Hi all, my parents became full-time caretakers last November when my 90 year old grandmother’s house was destroyed in the Ft. Myers hurricane. She has a number of health conditions (including COPD, general anxiety disorder, and congestive heart failure) but is doing relatively okay.

This weekend is my mom’s birthday and they’re going on a cross-country trip (been in planning for about a year). I’m watching her until this coming Wednesday; we have an elder care specialist coming in the morning to help get her up/do breakfast lunch, take care of morning meds, and take her on a short walk. I’m working but here to watch her in the afternoon, do dinner, and the bedtime routine.

I am really struggling so far with anxiety about the whole situation. We have a baby monitor set up in case something happens at night, and my younger brother and boyfriend are here to help as well, but I’m getting maybe 2 hours of sleep per night. Every time her cat meows or I hear her coughing, I’m up for an hour, and I’m trying hard to be in the present but even during the day I’m constantly worried something might happen, or that she’ll realize my parents are gone and get upset. I’m trying to be here and love /support her; does anyone have suggestions for getting though the next few days? I think part of me just wanted to vent too, as this is a really tough situation.