14.
“My mother lived well on her own until dementia took that independence away from her. I’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s several years earlier and had lost my ability to drive safely. My husband and I did what we could to coordinate care for my mother, but that became more and more challenging, as I’d hoped to be able to continue to work full-time until I could retire. We decided on an assisted living facility that was ‘only’ about $4,500 a month. We spent down all of my mother’s savings until she was eligible for Medicaid. My mother’s dementia continued to get worse; she died shortly before her 95th birthday.”
“Coordinating my mother’s care and hearing about similar experiences from my coworkers made me realize that I had no answers for my future care. Despite our best efforts, our bodies age, and we die. Our healthcare system is broken; Patient care will continue to deteriorate if we continue to support a model that puts corporations over people.”
—Diane, 72, Washington
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/dannicaramirez/people-share-eldercare-stories
