OMG CherryFizz. I can't believe all that you're going thru. You've got the largest heart of gold. Your house is in upheaval, in more ways than one. So you're okay with your sister living with you full-time? Again, you're remarkable. Good for you for taking in a dog, too!

Congratulations on the potential sale of your rental house. I sure hope it sells one way or the other. Are you going to look at it, or will it be too hard emotionally?

CherryFizz- I am sorry that you are dealing with so many stressful things (((hugs))). I hope that everything gets better soon.

Ohhhhh my. You have a LOT on you plate! I'm glad you're using the respite care services and hope your sister can move to a hospice home soon. May I suggest something about her meds? My mother lives with my sister and has to take various meds. She easily drops the pills due to arthritic fingers and age, so now we place them on her tongue and she takes a drink to swallow them down. Sister has a little doggy who would die if she got hold of one of the pills. I'll say a little prayer for you and your sister.

I remember you taking care of your mother. You have a really good heart. You've got a lot going on. I hope it goes smoothly and your roof gets done and the house gets sold in short order.

Anne, I am so glad things are moving along for your ceilings and roof, finally! Good, too, that your sister is finally willing to utilize the services available to her. Hope you can get her in somewhere quickly so you can get the repairs done. Hope also, that you get the rental sold one way or another, quickly. Hugs. Vent all you need to!

Blessings to you and (((hugs)))!

Cherryfizz

Bless you for taking in the dog

Bless you for taking care of your sister. In my state, there are respite care programs set up and paid for by the state, so that a family member can leave the house to do errands and just have time for themselves and have a state paid respite care worker take care of the ill person, and depending on the diagnosis the respite care can be from 8 to 40 hours or more per week. Maybe your state has something like that?

I hope that by the time the holidays get here your life is calmer.

sjerin, I have been putting my sister's pills in her mouth but she doesn't like me doing it but I do it anyway haha. She is mad at me because I have taken over the control of her prescriptions. I have been after her for years to get them in blister packs but she would never do it. She sorts through her pills every night and puts them in this bottle and that bottle. And always dropped them or left them on the couch. I started putting them in her pill box for her in the morning but I was uncomfortable doing that because what if I gave her the wrong pills. haha I told her I wanted the blister packs because I didn't want to be accused of killing her by giving her the wrong or too much medications. We had a good laugh about that. The pills are teeny weeny things. Lucille I live in Canada and there is respite care from Hospice I can access when needed. She is able to be left alone right now. I told her if she wasn't able to go back to her apartment she can come back here after the roof is done. I have an extra room that needs clearing out, one I use as a storeroom and is filled with beds and dressers, some that I can get rid of and the rest I can move up into the attic. I may be a terrible person but I told her once she can't get to the bathroom and depends on depends haha she will have to go into a respite home. She is not ready for a nursing home yet but there are assisted living places that would be paid for by the government which would be more suitable. I don't want to go down that rode again of caring for an invalid and my siblings understand that as does she. I started caring for my Mom when I was in my 30's, I am now 60. We would start butting heads anyway as we always do. My sister was living in Toronto before I was born and then went to live with a wealthy Aunt so she thinks she is a little "upper crust" than the rest of us peons. Just kidding haha. Well kind of true. And that other house, I should have sold it when I first inherited it but my brother and his kids needed a place to stay, it is just a shame that it ended up the way it is. My Mom bought that house for my sister and her kids who abandoned it after she was burgled and it was empty when my Mom allowed my brother to move in. I am so glad that roofer came to my house that day and I was able to get things in motion. I told him if the house was appraised at just a few thousand more I would still take his offer. Sorry about the errors in my first post. I am just too darn tired to fix them

Remind yourself to "smell the roses, blow out the candles"! Hugs, Kathy G in MI

What a wonderful sister you are!

Good gosh you're shouldering a lot! it must be some kind of relief just to be able to come here and vent!

Bless you, Cherry Fizz. That is an awful lot to deal with all at one time. I took care of my mother for years and then I took care of an elderly friend for 8 year and I know how demanding that is. Hard to get any time for yourself. Don't let it wear you down.....try to get some time for yourself.

Hugs and loving thoughts, Cherry Fizz!

I'm exhausted just reading your post. I don't know how you do it but I do know there's a special place in heaven for you. ((((CherryFixx))))

Believe me I know, you take it one step at a time and one day at a time. Just keep breathing! Try to find something to smile about every day.

WOW, Anne, bless you for all you are doing.

Take a deep breath, here's a hug, and also a prayer.

Sue

OMG Cherry-sell to the roofer,asap,take care of the caregiver......and yes,take some time for you-Selfish it is not...long distance hugs to you.....always.

Do your best to have the roofer buy it as it would never pass a home inspection for a mortgage and most buyers need a mortgage. Vent all you want, who wouldn't under all those circumstances but the laughter will get your through. God bless you for all you do for others, know that it doesn't go unnoticed and soon this will all be resolved.

I love that phrase "smell the roses and blow out the candles"! I'm going to remember that.

I too hope that the roofer buys the house. He knows what he's in for and would be willing to take it on.

Thanks. My sister was diagnosed in 1989 with stage 4 inflammatory cancer when there was no real survival rate. After 3 years of chemo and radiation and prayers she did survive. Then in 2009 she was diagnosed with another form of breast cancer and had the breast removed with no chemo or radiation. Since she was born she suffers from Arrhythmia and has a pacemaker. Last November we noticed the metal of her pacemaker showing through her skin and just about falling out. This was just before she was diagnosed with cancer. The area was terribly infected and the skin was showing signs of necrosis. As soon as the tech at the pacemaker clinic saw this my sister was immediately sent out of town to London Health and Science Centre 2 hours away. The Doctors were not sure what they were going to do because the leads were also infected and the skin was in bad shape. She stayed in the hospital for a few weeks then they decided they would try to put the pacemaker on the right side of her chest which they did eventually do. They were unsure they had a vein for the lead to the heart but they did find one. They removed the old pacemaker but left the leads attached and tucked them into her chest wall. She came home from the hospital and was hooked up to 24 hour intravenous antibiotics for a few months. The leads eventually came through her skin so she was sent back to London to have them cut shorter. She has had 2 hip replacements, one of her hips needs to be replaced because it is falling apart but she can't undergo that long of a surgery so is living with the pain, same for her shoulder. My sister has never had 1 peaceful year of good health and I am amazed at the strength and fortitude she has. She wants to live so will do everything including asking for prayers from anyone offering them to her.

Since being at my house her breathing has improved quite a bit and she doesn't look so sick. Today she got approval and a prescription for the oral chemo drug Tarceva. We have been waiting for the government to approve the funding of the medication. 30 pills $2525.00 . I have informed her of the side effects, read her reviews from people taking the drug and she is wanting to give it a go. When she has had chemo before she was never sick. I am worried about the face and body rash but the Dr had the pharmacy deliver 6 jars of cortisone creams.

The Community Care Access manager found my sister a respite bed in a very nice retirement home. She has a 2 week government funded stay and then after the 2 weeks are up my brother and his SO said she can go to their place until the works is done, I talked to the contractor today and work can begin on a days notice so I am hoping for Wednesday.

Marjorie is determined to get well or at least well enough to get up to go to her hair salon to get a wash, dye and cut.

My younger brother handed the keys to the rental house to my older brother the other day after clearing out the house as much as he could. I told my brother they had a week to let their guy valuate the property and if they don't have a buyer I am selling it to the roofer. I just want it gone out of my life.

Anne, you and your sister are always in my prayers. She sure sounds like a fighter. I pray the new medicine helps, without too many side effects. Good that the work on the ceilings can begin on a days notice. As to the rental house, at this point, I would just sell to the roofer. But that is me. If you have not been allowed in the house in that many years, no telling what condition it is in. And if everything isn't out by the deadline you have given, sell as is, including contents. Family or no, you as the owner, should have the right to inspect with 24 hour notice, to ensure that your property was being cared for as it should be. Hope it isn't as bad as it could be.

I'm so sorry that you've had all of these problems to deal with for some time, Anne. Yep - sometimes it doesn't just rain - it pours ... could that be especially when one's roof is in less than ideal condition?

Bless you for your kindness and help for your sister. I hope and pray that things can work our well for her, fighter that she is - and for you.

And pleased that you've kept your sanity ... and good spirits ... through all of the travails.

Give your sister our good wishes and hopes that things go well with her, and that some are offering prayers on her behalf.

ole joyful

I admire your ability to take all of these hurdles in stride and just keep on going! Prayers for your sister's health and your continued strength.

Anne, I haven't been on the pc much lately and I did read about your problem(s) so now I'm wishing you the best of everything, knowing that you have the will and the love that will get you through this. Keep on keeping on; wish there were something I could do to help.

They say we're never given more than we can handle and it sounds like you're handling it like a champ! Hang in there CherryFizz, you're a good apple, and it will pay off one day. Your sister is lucky you're there for her, being a caretaker is IMO the hardest job of them all. (((Hugs)))