I know many of you are dealing with acute and chronic illnesses with your loved ones. My mom has no 'terminal' of truly serious aliments comparatively, however, EVERYDAY, we hear about her dry eyes (burning), hearing loss, losing her voice, weakness, etc etc.
I feel compassion BUT the down attitude and 'wanting to go' are beyond what we expected. She has caregivers and my sister and I (when we're not working) to care for her. She is in her own house. Mom is 86 years old and has spinal stenosis which impairs her mobility and macular degeneration impacting her sight. She has failed on antidepressants but does take xanax as needed.
QUESTION TO ALL: Is the chronic complaining, and wanting to go on common in your experience? She was a VERY active person before 80 and does not like the fact that she cannot do anything anymore.
Any experiences to share?
Imagine if you yourself couldn't go and do like you once did. Wouldn't you be unhappy about it? I know I would. That's why we're to enjoy and make the most of every day, as none of us know what the future holds for us.
And I'm guessing that most elderly folks when they start losing their abilities, not only get down about it, but also start thinking about not wanting to live anymore, because to them they're really not living anyway.
If you don't want to listen to her complaining just walk away and tell her you'll come back when she can be more positive.