My mom is 63 and has dementia. Please help I need advice.

I've been through some of this. Here is my advice:

  • When considering options for care, include yourself. This means making decisions that include your happiness and well being. Whether or not to put your mom in a care facility is based on her needs as well as your own.
  • Make some decisions based on what your mother would want if she didn't have dementia. Do you really think she would want you to give up your life to take care of her?
  • Care facilities can do a lot more than a single person can, including having the necessary knowledge of how to deal with medical conditions. For a person with dementia, they are often the best option. They also provide a social atmosphere that you don't get living at home.
  • You are probably going to make a few mistakes. Some more serious than others, but you are a human and these aren't easy questions and tasks. If you screw-up, don't let the guilt be a burden forever. Remember, you are trying your best.
  • Take care of yourself. Be careful with drugs, alcohol, and over-eating. These are common pitfalls for people in stressful situations.
  • Look into all of your financial options like Medicaid Title 19. If you haven't done so already, try to get everything out of her name. Get Power of Attorney. Make sure she has a Healthcare directive and that all legal documents are notarized. Make sure she has a will. Close any open accounts in her name. If you get the POA, you can handle the rest on your own without her intervention. You can then centralize all of her finances and bills, etc... She will just have one checking account with direct deposit for her Social Security and other benefit checks. Use that to pay all of her bills, if she has any.
  • Get to know her doctors well and take time to learn everything about her condition, treatments, medications, etc... Doctors and nurses make a lot of mistakes. Be on top of what's going on with her medical care so you can prevent mistakes.

Other than that, I'd just suggest working with some family or friends so you can schedule some nights off for yourself. That's important too. Good luck.

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