Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story - Page 2 of 9

“We’re Doing Our Best, Mom”

Mark Mateya2016-03-23T13:50:19-04:00March 23rd, 2016|General, Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

Some months ago, I stopped updating this blog. It became a little too ‘close to the quick’ for me to continue to write. I have had a number of people contact me to let me know that hearing someone else’s story was a comfort to them; that they were not alone in walking through this situation. And you are not alone, if you are reading this as a caregiver to a loved one who is in a facility. . .

One of the things I have learned that I can do is provide mom with some consistency and in my case, […]

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And then things changed. . .

Mark Mateya2015-10-14T14:09:42-04:00October 14th, 2015|Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

Some Senior citizens maintain their mental acuity throughout their entire life span. I had a client with whom I had dinner on her 99th birthday. She was slower, yes, but mentally alert. She passed a few weeks later, a true lady to the end.

For others it is not so. My mother recently had a trip to the local ER. She was more confused than ever, though she did recognize and know my brothers and me as soon as she saw us. She had an infection which affected her thinking and her memory. She was not sure where she was when […]

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My Own Story: Where Should Mom Live?

Mark Mateya2015-06-02T11:01:53-04:00June 2nd, 2015|Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

Taking care of your parent in assisted living should make life a little easier for both of you. There are several keys to ensuring, as much as possible, that after the transition to assisted living, the day-to-day living is easy. One key is choosing a facility wisely.

When choosing a facility, include your parent as much as possible. Your mother or father (or both) are going to be living there, not you. Let them ask questions; ‘kick the tires’ so to speak.

You also want to consider location. More than one court case has been fought because a parent was moved from […]

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Taking Care of Our Loved Ones: My Own Story

Mark Mateya2015-02-17T14:41:05-05:00February 17th, 2015|General, Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

We all want the best for our loved ones. My mom wanted to stay in her own house ‘for as long as possible.’ And that’s what my brothers and I did. We put as much support around her as we could. We tried to take care of the house, which was built in the 60’s so it needed consistent attention by 2010, and allowed her to stay in her home.
What changed, however, was mom. She was no longer the vibrant, “digging in the garden and hanging out the laundry” person she had always been. And most of us do not […]

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Taking Care of Our Loved Ones: My Own Story

Mark Mateya2014-12-24T12:32:00-05:00December 24th, 2014|Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

This is our mom’s second Christmas at her new home in assisted living. Last year was her first away from the home that she had lived in for over five decades and she often talked about missing her home and missing the way things used to be. Today, she talks about her friends and how they have enjoyed making Christmas crafts, how so many of them have friends or family visiting, and “My, isn’t it nice to see you again!”
Our story is like so many others. My brothers and I have tried to make the best decisions we can […]

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Taking Care of Our Loved Ones: My Own Story “Someone’s going to have to pay for this!”

Mark Mateya2014-11-13T12:38:21-05:00November 13th, 2014|Taking Care of Your Parents: My Own Story|

If you have followed my story at all, you know that my brothers and I have been working together to make the best decisions we can for mom’s care. This time, I want to talk about something that did not happen in our story, but we wish it would have.

Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI). LTCI is not cheap, but not having it is much more expensive. An individual of age 60 can usually get LTCI for approximately $3,000 per year, depending upon a variety of variables.

LTCI helps to underwrite the cost of long term health care. With […]

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