I searched for an existing thread about this topic, but surprisingly, didn't come up with results. probably didn't word it just so. Anyhow, this new thread is NOT all about me, but about an awful lot of us, anyway. The hospital has given me several choices of nursing homes that will accept John right now. One is unacceptable because of thier record and evaluations (an Avante NH). The other, nearer to me is still too far for it to be practical to visit every day and is prohibitivly expensive. (I have to pay up front for the first two months, after all) The one where he is going is at least a two hour drive from where I live. AS THE CROW FLIES, I guess it's within the 50 mile limit of Medicare/Medicaid rules, though. I DID go to visit John yesterday after my conference call from the lawyer and all involved. He isn't the angry, cursing, abusive man he was a while back. Very beligerant and unwilling to cooperate with anyone as to his care, but overall, the staff says he's "a nice guy" and they enjoy thier brief conversations with him.
When I go in to see him, I always bring him a medium chocolate milk shake from McDonald's. He likes that. There's not much to talk about. I tell him whatever it is I've been doing. I ask him how he's feeling. Always assures me he is "fine". I ask him what he's thinking about and the answer is always "nothing". I talked to him yesterday about his entering the nursing home. He told me that that's where you go when you have one foot in the grave....that it's a terrible thing to happen. His voice is so quiet, without expression, but he knows me, says he loves me, wants what's best for me, makes whole sentences.....just so resigned. He keeps apologizing for past wrong-doings. He looked at me and told me he was releasing me so I could go have a life of my own. I didn't know how to take that. Maybe he thinks I'm looking for someone, have someone or just want him out of my life. Although, as some of you know , I've lost my 'love' for my husband over the years, I still have compassion and this whole thing just breaks my heart. How can something like this happen to someone who has done so much for so many people over the years? Mostly, all I can manage to do is cry when I go to see him and that's why I stay away sometimes. He says it upsets him to see me cry.
As I face his entering the nursing home (he is suppossed to be getting Skilled Nursing Care; OT's, PT's and staff to work with him to make him strong enough to come home.....but he won't cooperate. I know that ISN"T going to happen...he'll stay there and die there most likely), I still feel like I'm abandoning him. I've heard so many tales about nursing homes and he has his own stories (if I can believe them) about neglect and abuse. I won't be there with him all the time. There are no children nearby to visit. His two friends won't visit that far, I'm certain. He'll be alone and forgotten. I really have to struggle to get out of bed and start my days. Still. Even though he's not here and he is in "good hands" as you all have assured me. I feel like a failure that I've brought him home, going to be his angel of rescue and make him comfortable, if not better, in his own home again. Couldn't accomplish that. He's going to a nursing home, anyway. If this is a "vent", so be it. Yes, I've talked about this before, but it wasn't actually HAPPENING.....the nursing home seemed something far off and to be faced at some point....denial. Well, it's happening. I DO want to try and get on with my life, but I feel like a heavy truck hauling a load of bricks and my transmission isn't in working order. I'm very troubled over this. I keep thinking, if only we had the money for me to hire help here at home....or friends and family to help. I think I'm just not made of the same stuff a lot of you are. You're the heros.
No, Jen, we are all heroes. We plug along each day and try to deal with whatever is thrown at us - and we never know from day to day what will be thrown! You can do this, hard as it may be. You will come out on the other side of it stronger and more self-sufficient than ever before. Hugs to you today.
So, the three choices were (1) bad ratings/reviews, (2) financially out of the picture and (3) two hour drive, one way, from your home. I just cannot believe this was your only choices, and can certainly understand your frustration and disappointment. I'm so sorry the people at the hospital couldn't locate a place nearer to your home....in case he had an emergency and you needed to get to him quickly. I just hate what this dastardly disease does to the victims and to US....those who can't fix it and have to just sit by and watch it happen.
Nancy, I feel like this whole thing has consumed me. I have let the whole mess into my lawyers and hospital administrations hands. Apparently, these are the only facilities that have a MEDICAID bed available. What's THAT mean? I just can't think anymore.
Simply put, Medicare doesn't pay for nursing home care, Medicaid does. If your experts convinced the powers that be that he does not have financial resources to pay for nursing home care personally, Medicaid will assume the cost (for now). I don't know if they will put a lien on anything you jointly own after his death or not. I do know they can hold "life insurance policy payments"...because that story was on a TV Investigative News Program recently. Just go with it NOW, and know that nothing is forever. After this is in place, you can continue to look for a place closer to your house. Other members on this site finally got to move their loved ones to a closer facility. Some facilities have only a few beds they have designated "Medicaide". Because of the ages of their residents, openings occur all the time. You have to be on a waiting list, usually.
Dear Jen--I'm so sorry that it has finally come to this. My prayers are with you. Try and relax and regroup yourself. I'm really sorry. I don't envy you one bit.
Nancy B, the hospital has been searching for an opening for Jim for 3 weeks now. Evidently there are more patients than homes. We are now looking outside the two hour driving radius! I don't know how I'll manage to see him daily if he ends up somewhere in northern Maine. We are on so many waiting lists. I never expected the search to be this long or frustrating. So Stuntgirl having 3 to chose from is really amazing.
Susan/Jen..you are making such good points. I hear stories from the local caregiver group and this site, but until we actually get into the process OURSELVES, we have no idea what we're talking about... I should not have said anything. We have another member of our group (sorry I forget which one it is) who had a horrible time driving on the Interstate in the Northeast to see her husband..and eventually he was relocated to a site closer to her home. I so hope and pray I won't have to experience what you are going through. One never knows.
Now, a new glitch.....The nursing home says that the hospital has to reapply for him to come there.....*sigh*.......red tape is all this is...and a way for the hospital to make more money. I'm ragged.
Usually, NH residents have first call on Medicaid beds when they become available. At least that's what I found out when it was possible that DW was going to have to stay.
Somewhere along the way, I learned that a private nursing home does not have to take Medicaid patients however a non-private one must accept a certain percent of Medicaid patients. The place where my husband is has a short waiting list for paying patients and a 3 year waiting list for Medicaid patients. One of the reasons I was able to get him in there was because we could pay the fees. Shortly before his money runs out (if he is still alive), I will have to apply for Medicaid for him.
Nancy B, Not to say that what you heard on the news broadcast is incorrect, but I am wondering if you heard all the details. I would like for you to list some of the details of this if you would. I am interested in this. I do know that a NH can collect life Insurance payments from a beneficiary if the beneficiary is the legally responsible person and has signed financial responsibility, that is one among many of the reasons that you always want to sign as POA and not as financial responsible person. If you do not read all the fine print that you are signing they will have you sign as responsible and make you think you are required to do so.
As far as I know, Medicaid cannot claim hold on any life insurance payment if the beneficiary is different than the person who is in the NH, unless they have had assignment from the owner of the policy. This could be what happened in the news report. A person should read every thing they sign when applying for Medicaid and also when admitting someone to a NH. You could sign this responsibility and then after death they could also claim your assets
We have run into a few situations where there was a bed available, we get our hopes up then we find out it was filled with someone from the Assisted Living Section. I have not been told anything about Medicaid vs self-pay, but, with the screwed up medical system in this country, sadly I would tend to believe that is true. I just keep praying that the right bed will come along. I Jim doesn't have long, as he is declining quickly and want to be near him daily. I try not to think about what will happen if he is up north somewhere and I am down here with two little boys who also need me. My mom tires easily and tries her best but I am torn in half.
Susan, not to add anything to your plate, and I am reasonably certain you've already thought of this: make sure that the boys don't harbor the SLIGHTEST NOTION that they are responsible for anything that's going on with Jim. My thoughts are with you!
I have been very careful with how I report of Papa's condition to the boys. DD had told Dee that Papa and Nana were going to die. I had to explain to him that although Nana had been sick this winter she was much better and we both assured him that she would be around for a long time. We also told him that yes Papa was sick he would also not die anytime soon. At 6 yrs old a month is still a long long time, so hopefully they are both ok with this. We do pizza parties and bring ice cream when we visit him and try and make it a fun visit. Thanks for always caring. Arms around, S
Jane, we have a TV news station in Houston that has a well known Investigative reporter. In this case, a woman called him because her mother had died and she needed the insurance proceeds to pay the funeral home expenses and other bills that were past due. The reporter contacted the "authorities" who were involved, and (of course) the Insurance company. What they said was that there was a back up in the paperwork in the Medicare/Medicaid offices, and that they had a right to claim monies from the insurance first. Your point is well taken...maybe the daughter HAD taken on those responsibilities, POA, guardian, whatever??? for her mother during her illness, - This is a case of me not knowing ALL the facts...and that I am only recalling the interview and thinking to myself, "Oh Lord...who knew???"........ As others have said, you have to read all the fine print on everything, and still, there can be surprises. Guess it's true, "Nothing is free"...and "Nothing is as good as it seems".
Susan - does the VA have a psych unit there in Maine? The reason I ask is that is the avenue we used to get my FIL into the AD unit in Bedford, MA. There was no one to care for him after my MIL died, he was a runner therefore a danger to himself and there were no bed in the AD unit. They came up with the idea of getting him in the 'backdoor' by admitting him to the psych unit which put him at the top for a bed in the AD unit. It took about a month I think before a bed was available.
Nancy B Thanks, that is informative. Medicaid would not have the right to claim monies from a beneficiary if prior assignment had not been made, except in some States they have extended the recovery law to include anything a person owned just before death, that would include insurance policies that the person owned. A lot of people do not realize that it is common practice for some Nursing Homes to require a person to assign Insurance benefits. In my opinion, and again this is only my opinion, I am not a professional, do not claim to be an expert, but in my personal opinion early in the disease while the person still can it is best to have any insurance policy signed over to the spouse as owner and beneficiary. This way the policy does not belong to the person in the NH receiving benefits and therefore does not fall into extended recovery laws.
Charlotte, yes there is a Psychiatric Unit in Augusta, ME, about 90 minutes to 2 hrs north of here. I will run this idea by his dr on Monday, thanks. My father, and for a while Jim were Members of the Vittori-Rocci Post, in Beverly. That amazing group of veterans worked tirelessly to raise money for the Bedford VA Home. They purchased the very large Wheelchair Van, ran cook-outs for patients and their families each summer and made regular donations of new clothing and much more. It's nice to know of someone who may have enjoyed some of what they/we were involved in doing.
Then, as I'm reading here, I should talk to my attorney about having his small annuity (under$130K) put in my name as owner. Currently, I'm named as the sole benefinciary. Haven't signed any paper work from nursing home yet. (John IS still able to understand what he is signing). But, we're in the process of qualifying him for Medicaid. So, I've lost THAT, TOO?
John STILL hasn't been transferred to NH. Didn't go to see him last night, so I'm headed out this morning. It is never a happy visit. I try but just cry. Can no longer just "suck it up". I'm tormented about this all the time, every hour of my day, this decision to place him.....which really wasn't my decision. And the finances. I'm finding it more and more difficult to pay bills, make decisions, be sane. I just fill my days with very very physical work which leaves me exhausted. Does anyone else go through this? Is this a normal reaction?
When my dad went into a nursing home because of his dementia and was put on Medicaid, we learned that there is a difference between the owner of an insurance policy and the beneficiary of an insurance policy. Dad had a policy on which Mom was named as the beneficiary. However, Dad was considered to be the owner. We had to cash in the policy and use the money for his expenses. We were allowed to use it to prepay for a funeral even though he was still alive. I wonder if there is a way to make the spouse the owner of a policy rather that the person who is insured.
Janet, the owner of the policy has to sign it over to the new owner, who can also be the beneficiary. If that person is not legally able to sign, I don't know if the POA could do it. Maybe someone else here knows the answer to that. But Medicade does consider the policy an asset of the owner.
In Ohio a life insurance policy is considered an asset only if it has cash value. Then it must be cashed in and used toward payment to the nursing home. cs
Vickie and cs, thanks. Fortunately the policy my dad had wasn't very large. It was intended for his funeral and that's what it ended up being used for.
Wowsser.......I'm gonna have to address this issue about policies with my EL attorney Monday am. It's an ANNUITY, not a life insurance policy.....I'm beneficiary, John is the owner. This was going to help me with bills....give me something to start out with if he goes soon, etc. What a disappointment. It's NOT a life long pile of money, either.
Janet and Vicki, To Vicki, no a POA cannot change either the beneficiary or the owner of a life insurance policy. This has to be done by the person who owns the policy. If the person still has the capability to understand what they are signing they can sign a Life insurance policy that they own over to another person and that person can also be the beneficiary of the policy. This keeps the life insurance from being in the Estate when you live in a State that has Estate recovery beyond the probate estate, meaning anything the person owned immediately before death.
Most States do not count the Term life insurance policies, they only count policies with a cash value and they only count these policies if the Face value of all policies excluding the term policies are $10,000 or more.
Stunt girl, with the Annunity if this is one that already has an income stream meaning monthly income then Medicaid will count this as John's income I would doubt very much you would be allowed to change this to your name from his. Medicaid will allow you only a certain amount of income each month. I am surprised that your Attorney has not already advised you of what you will be allowed to keep. Let me tell you this, you will not be allowed to keep everything there is only a certain amount that you can keep and the rest will have to be spent down in some way.
Thank you, Jane, for clarifying. I think I'm going to have DH sign the ownership of his policy over to me (I'm also the beneficiary), while he is still capable. We already cashed in a smaller policy he had and paid for our funerals.
Susan L - tell them thank you. it is a very nice facility. I think they still do the fundraisers and during the summer they are always having something going on outside for patients and families. They remodeled the first floor a couple years ago, so my FIL was moved to the second. My BIL had them keep him on the second floor so as to not traumatize him again. When we visited my FIL I liked that they tried to keep all the patients in the rec room during the day. The family (mostly wives) brought things to do or chatted while they were there. They could watch their spouse (since most were to the point where they did not communicate) and not feel so alone. I got the feeling they were like a family. They would tell us about each of the men in there - what they were before AD or whatever dementia they have. I Will be praying that this will work for you too.
Jane, my husband bought a $10,000 policy sixty years ago. At some point we borrowed about $3000 from it for a house down payment!! and never paid it back, just pay the tiny premium every year. So the face value is $7000. We've never counted on it for much, burial maybe.. but as I read what you've said Medicare wouldn't even look at such a paltry sum, right?
briegull, have you looked over the policy terms of the loan you took out against the insurance ? i never heard of just borrowing against a policy without any interest due for the loan? maybe it was taken from accrued values instead? i know DH borowed against his policies. and one he didn pay and it ate the policy up and lapsed due to accruing non paid interest rates over the yrs. check it out to see if that is really the face value now just to be sure if you have taken any money out of it. just a thought/ i am sure jane will answer your medicaide question too. divvi
briegull, In most States that is the rule, $10,000 face value not counted, Example: If a person has (2) life insurance policies and the face value of one is $5,0000 and the other is $6,000, then both policies will be counted because together they are over $10,000. If both are $10,000 face value together then they are not counted. A term life insurance policy is never counted.
It is very different thinking about having to place them, and when you are facing it head on isn't it? I know what you are going through and I am sorry you must face this. We were blessed to be able to get Lynn a bed at our local NH. It is less than a half hour away. I can't imagine having to face him being 2 hours or more away.
As for "getting on" with life. I don't know... maybe some can do it? I know I can't. I imagine it would be easier if your LO didn't know you, or was not able to communicate. That isn't the case with your John, nor my Lynn. He still knows me, and he still is able to express his love for me. How do you move on? You don't. I torture myself with daily visits. I am tortured when I am there, and when I am not. It is not what I imagined, there is no peace.
I too wish I could afford to hire around the clock care so I could bring him home. I remember when Lynn was first diagnosed thinking I would be like Nancy Reagan. That my love would see us through. How naive. I have the love, just not the same resources and funds.
Thanks, Nikki. And thanks for the hugs, too. I feel terrible when I'm there. I feel terrible and selfish if I don't go to see him. I hate answering his questions. He always asks what I'm doing to try and get him "out of this place". he seems to have no sense of the time he's been there, just that his life is going no where. Mine isn't either. I'm trying to stay busy, but it's like my body is made of lead. No motivation. Today, I may take myself to a movie, do my nails, some girly thing or another, here by myself. Yes, if he didn't know me, It would be so different. If he would just "go" I could find the motivation to "get on" with my life. I don't ever know what to do. I know I shouldn't cry in front of him, but can't help it. It's how every visit ends. Most of the time, I just sit and read while he sleeps. He's just wasting away. Skin on bones. He DID let me shave him yesterday.
Jen and Nikki I can relate to both of you, I have the same feelings, everytime I leave the nh I cry, I visited today and he is declining, still knows who I am and our son was with me, he said hi son but couldn`t remember his name right away, he just sat there and drooled and held his head down most of the time he even asked the son to take mom home she wants to leave, I didn`t want to leave but maybe he was telling us to leave now. It is the hardest to leave him I want to take him home but I know that I can`t take care of him anymore,it takes two of them to get him in and out of bed and before we could visit they had to give him a shower, was all messy from poop. I will not get on with my life until this ordeal is over and I`m not ready for that yet so I will stay in my own little world until then. Gail
Nikki, I am most sure that if your Lynn could not communicate you would even more so be unable to get on with your life. The fact that they cannot communicate makes it somehow seem harder to even think about letting go. I know I could never get on with my life other than take care of my husband. He can no longer communicate and express his love nor does he know me but I know he is still the same sweet person somewhere inside that I fell in love with years ago. He needs me more now than he ever has in his life and I plan to be here for him the same as you are with Lynn. Communication will not change that at all.
I guess we all have to just say we are getting on with our lives and it includes taking care of our loved one. Getting on with our life does not mean that we just go our merry way and forget the one who needs us most. We are all getting on with our lives just on a different journey than before.
As hard as our relationship has been, I still love my husband. I miss our companionship, whatEVER that meant. I took a walk around the house a few minutes ago, inside and out. It's a home built for a family, for love and interests. I was thinking that there will never be anymore birthday celebrations here, no more Christmas, Thanksgiving, Anniversaries. I'm trying to re-build my life and right now, that simply means reaching out for the phone (VERY difficult to me, sometimes I won't even answer it) and making some plan or another to meet with an old girlfriend from the past for lunch or horsey stuff. Makes me feel like a heretic or something vile, but I wonder out loud, "will there ever be someone else in my life that will appreciate all this? Can there ever be someone to bring joy into my life again and share things with me again?" (yeah, what about me, me, me). I've laid low today, just not willing to think. Tomorrow is Monday and a new week. Confession: I've had phone calls from two fellas that want to take me out to a movie, a dinner, anything to get me out and make me forget this unhappiness they know I'm brewing in. Fellas I've known for a while, that work on my farm machinery, or from the stock market (cattle, not blue-chips). I don't even respond. Just messages left on my phone. I can't think that far. John told me the other day he wants me to do that if I have the opportunity. But then, that's always what he's said was my future.....another man. That's ALL I need. Just thanks for listening in. Jen.
Love will conquer all, oh brother, was I ever a believer. I now know that love only goes so far, then you do the best you can and the rest is luck, fate, whatever............................
Oh, yes, Susan.....I thought it was a fairy tale romance. Wish I had listened to those who questioned our relationship in the first place. Wish I'd questioned what it was I was truly looking to find ( I was a very lonely single mother).
Nikki - I hear so much of my own pain in your posts. My husband can not communicate but he does know me, I see the recognition in his eyes. And I cry each time I leave him, hell, I cry while I am there even though I try not to let him see it since it distresses him. I thought that maybe I could have some sort of a life after he was placed but I CAN'T. I can not move on while he sits there day after day in his merry walker, unable to make even his smallest need known. He gets excellent care but I still go every day after work thinking that maybe I can pick up on his needs better than them since I know him better. He seems to be adjusting and doing well but I seem to be getting more and more depressed.
I'm worried that when John is placed, finally, he IS going to be too far for me to visit whenever I want. I wonder if he really sits and wonders if I'm coming today or not. Just don't know. Am I crying for ME? Does he really understand anymore? I dunno. Sometimes, its all too much for me. When can I just go have some fun? Not have to worry about him like he's an infant in the care of someone I don't know.
You make a good point there stunt girl. I wonder if I cry for him or if I cry for myself. I think I cry for both of us and what we have lost but I suppose I cry mostly for myself.
I do believe that today has been one of the worst days in my life....at least compared to when my son died. Yes, THAT was worse. I had to go take a two month's deposit to the nursing home where my husband, John will be going. It's an hour and a half away almost. I was absolutely mute. No words could come out of my mouth upon meeting the administrator and handing her the check. I had to struggle to come up with the funds....seemed like all the money in the world to me (our finances still are partially locked up tight due to the previous messes the kids causedI). Could hardly see to drive, but went on to Richmond to give my daughter the check for her upcoming tuition, supplies, room and board. I had a hoard of cash no one knew about and that depleted it. While there, she kind of rolled her eyes and said to me that I might want to look into the status of her father's will......she said "you didn't hear it from me". What ELSE could his children have done???? If everything is in my name anyhow, and he's being spent down for Medicaid, what is there to have a will for? What should I worry about? One more thing to worry about. Went to visit John at the hospital and get his blanket (very special) to wash it for his trip tomorrow. So sad. He says he understands. I feel like such a failure to him. I'm sorry, but I just can't get a grip on what "doing the right thing" means. I know what he needs is NOT what I can provide, but I still feel like I've let him down. I still won't allow his children access to him until all the financial mess is cleared up, because of the trouble they've proven they can cause. He doesn't notice, anyway. I'm grief stricken. This is suppossed to be getting better, right? I'll have a life one day, right? Where he's going, he won't even have a television. I'll have to buy it and pay for cable. Everything is additional. I just have a slow, sinking, drowning feeling. (hell, he doesn't even watch TV, can't shave himself, won't let me do it most of the time, much less anyone else. Refuses treatments like OT, PT, baths)
Hello, everyone. I really didn't want to post anything tonight. Just so torn apart, lonlieness I only THOUGHT I felt before....now I know it personally as much as one of my own appendages! (I saw a post by Nancy B and was astonished by what she told about her granddaughter.....so, I stayed here a little longer). Thank you for thinking about me so much today, when you very well could have gone about your own day, without a comment. It would have been okay. I talk enough for ALL of us, as many are already aware. (It's gotten me into trouble)
I was at the hospital by 11am. John got his lunch before we left for the NH, but he wouldn't eat anything. He is eating less and less. Now weighs a little under 105#. Very calm and quiet, unless you ask him to do anything, tolerate a bath, shave, wiping, etc. Then, he gets nasty.....but, not violent like he used to. Lately, he complains if I touch him or lean in on him. Followed the ambulance to the NH and got him into his room with his own, home-made quilt and pillow that was his Christmas present from me last year. he has a room mate that he isn't happy about, but I have no choice. He's a young man with a brain injury and doesn't talk, so it should be quiet enough for John....except for the television. Hope that won't become a problem. It's nicer than a hospital room. The whole place is pretty nice, clean, new, smells very nice....like potpourri. In the main lobby, there's a fireplace, library that residents can use. Plenty of other rooms for socializing, crafting, movie theater, snack bar, lots of activities on the calendar. P.T. came to do an evaluation. He is refusing therapy. I talked to the administrator upon having to sign all the documents. Told her we didn't want to continue the blood therapy, transfusions, injections (which aren't working, still anemic), nor did I see the reason to continue the Namenda and Aricept. Yes, to the anti-depressants and Seraquel that keep him handleable. Told her I just want him kept comfortable and I knew he wasn't going to "get better" and be able to come home with me....ever. She agreed, as had his doctor at the hospital earlier. He's declining and I don't know how long he'll be around. He has no phone, I can't afford the service. He wouldn't know how to use it anyway. No television for the same reasons. My daughter doesn't understand how I can be so cruel and not "give up something of my own" for him to have those things. She doesn't get it. He can't follow a tv show or pick up or dial a phone. He's just not really here. Just sounds pretty good (but quiet) on the phone. What a screwed up world this is. I don't know what I'm doing and am more depressed than ever. I would like to leave town. Under an assumed name and start all over again. Nothing I've done has made a difference. I can do nothing to help him anymore. I just want him attended to and made comfortable. He's lived a long and good life. just wish I could achieve some sort of closure of it. Soon. (DId I mention that the Nursing home has a cat? It's allowed to mill about most everywhere. John asked one of the girls to bring it to him. I told him it looks like one of his barn cats that he asks about all the time) Thanks for listening.
Jen, it is what it is. This disease is relentless and it always wins. Do not continue to beat yourself up. Do not let your daughter "guilt" you. Is this the same one who hit you up for money for school? If so, remind her that if you didn't have to subsidize her you would be able to get the extras for her father. It sounds like the NH is a good one and it is what John needs now.
I know what you did today is upsetting and depressing and you feel like a elephant is sitting on your chest.....been there/done that.
Big hugs to you and try to pull yourself together and get on with life. If this sounds harsh, I am sorry, but you need to start planning for your future. That is what is important now. John is being cared for.....go and visit your parents....get into the studio and produce some of your amazing art....
I am here to tell you that as hard as this seems, life does go on. You owe it to the people who care for you to regain Jen..not Jen the wife or Jen the caregiver but just Jen....a vibrant woman with a future.