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Okay, im sure I a bit nuts...but.... dad has been in an assisted living facility for 1 year now. he has gotten a lot better. he probably will never walk very far again, but he can transfer. He went it because he was drinking at home like a fish (alcoholic) and I was his enabler. Now he isnt drinking except once in a while he will order a small beer with a meal... and have half it for desert cause he doesn't seem to care.

My question today: he isn't beggin and is resigned (for at least now) to "doing what needs to be done" he feels like he is in jail and all the rest. If he is as cognizant and continues to be, I want to know what you guys think about me bringing him home (he is 92 and will not have much time left).

Also need to mention that this house is half his. He has an inlaw section of the main house--separate kitchen, living room etc.

Also want to mention I got Aid and Attendance for him and that together with his soc security almost pays for the ALA.

But... half of this house is his. I would need to get a contractor out here to widen the doorways and remove the carpet In the bedroom and lving room, but I have a brother that lives in Arizona that is in construction so he could fly out and at least start the renovation.

I would hire two shifts of home health care and could afford it with the Aid and Attendance. Then the rest of the time I could pick up. I could load his pill containers every week and just have the aides make sure he got them. Maybe I would want an aid to COOK cause that aint me, babe. But I already drive 30 minutes each way and spend about 5 hours with him as it is, so that would almost be easier for me.

I would have to tell any visitors NOT to bring him any booze but I am selling his car, so he cant run out of here when im not here. if he did start drinking I don't know what Id do.

it all sounds right except for two things: my husband doesn't like him and the booze could cause an issue. please comment

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Just want to point out that your dad is NOT ALONE, he's with his peer group! He's where he can get good care from staff that is rested and trained. He's got a loving daughter who can advocate effectively because she's also getting restful sleep.
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Thank you guys so much for stopping me from my maniacal behavior.. Not a single one of you said "yes, that's what I would do" and I have thought a lot about it. tonight, when I got over to see him, he was engaged with a neighbor leaning over his wheelchair and they were obviously having a very serious conversation. Later, when I asked what Bill had to say, he said "He lost someone important in his life a couple of years ago and he just needed to talk about it" Wow. Then he was real quiet for the night. Except when I took him back tonight, he looked very comfortable.

No one else but a group like us could get to the bottom line so forcefully but lovingly and no one else would I probably listen to!

Thanks for making it clear.
Linda
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It might be doable but what does Dad really want nand really need? Would home really make him happier or better cared for? (He might feel just as much in jail at home with no car as he does where he is!!) What does hubby think, and how hard would the I-told-you-sos be on you and your marriage if things went badly and you had to reverse course?
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daughterlinda, you say that your Dad is 92 and will not have much time left... why do you say he doesn't have much time left? Now a days elders can live into their early 100's.

I was glad to read that you would hire two Aides to help, and you would take the remaining shift. My Boss had Caregivers and he took the night shift, but rarely was he able to get a full night sleep, he would come into work with only 3 hours sleep half the time... in the middle of the night he would need to clean up a bathroom accident in bed as the Depends didn't help with what was happening, put on new sheets, put the other sheets in the washer, and help his wife with a shower to clean her off.... sometimes he would be doing that 2 or 3 times a night.

Then think about this, the only people your Dad would see would be you and the Caregivers.... at the assistant living facility he was surrounded with people.
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He is settled, he may not love it but he is settled and not drinking. At his age he will not get better, and may relapse into drinking if you bring him to a less controlled environment. It is not best for him or you
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You promised him he would never be alone? He certainly isn't alone in the care center, is he? You are taking care of him. You are seeing that he is safe, comfortable, and has opportunities to socialize.

Now you can go visit him as a loving daughter. He has other people to tend to his daily needs but none of them can love him as a daughter, with all the family history and drama and tension and peace in the background.

There are lots of reasons to not bring him home, but the critical one, in my mind, is that your husband doesn't like him. Didn't you make some promises to your husband, too? You say that Dad does't have much time. A year can seem like an eternity when it is filled with stress and tension and conflict.

Listen to your head on this one. Your heart is confused.
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Leave him be. Please.

I made a promise to my dad that he would never have to go into a nursing home unless he became bed bound and I meant that promise with every fiber of my being but I was naïve. I shouldn't have made that promise but I didn't realize at the time how bad things could get. We do our best with what we have to work with at the time. I couldn't have kept my dad at home based on a promise I made when he was healthy.

Your dad is too old to move. He's resigned to being there. Leave him be.
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Maggie, yes I know that I am out of my mind! In fact i think i have that multiple personaility thing arguing in my head... my mind says "whoa girl that's the stupidest thing ive ever heard of" and my heart says "you made a promise he would never be alone"....
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Maggie, he is 92.
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I am with Maggie! Leave him be. Once home he WILL start drinking again. What you are hearing is an alcoholics manipulation. The craving for alcohol never goes away. And if he is teasing his addiction with a beer, he is feeding the craving and it is just getting stronger.

Do not bring him home! Enough said.
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Where did I get the idea he was 92 years old? Mea culpa. Rest of post stands.
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I'm sorry to be blunt, but are you out of your mind?

The only reasons I can think of that you would want to bring him home aren't kind. So I'll refrain from speculating.

Why are you spending five hours with him? I don't know how often you do that, but that's YOUR choice; not by necessity. If you're doing it too many times a week? You're interfering with his integration into the activities and benefits that assisted living offers.

He feels like he's in jail because it gives him something to talk about. Your dad is 92 years old, for heaven's sake. Leave him alone. You're just trying to enable him again. Stop it.
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