Getting Mom to Accept Medical Care

One of the challenges in caring for Mom has been convincing her to take advantage of medical help.  Right now Mom needs new eye glasses and at the nursing home where she lives eye exams and glasses are provided.   But if Mom says "no I don't want to see the eye doctor" then they don't schedule an appointment for her.


So I a) called the nursing home to get the name and number of their eye doctor, b) called that doctor myself and asked her to see Mom next time she is at the home, which should have been in the last couple of days.  Then I have to try to convince my mom to not refuse to see the doctor, which is probably the hardest part of the challenge.  I told her when I set up the appointment, and she actually got mad at me.  "Just get me glasses at Walgreens!" she demanded.  I did pick up a $35 pair from Walgreens and she couldn't see with them so I had to make another trip to return them.


Last weekend I took her to Walmart and she looked at all the glasses herself.  She picked out a pair of reading glasses which she did like, and will help some, but I know she really needs bi-focals. 


So I will need to follow up with the doctor to see if she was able to help my mom. 


It is always like this.  I can't get Mom to do a lot of normal medical treatment things, which is just hard.  Like her hip was painful and I tried to get her to get a cortisone shot.  She wouldn't hear of it.  She ended up permanently in a wheel chair, can't even go to the bathroom now and has to wear a diaper.  She needed a new hip, but I couldn't even get her to get a shot.  So I choose my battles and accept that in the end it is her life and her choices, and all I can do is try.


This is one of the ongoing frustrations in having  a loved one with schizophrenia.  But I also hear my friends with their older stubborn parents who are pretty much the same.  So, perhaps it's not that abnormal really.  We all have to just leave these ones we loved in the hands of God and let Him ultimately take care of them.  We are just helpers, but not the all powerful ones.  He is.