You May Be Supporting Your Aging Father Who Has Alzheimer’s, but How Much Longer Can You Do This Job?

Seven months ago. Seven months. When you look back on the past seven months, what do you see? Many people see a blur. Whether you’ve been working in the same job for decades, only a few years, or have been supporting somebody (such as an aging parent who was dealing with health issues or limited mobility), time can seem like a blur, especially when you’re doing the same thing every day and the stress becomes overwhelming.

Your father might be somebody diagnosed with Alzheimer’s recently. It may not have been a complete shock to you or him, but the diagnosis itself can change various dynamics in your life as well as his. It can also affect the relationship you have with him.

If you are one of those estimated 44 million Americans who are considered ‘family caregivers (Forbes),’ and you have been supporting your father as he deals with the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s, it will start to feel like you’re losing control of your life.

This won’t happen to everyone.

That doesn’t mean every single adult child who becomes a caregiver for his or her mother or father at some stage in their life is going to burn out. It doesn’t mean that you are, either.

What it does mean is that the longer you do this, the more time and energy you devote to somebody else’s care, the more difficult it becomes to hold onto your own identity, your own time, and your own passions in life.

When you lose sight of your life, the things that are most important to you, and you give up various activities, spending time with your spouse or partner, your own children, friends, enjoying hobbies, and so forth, that can increase the frustration and anxiety in your mind.

It can also cause time to feel like it is simply flying by too fast. And, when you reach a point when the stress is getting to you, when you start arguing with people, getting short when you never were like that before, you will begin to wonder how much more you can take.

What other choice do you have?

Many family caregivers simply don’t recognize the value Alzheimer’s home care support can offer. They don’t look into home care because they feel this is their responsibility. In the beginning, if you lived close enough to your father, it made sense to step up and take care of him, didn’t it?

You probably never thought twice. Yet, as time marches on and you begin to look back over the past several months (or even years), you wonder where the time went. Even more, you realize how much you’ve lost concerning your relationships and the things that are also important to you.

Your father or other loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is important to you. There is no doubt about that. Yet, you don’t have to go it alone. You can turn to an experienced in-home care agency to help provide support for you and for that aging senior dealing with Alzheimer’s.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Alzheimer’s Home Care in Mooresville, NC, contact the caring professionals at TenderHearted Home Care today. Call us at (704) 612-4132