I was the sole caregiver 6+ years for my 94 yr-old Grandmother who was prescribed Pradaxa in 2011, I began in 2009, she died in Feb 2014.
She was overdosed according to the ER Dr and there was no antidote. She was fine until this and it destroyed her life and mine, I only learned how badly mine was affected after her death.
She had weeks in the ICU and there on the next 2+ years of her life until her death which was due to strokes, chronic anemia, bleed events, etc..
My job became 24-7-365 and I required my girlfriend to assist me
It become an increasingly demanding and difficult job as her condition progressed, her needs increased and her ability to appreciate it diminished
As a result of my experience in this role I have discovered many undesirable aspects of living with and caring for someone with the health care system as it pertains to elderly patients in need of attentive care.
In addition, I've also have become aware of predatory practices of various institutions both private and governmental.
Invariably if an estate has sufficient funds to support a legal battle, one will be created by unscrupulous lawyers who ignore AB trusts with stale B trusts , who and intentionally disenfranchising B trust beneficiaries.
Tax men ingratiate themselves, by doing favors, flirting, setting themselves up to be the POA and then Trustee
all conflicts of interest and unethical, investment firms will not allow it however plenty of financial advisor, tax men and lawyers take advantage of situations where a wealthy elderly person makes a moment about the family and they use that to influence the elder to make codicils or do things to insure a big long probate battle insuring they
become beneficiaries of up to 1/3 of the $
Trusts have zero oversight, millions are stolen every day ! a
As a result of these experiences and my investigating I have countless examples of outsiders who either "exploit" your "predicament" with caring for a loved one shamefully outright ABANDON you.
Altogether, it was a very depressing ,from my own experiences and what I read, there is a lack of laws in place to protect caregivers from exploitation and from well-disguised trust hijacking predatory practices from certain professions, institutions and asstd authorities.
Beware the new caregiver who "loves" the elder, creates a we VS they attitude, does special favors, same thing for tax men, lawyers etc.
My Grandmothers delusions had her secretly cut me out via 7 secret codicils during her last year alive, tricking me into providing care knowing she breached the contract.
I only learned this after her death that I I was secretly impoverished and made an indentured servant and a vehicle to enrich everyone but myself.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su awarded $138,386 in back pay to a caregiver who worked 16-hour days in San Francisco for less than minimum wage, usually without a day off. The amount includes minimum wage and severance pay violations, liquidated damages and waiting time penalties.
Francisca Vasquez, a Salvadoran war refugee, was hired by siblings Magdalena Lindvall and Reynaldo Peña Jr. to work as a companion for their elderly parents for $400 a month.
Eventually Vasquez became a housekeeper and then round-the-clock caregiver to their mother for $500 a month.
Upon the mother's death, Vasquez was discharged.
Because Vasquez filed her claim two years into the three year statute of limitation for minimum wage claims, she could only collect wages on the last year she worked.
"This was an egregious case of worker abuse, where someone providing care was treated with an utter lack of care for her rights and for her humanity," said Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su.
if the parents cannot afford to pay you, then they need to be in a NH where they can get the care they need...and you can get/keep your full time job and take care of your future.
i always recommend caregivers that cannot live on their own to NOT move in with elderly parents expecting to have support long term. all too often it ends with the caregiver homeless and unemployed with no retirement.
24 hour days and 7 days per week are 1/3 more !
Incredibly we family caregivers have no state agency to award us anything. we are impoverished with no ability to get Social Security, Disability, Unemployment.