pchefmichele Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in August. He has had 5 weeks of daily radiation and about 5 chemo treatments now. He is soon to be 80 years old. With so many health issues; 2 open heart surgeries, high blood pressure, diabetic and 2 strokes (one was a mini stroke within the past 3 weeks), I really worry about him. He is weak, has lost 55 pounds and is slowing down a lot. My mom is his major care giver and has very little patience. I am afraid she is bringing my dad down quicker than need be. I know she loves him, she is scared and I believe she means well; but the way she handles dad's not wanting to eat, taking 20-30 minutes to take his pills (he takes many 3 times a day) and waking her up when he has issues during the night is something we are having trouble with. Family helps as often as they can, but it never seems to be enough to give her enough relief. She does suffer from bad knees, bad back and bad nerves anyway. He is currently in the hospital for an issue of bleeding (that turned out to be hemorrhoids) and she is hoping they will send him to a nursing home from the hospital. I don't know if that is the right answer...or will that bring him down even quicker because he isn't at home. My parents do not have enough income to pay for aides and nursing, although I've got a call into the Veterans Administration to see what help we can get from them. Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance for me? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michellep Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Call your local Social Security office and ask if they have a program with home health aides. When I lived in California I assisted low income people with health issues in their home. It won't cost them anything. Let us know what you find out. Your home could use some help it seems. ((hugs)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pchefmichele Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Thank you....we have contacted several agencies and are working on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyA Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Hi pchefmichele, I hope you found some good resources. I'm sure your mom feels overwhelmed about all that she has to do as a caregiver. Here is our Caregiver Resource link, maybe you could share some information with her? http://www.lungevity.org/support-survivorship/caregiver-resource-center Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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