Welcome puffy I know how frustrating it is to try and care for our loved ones their expressions can be overwhelming and hurtful at times. When I become exhausted because of lack of sleep and rest I tend to lower my guard and open my self to the darts that can fly my way at times. Take a step back and find a quiet place for yourself to regenerate your energy . For me it's reading , or at a game site that gives me some enjoyable time it helps center me and gives me time to recharge my batteries. And those bad moments that we experience are just that moments in time. The trick is how to turn a bad moment into a good moment.

Hope that you are feeling better today..

What kind of health issues are you experiencing?

Shur1, Thank you for your advice. I am feeling better, I guess. Mamma had to go to the ER Wed. night. She had another TIA (mini-stroke). They also found another UTI. She gets these often because she has a catheter.... no matter how much water and cranberry juice we push.

My health problems consist of a shattered wrist which is finally setting but will need immense physical therapy, bipolar I disorder, a polyp on my vocal cords, endometriosis, blood in urine and constant bladder infections for which I have to get a cystoscopy, Multiple Sclerosis, hypothyroidism, 3 abnormal Pap smears for which I am getting a second opinion for, and many smaller things such as diabetes insipidus, GERD, hiatal hernia, allergies, obesity, and I may be leaving out something. In my opinion that is a lot for a 36 year old.

Thanks again.- Suzanne

I am sorry that mom had to go to the ER It's so hard to place them in the ER when we try so hard to prevent them from going as best as we can in our caregiving. How often do you have to change the cath? Would that help keep the episodes of UTI from reoccurring? Hope mom is stabilized now that she is in hospital now is the time for you to get your rest while she is there. Hope mom is better and her medication adjustments will help her Tia's from coming.

Sounds like you have your plate full with your health also hope your wrist mends quickly and you are able to get some rest in order to reorganize what moms care will be in the future as we know we are for ever changing to accomadate to our loved ones situation as they come.

Thank you. The catheter is changed once a month. She came home today at 6:30 pm and has slept ever since except bites of food as I fed her. This has really changed my whole perspective. One thing is that she is usually out of her head during UTIs and another is the sobering realization that she could die at any moment. They did a carotid ultrasound and found a lot of plaque on both sides but especially her right. She is going to have to have surgery to remove the plaque from her right side and she is in such poor health... bedridden, etc. that I don't know if she can pull through. I almost lost her in recovery from her hip surgery in May due to her very low blood pressure. Thanks for the support.

It's a difficult threshold to weigh the plus and minuses on if whether to put her through the surgery and if she is strong enough to recover from it or whether to just allow things to take its course or not. What did the doctors say as far as her strength is concerned? I would wait and see if she will bounce back after this UTI gets cleared up. Did the doctors say that medications could help with the plaque? I took care of a woman some years ago with Alzheimer's who's husband had 90 percent blockage instead of surgery he opted in taking medications because he did not think he would recover and he wanted to keep close to his wife . In the short of things it prolonged his life for a year. He passed suddenly about 6 weeks after I left his employment.

The doctors did put her back on Plavix, upped her Lipitor dose to 40mgs per day, and put her back on aspirin and increased it from 81 mg to 325mgs . She said that it was urgent that she have this surgery even after I told her about almost losing her after her last surgery. I agree with you and appreciate your suggestions and example. She goes to see the vascular surgeon on Monday. Maybe he will decide to hold off. He has not even seen her yet. I don't know if he knows she is bedridden, obese, or anything. Thank you.

Do not be afraid to ask a lot of questions to these doctors before they rush out and do this surgery. Weigh all the pros and cons there is a threshold here and sometimes they will do and make suggestions that can hasten things further along then what is desired.

Please let me know how it goes for you and mom on Monday.

Have a happy Easter to you and mom......

I will ask a lot of questions today when we see the vascular surgeon for the first time. I don't even know how much he knows about all of my mother's health problems.

I will let you know what happens.

I hope you had a nice Easter and thank you for wishing us one.

Very good news... she won't have to have that surgery. After a thorough work up he said she was not a good candidate for that. We are first going to try all of the blood thinners. I am sorry I didn't let you know yesterday... I had to have a MRI and was completely exhausted.

That is a blessing that mom will not have to endure surgery hope the blood thinners will help with moms TIAs
We have these reprieves in order to gather more strength for what lies ahead of us on this journey.
Hope your MRI proves to be favorable to you and that you find respites in your day it's not quantity of hours of rest but quality of rest that counts.

Keep me posted on how things are going with you and mom