Still no glasses

So the eyewear saga continues.  This is the fun of mental illness.  People with schizophrenia are not real good at accepting medical care.  And Mom told me last week that she got into an argument with the eye doctor and she won't be getting glasses.  So, yesterday I called her nursing home to find out what's going on.  Of course, all I can do there so far is leave a message at the case workers voice mail.  Monday I'll call the eye doctor.    Meanwhile Mom doesn't have the right glasses.  And she is resistant to get them.  Isn't this fun?  Welcome to my life with Mom.


This is also why Mom lost most of her teeth - she refused to see the dentist.  And why she is wheel chair bound - she refused to have her hip treated.  I try, but I can not force her.  She has to make her own choices and live her own life.  It's her life to live.


Then today I got a call from an aid at the nursing home.  She said they were short staffed today and only had one aid for each floor of 50 residents.  Mom wanted her bed made and the aid hadn't gotten to it.  So Mom had another resident help her.  But that resident is a fall risk.  The aid told me she yelled at Mom and apologized for that.  But then she told me Mom apologized to her too.


Mom called me later and told me she had trouble with this aid - Falisia.  I just told both ladies it's Ok and just forgive and be nice.


Now that Mom is more alert, she's more demanding.  I need to get an appointment with the staff to see if anything changed on her meds.  They are supposed to tell me but pretty much never do.  So I call them to find out.


This is the fun of caring for an adult family member with schizophrenia.  She takes meds which of course help, but there are still symptoms like anxiety.   I do what I can to help keep her life calm, try to get her medical care, and just let her know I'm in her corner and I love her so much.  And beyond that, I just let it go and trust she will be OK. And she is.