Aloha!
My father is in the later stages of dementia and has been and is unable to make any decisions due to the disease. I have his healthcare and financial POA which the doctor signed off on several years ago.
My father is currently living in A/L with his well-off girlfriend. They had been living together for 13 years before the move into A/L about 2 years ago. The facility she decided to move into is about 10K a month. She made the decision to move without consulting her family, me or my father. My father did not want to move there. He has a life estate in our family home and wanted to move home. When trying to coax him there, at first she said he wouldn't need to pay anything, then she stated that he would only need to pay the difference between him being there and not, which was about $2.5K. He still refused, saying why would I pay when I have a house? My Dad; does NOT spend money. LOL. He wanted her to move there, but because my brother and I live there also, she refused. She begged and begged for him to move with her, and though he never agreed to pay anything, she and I made an agreement to pay the $2.5K a month and he moved there with her after we signed a contract for that amount with the A/L.
My Dad has no capacity to understand payments/rent, etc. My father has a couple hundred grand in savings. My family wants to save these funds for what will eventually be more intensive memory care which none of us can afford. Because there is a 5 year lookback, we cannot get rid of the assets now (He'll be 90 this year) and hope for the State to pay.
Since he moved into A/L, his condition has deteriorated and our family has recently discussed his care. This may just be the disease itself but we are also worried because his girlfriend has her own dementia/parkinsons issues, and has been exhibiting worrying behavior. Very erratic, combative and verbally abusive. When she first moved nearby, I tried to help both of them. Took them to all of their appointments, bank visits, grocery store visits etc. As time progressed, she became more and more abusive and I have decided that I needed to set boundaries and that my primary care was for my father. Her family unfortunately is unable and unwilling to help at all despite my pleas that she needs more care or someone to look after her. We have asked her time and time again not to leave my father alone, and that if she needed someone to take him we would happily come and get him or sit with him. Yet she has continued to do so without telling us. . I have gone by several times and he has no idea where she is. He thinks shes coming back "soon" but when I check the signout log she has signed out for the day. Recently she has asked that Dad pay all of the rent for the unit (10K) which I refused. This month, I went to reconcile his account and saw that she had him write out a check and sign it for the whole $10K. I called the bank to remind them that he is no longer able to sign checks on the account and the account is now flagged. I did let the check go through though as it had already been cashed. I also called the A/L and told them not to accept any more checks signed by my Dad because they aren't any good. I wrote her a letter (to preserve my legal options because she is always threatening me that her son is an attorney) and asked her not to have Dad sign any more checks. I asked her to call me to discuss this and Dad's care and have heard nothing back.
My family and I (my brothers and sister) had a meeting and we all feel he would have better care if we moved him home and brought in home health nurses using his savings.
We are not sure how to proceed? Do I bring him home or hope for the best if he stays there? I just want him to be happy and cared for. She doesn't want to let go and is afraid of being alone and I feel bad about that. But she is in a safe place. The A/L facility also noted his gf's erratic behavior recently. Any advice? Thx!
Now...move dad back home...
Are you ready to do all that needs to be done to care for someone with dementia?
Change soiled briefs?
Walk him to the bathroom and clean him.
Brush his teeth, shave him.
Get him dressed in the morning and at bedtime.
He may eventually need a walker if he is not using one now, then probably a wheelchair. Is the house set up for that? Wide halls, large bathroom. Good possibility that eventually there may be a need for a Hoyer Lift when he becomes unable to walk.
Placing him in Memory Care now might be your best option.
Use his money for his care that is what it is there for. Why wait to let the "State take care of him" when he can afford quality care now. (By the way most facilities want or require you to be "private Pay" for at least 2 years before Medicaid kicks in)
Your priority is your dad not the feelings of his girlfriend. She did not seem concerned when she decided on a AL facility for herself.
They visited the home recently and took the checkbooks I had at the house while I was at work. I have asked for them back but they claim they don't have them, yet they seemed to had at least one of them when they wrote the check.
He has always been obsessed about money and he goes off on diatribes about how everyone is stealing his money during sundowner syndrome. I give him some cash to carry in his wallet for comfort, but he doesn't spend it and its not enough to worry about. He has no credit cards.
Am I ready? Hardly. He isn't infirm at this point, as far as I know, but probably will be soon. He uses a cane, but we have a wheel chair ready, a shower chair and a bathroom that fits a wheelchair. The VA provides us with diapers and other items. I know its a huge and we are not kidding ourselves about that. Thank god there are four of us all willing to help! He's been a wonderful father and he deserves to be comfortable and well cared for.
We have checked into memory care here and its very limited with waiting lists. We will be putting his name on several lists but will need home care prior to that when we bring him home. Most facilities here are 15K or more a month. We don't expect or want the State to pay. We hope his savings will be enough, Otherwise we will mortgage the house.
Thank you for your response! :)
I would try to work with her son (the attorney) just so that everyone's on the same page in terms of who needs what care and who is going to pay for it. If they were married later in life, these types of "blended" families have their own special challenges once the parents start to have problems and increasing needs. Lots of good, clear, polite communication will go a long way to get both of them the proper and affordable care they need.
I would not bring him home and be his hands-on caregiver.
Id advise you know to know if your prepared for the emotional ride.
Not trying to scare you off just want you to understand, what a toll this takes.
Id also advise all 4 of you to check in on each other, make sure neither of you are getting burnt out , or blaming the other if one is going more than the others.
This can really distroy families.
I'll tell you what, this will be the hardest thing you have ever done.
One last thing, be prepared to put your dad in a facility of the time comes that any of you can't handle this anymore.
I'm having a extremely difficult time emotionally watching my mom being in pain. She has a degenerative spine.
Some people just can't do certain things.
Best of luck. Please keep us posted
Please check to see what his current level of "Service Connected Disability" he has. They change this from time to time and new "presumptive conditions" are added so if he does have a "Service Connected Disability" the % may have changed.
Depending on what his % is he may qualify for care in a VA home.
The VA does have Caregivers and he would qualify for that. It is not a lot of hours but they are hours you would not have to pay for.
And the VA may also pay for renovations that m ight be necessary to enable him to remain at home.
Because Dad can’t be alone at all ?
Hiring Caregivers is a good idea so you get breaks and can leave the house .
I do think he needs to not be living with this woman anymore . So either he goes home or he gets placed somewhere else .
Take Dads checkbook and credit cards away for good , even if he moves back home .
Good Luck.