical professionals around her 24/7. They caught her pneumonias, her pleural effuesions and her UTI's and for the most part were able to treat her "in house". There were MDs, both internists and psychiatrists on staff. Podiatry, dentistry, audiology and ophthalmology came in every few months.
Was it perfect? Nope. Was it better than home? You better believe it.
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