Navigating the Challenges of Caregiving for a Parent: A Personal Journey

I've been a caregiver since I was 12, and I didn't think it was that hard because I always had my mom to go to for help. Now, my mom is the one that needs the care, and it's a lot harder. Not only because I don't have anyone to help me, but also because seeing my mom as she is now, rather than as I've always seen her, is difficult. I'm still learning new things, medically, and how everything is finely balanced. Recently, I took my mom to the hospital because she wasn't acting like herself, complaining of being full but not eating much, then spitting up yellow and then green phlegm. The colored phlegm was a concern for me, as she had 3 perforations in her stomach in 2021, and from what I learned then, yellow was a sign of digested bile and green was undigested bile. So, naturally, I was concerned she had a GI block. Luckily, it was a UTI that was causing her issues, and I got to bring her home, but it's so hard to gauge what is wrong when so many illnesses and conditions have the same symptoms. Thankfully, I have a good family doctor and close friends who have been caregivers themselves to discuss things with and vent to, and I couldn't do without any of them.