Okay, I haven't been able to see Mom for a week. Even though a nurse has spent more time with her, her routine has been disrupted so she is off. She has called asking for the key to get her mail (I am sure it can wait.) and for the key to get in her crawl space to make sure the furnace isn't flooded by the melting snow. (She's only lived there 50 years and it never has flooded before!) But the worst is that she called the police again and unfortunately, they have had to refer her to the Division of Aging AGAIN. This time they are going to monitor her for two months!

Mom still has her home and a few assets we can't get her to part with so unfortunately, if she is sent to a nursing home, everything will be gone. My mom worked from when she was 15 until she was on Medicare and she always wanted to leave something for her family. Now, she doesn't understand that if she doesn't give some of it to us before she requires care, we won't get anything at all from her estate if she must be cared for elsewhere. She set up a trust in the event of her death but she never considered long term care....

It is so sad. People that don't work or have fun blowing all their money get taken care of by the government and their families don't pay any of the bills. People that work all their lives and save have to give it ALL up for their care at end of life. Doesn't sound like much fun or fair at all.

My sister had metachromatic leukodystrophy and was primarily cared for by my mom. When she died after 40 years of caregiving, the state came in and even tried to take the TV from her room that was purchased by my parents for her use. My sister was tube fed and bedridden for most of those years. You would have thought the state would have been giving my mother a HUGE thank-you instead.  I am sure my folks saved the state a bundle.

Well, I found out that Mom's called 911 about 20 times in the past year alone. The police say they don't mind coming over to check on her but I am not sure how much longer this will fly. We do have a lot of things in place.

• There's a program called Care-Trac that is free through the police department. It helps to locate missing person's by keeping their information on file and having them wear tracker bracelets. Mom's information is on file with them though because of her arthritis, osteoporosis, bunions, and hammertoes, they don't consider her a flight risk and she doesn't wear their bracelet.
• We placed a lock on the crawl space so Mom can't accidentally fall down there.
• Her car does not run. The battery is dead and any keys she finds do not fit the ignition.
• We put a thermostat cover on and set her house temp to a constant 75 degrees.
• Most of her burners do not work and there are no curtains over her stove which is electric.
• Her freezer is stocked with emergency microwavable dinners. Normally someone comes to get her an early meal and someone else comes for a late meal and to give her evening meds.
• To make sure she doesn't overdose, her meds are kept in a security lockbox.
• Her treats are in another lockbox. We ration her sweets because it seems to affect her memory.
• The neighbors are all aware of what is going on.

There is a lot in place. I am just going to be praying it is enough...