Your mother-in-law is 84. She’s had a hard year. And when you gently suggested she at least go look at a few assisted living apartments, just to see what’s out there, she told you she’ll know when the time is right. Meanwhile, she’s calling more. Asking for help with things
Most people who contact us have done their research. They’ve read about dementia. They know what stage their parents are in. They have questions about accountability, caregiver consistency, and what happens if something goes wrong. What they don’t always know is what actually happens after they make the call. That’s
Nobody tells you, when dementia enters the picture, that you’re now a caregiver. It happens quietly. You start driving more. You stay longer at each visit. You start calling every night just to check. You rearrange your work schedule. You cancel plans without really noticing you’re doing it. You lie
When a parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, most families’ first instinct is to protect. Lock the stove. Take the car keys. Remove anything that could go wrong. That instinct makes sense. But it can get ahead of where someone actually is. Dementia progresses differently for
Your dad walked out the front door at 2 a.m. last Tuesday. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know he was doing anything unusual. He was just walking — the way he always walked when something in his mind told him to move. You found him three houses down, barefoot,
Someone said the word hospice. Maybe it was the doctor. Maybe it was the social worker at the hospital, talking quietly before she slipped out of the room. Maybe you half-heard it through the fog of a terrible week. And now it’s your job to make a good decision. That
You’ve had the conversation. Maybe more than once. You’ve noticed the unopened bills on the counter, the fridge that’s nearly empty, or the bruise your mom can’t quite explain. You finally said something — and your parent pushed back hard. “I’m fine.” “I don’t need strangers in my house.” “I
Your loved one is coming home from a skilled nursing facility or rehab center. You have a date. Now you need a plan for the house. The home they’re returning to is probably not set up for someone who just had a hip replacement, a stroke, a cardiac event, or
Most people don’t think about getting out of bed until it becomes hard. For seniors living at home in North Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, and the surrounding areas, those first and last hours of the day are often the most vulnerable and the most overlooked. That’s where wake-up and turn-down