My mom was diagnosed with PD in 2022. Now she's showing signs of dementia that seems to be getting worse fast. I work from home so I have someone come in to help with her 4 to 5 days a week for 4 to 6 hours a day so I can work. I have her come some Saturdays and every other Sunday 9 to 5 so my husband and I can have more than a few hours together and I can get some time off. When the caregiver is here she seems to just want to sleep and eat instead of exercising her body and mind. When she's gone. She wants to start moving around. She had hip surgery a year ago so you need to keep an eye on her. I have my own physical limitations so I'm just worried she's going to hurt herself. I KNOW its not her fault but it doesn't keep me from getting frustrated. I'm already not the most patient person and have a habit of being honest about situations. I hate that she fell and had surgery. It's been downhill since then...I'm starting to wonder if I should start preparing for care outside the home. I don't want to cause more psychological harm. Right now she's still on medicare so she's paying for the caregiver but we'll definitely need medicaid for facility care.
The moral of the story is, grandma did fine there and lived to 92. That's 20 more years for your mother since she's 72. Don't put you or your husband thru this any longer, and get mom placed. Dementia adds a whole new level of horror to everyone's life. I know, my mother suffered from it for 6 years. She lived in Assisted Living and then Memory Care Assisted Living for the last 3 years of her life. She passed at 95. Elders can live a LONG time with PD and dementia. And caregivers need nerves of steel and the patience of Job to care for them, neither of which I have.
Its important to recognize our limitations in life, as my mother refused to do, thereby ruining several lives in the process. Its not worth it. Elders survive just fine in managed care and we get to be daughters again instead of bitter, resentful and exhausted caregivers who have no privacy. My mother was the best dressed woman in the place because of all the pretty outfits I brought her with matching costume jewelry. It all worked out for the best because she had "her girls" looking after her and I had my sanity.
And your moms dementia will only get worse so best now to get her placed so she can adjust to her new surroundings and you can get back to just being her daughter and advocate and not her stressed out caregiver.
I wish you well as you now do what is best for all involved.