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How have you prepared yourself and your loved ones for that inevitable day?

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That is a great question. Most people prepare for death with wills and trusts but don’t realize the real trouble comes not when you die, but when you are mentally or physically unable to take care of yourself. I have put down many animals - dogs, cats, horses - over the years. I loved them all, but when their quality of life went to zero, I chose to help them exit their suffering. I wish people had the same choice.
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ElizabethAR37 Nov 1, 2024
So do I--very much! Neither my husband (who will be 95 in 3 days) or me (88 in January) ever thought we'd still be hanging around at these ages. But here we are.
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I am school but I think people are simply living just too damn long. I will make sure to force my exit long before I become a burden to my husband.

People always call me insensitive when I say this but I never understood why our system forces families and those living with things like dementia to prolong what will 100% be a miserable life for someone or everyone.

People are quick to say think about the person with dementia but that conversation always ignores the caregiver. So yeah no way am I going leave my husband to make that choice. If something were to happen to me where I have the potential to become a burden I am done and will remove that choice from him.
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AlvaDeer Oct 27, 2024
Not as easy as you think, as Dorothy Parker posited. I myself wish they would issue us a pill for option, or that we at least had Pagasos or Dignitas. While many can afford to travel to Europe, their documentation, even to old divorces is amazingly onerous. One good thing to stay informed is joining FEN (Final Exit Network) for options. I do think that the VSED Handbook written by Kate Christie is excellent and with a good bibliography as well (Voluntary stop eating and drinking).
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Saving lots of money for memory care. I've decided to stop taking my blood pressure meds at 65. I'm not going to fend off a heart attack just to die of some long-ass dementia. Chemo for cancer at 75? No thanks, I'll pass.
I've thought about offing myself after a grim dx, but I'm pretty sure I'd chicken out a hundred times. So I'll pay for a facility. My family knows I do not want any of them trying to deal with me at home.
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MiaMoor Oct 30, 2024
Please don't stop taking your blood pressure meds. It's not just heart attacks you should be worried about.
High blood pressure leads to lower levels of oxygen in the blood and narrowed arteries, which can lead to other health issues, including brain damage and dementia.
High blood pressure can lead to blood clots, which could cause a stroke. This in turn can lead to immediate cognitive decline and dementia.

Believe me, living with these conditions (which you could do for many years) would entail a reduced quality of life, with no capacity to make any worthwhile changes on your part. You would have to endure your condition and your lack of opportunity to make a better life.
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My mother died at 95 and my father will be 96 on Wednesday. All I know is I don’t want to get that old and infirm, I’m hoping for a good heart attack before that point.
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I’m not going to be a burden. That’s the bottom line. There is no way I’d put my children through what my parents dumped on me.
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JR2555 Oct 27, 2024
Absolutely!
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Caring for my combative mother with dementia was so stressful! We’ve told the kids they are to help assess suitable care homes should the need arise. No hands on caregiving! Now that our youngest is 18 we should assign POAs to our kids. Wills are already drawn up.

We love our large acreage and rural home in a desirable area. Some of our friends will struggle to retire. (we’re all 60ish) So we’ve been discussing a commune. Renting bedrooms or having friends park tiny homes, tying in to our wells, etc. We could pitch in to hire a cook, cleaner and maintenance help. Obviously that would require a seriously detailed agreement (and very judicious choices) as our needs change. But we see it an option as long as our health holds up and we can drive. We are already simplifying the upkeep and sorting stuff. Plus we have retirement savings.

Having said all of that, I have a fatal allergy so I’ve got an easy out if I need it. I’ll have one of those compartment rings made like secret agents wear in the movies.
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Now that my mother has passed away(1 yr), I'm just trying to get rested. I've no idea what my plan is as I've been single, no children,no boyfriend. Retired early at 65 and have no close friends. I don't have much, so it doesn't matter what happens when I go. I'm just happy that I'm not going to be a burden to anyone I know and love. I'm hoping to get rid of things so my apartment won't be so bad to clean out, been here since 2006 and ?
No plans, just day by day till it's my time. Nothing wrong with that, I've worked very hard for 40+ years and devoted myself to caring for my parents. For myself, it's time not to worry about what comes next. Just stay healthy and not get injured.
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After watching my mom take care of my dad and my grandmother, and personally sharing in caregiving responsibilities for my FIL - heck yeah we've made plans. DH and I intend to stay home as long as is reasonable - and then we are fully prepared to go into assisted living or a skilled nursing facility. We have driven a extra money into our retirement savings for that purpose and have LTC insurance. We have zero intention or expectations of our daughters being responsible for our care. If only one of us is left - the only thing we will ask of them is to oversee our care and visit when they can.

My dad was a 'breeze" according to mom. He was appreciative of everything she ever did for him, and he did everything he could to make her life easier - and she was able to keep him home until the end, with the help of hospice and my brother and myself.

My FIL - was the complete and total opposite - he was demanding, arrogant, expected all of the family to give up their entire lives to ensure that he could stay in his home - while doing absolutely nothing to support that want. He NEVER had a plan. MIL tried to move them into a step up facility before she passed away - but FIL categorically refused. He once told my DH that he expected him to leave me and our children and come live with him to provide care. We were CLEARLY not even invited to come with him. We told him that we would do our best to keep him home as long as possible- but if he got to a certain point - we would have no choice but to find different care plans.

He got to that point (300lbs and no ability to get himself out of bed to go to the bathroom). He did not believe we would put him in residential care. Even though he agreed to it (because he could not afford skilled care in home) - he blamed us for not keeping him home until the day he died. (Mind you three of the four caregivers were still working full time, and we also had other family members who needed help)

My grandmother vacillates between "oh honey - you need time out of this house for yourself" and then refusing outside care. So she SAYS the right things but won't DO the right things. She and my grandfather paid astronomical amounts of money every year for an LTC plan that covers in home care at a fairly decent day rate. She refuses to have them in her home. Right now we are making due by having me provide respite for mom. But that's not sustainable as she's only getting one day a week away. Mom is falling into depression and I won't stand by and let her get to that point. She needs help and we are preparing an intervention for my grandmother in the next little bit to tell her that caregivers are coming in and if she won't allow that to happen - the only other option is for us to move her to a facility.

EVERYONE should have a plan for their aging that does not include their children providing hands on care. Period.
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I'm like, throw my butt off a cliff when I'm old. I don't even think about it. Hopefully, I will retire to the country when I'm done with the insanity here in Washington, DC.

I'm a Home Health Aide and a Certified Nursing Assistant. I think people are living way too long. I'm seeing more and more cases of people with cognitive decline. It's like the brain is burning out but the body is still in full gear. I'm seeing burned out relatives looking to lash out at the first person they see. Unfortunately, I have been the recipient of these meltdowns.

I pray that I die in my sleep in my own home in peace. I take my meds and do doctor's visits. I'll let you know once I learn how to navigate Medicare which to me is a real nightmare. Right now, I'm too busy trying to stay alive instead of thinking about dying.

I have a black book with all of my important paperwork, life insurance policies, birth certificates and a makeshift will. I have an old car that still runs okay. I have a place in the mountains I want to be scattered. It's a cemetery of green burials.
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Dillsburglady Nov 1, 2024
I have seen so many cases where the body and the mind are both in severe decline, and I agree that people are living too long. I've seen so many nursing home residents who are just barely alive both mentally and physically. These people sit in their wheelchairs all day around the nursing station half asleep, mouths open not able to communicate with anyone. Some need to be fed , all need to have diapers changed regularly, and I am sure none of them have any quality of life.
I hope I die before a severe decline. There are ways, messy as they may be to end one's life without spending years in slow death.
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We’ve got all the needed documents in place. If we live long enough will need to amend and take away each other as spouses as POA for each other. Have downsized houses once, will need to do so again, after we stop working. As for the real end, we can all wish to just go peacefully in our sleep, but unfortunately it most often doesn’t work that way. Hubby and I both find our feelings ever evolving on ending our lives ourselves after a horrible diagnosis, one that means either a long goodbye from mentally or physically falling apart. I know every generation judges to some degree the ones after them, we have real concern about many of the current 20 something’s been our caregivers one day, not sure they’d look up from their phones long enough to even notice
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