YOU WANT TO PUT ME WHERE? (Part One)

Have you ever considered how an elderly person should feel should they be placed in a nursing home? One of the hardest realities a person has to face is the reality of loosing their independence. It is bad enough their physical condition, whether by age or sickness has deteriorated their ability to care for themselves, but to leave the home they have made for themselves to go to a nursing facility is unthinkable. Of course, their first question to you will be, "Why?" When this question is broached, you better have good answers and those answers had better be backed by their doctor and even then, you will have problems. The last thing you want to say to them is, "This is where you are going and that is it!" Wrong answer!
Time to place yourself in their shoes and see how you will feel about the idea of perfect strangers making decisions of daily living FOR YOU instead of YOU taking control of your own life's decisions that you now take for granted. How will you feel about leaving your home to live with a building of strangers? To be awoke, taken to meals, bathed, and given medicine you don't want, and then there is the roommate. To live in that facility, you are not allowed to own anything that can be taxed--house, vehicle, etc. only to be sold or given away to a family member with your name taken off the title. Are you willing to give all that up without a fight only to have control of your life taken also? There is your battle!
What about loosing those wonderful friends, family, and neighbors who live around you? Some of these folks may be a blessing to get away from, but what if one of those family members becomes your GUARDIAN! This means you cannot make a decision about yourself without that person's permission, and that person is not always a family member or a friend. I have seen situations where the guardian was a lawyer, a social worker, or an agent of the state. Will you be able to accept the decisions of these persons? For those individuals who make the claim, "That won't happen to me! I won't let it!" You do not know what your future holds so I suggest you start planning ahead because ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN TO YOU. If you want certain wishes fulfilled, plan now or someone will plan for you.
I am stopping here because this short section is enough to think about. The main idea is: When you are about to make decisions for another adult's life, place yourself in that person's shoes, then plan according to what you would want to happen with you. The best plan is a well made plan planned out with the respect, dignity, and love for that other person.
Until next time,
Blessings!
Nancy Rich