I do have help from Medicaid for a caregiver. He comes for a few hours 5 times per week. This has been a big help. But he is not trained and experienced in the care of patients with dementia. He is overwhelmed trying to work to a schedule. He is not being assertive at all. I do not know if he will work out. It does not look good. For instance, my mother ended up showering Monday and then the following Saturday. She is supposed to be sponge bathed every day. He is not there during showers making sure my mother is washing herself properly, which she is probably not. I do not think she is even using soap. She is not being walked outside per doctors orders. I did work out a schedule with his boss that he is to follow, which he stopped doing at the end of the second day. I need to schedule a time with her boss to meet soon to discuss the progress.

I have spiraled into depression in the past. But I somehow made sure my mother had the essentials. By the time the caretaker started to take care of my mother, I was so depressed that I laid there in a sort of paralysis for periods of time, wondering how I was going to care for my mother. The stress was not helping me.