Save Carole from Nursing Home Abuse

I’m starting a fundraiser to help my mom get out of an abusive nursing home which put her on their hospice wing, administering morphine to her for no other reason than the bed sores she acquired at this place. My mother has become malnourished (weighing less than 100 pounds from what I have seen of her frail frame at this time), dehydrated and covered in ulcers and bed sores while staying at this current nursing home. Morphine will also slow down her breathing, shut down her organs and endanger her life. Feel free to view pictures of her current condition; I am including pictures of this woman who was so full of life before I saw her in this condition this year.

It’s been a month and a half since I traveled to FL to see my mom after I found out she was in hospice care. Sadly, I am estranged from relatives, and had I not spoken to one relative to find out that she was in hospice care, I would not have known about her condition at all. I am racing against the clock to raise funds to pay for an attorney that will take my guardianship case to court, so that I may take over her care. The cheapest rate I have been quoted for legal fees is $2500 which may go up to $8000.

Since this ordeal and learning about nursing home neglect and abuse, I have read some heartbreaking stories about parents being mistreated by their own blood relatives, including some children, and my story is, sadly, no exception. It seems that my mother named my sister to be her Power of Attorney and my sister has either deferred to abusive doctors or neglected her. After reading about cases of senior abuse where social services take over a senior’s care, just to make money from Medicare and Medicaid billing practices, I decided to raise funds to take over my mother’s care myself.

I am only asking for help with legal fees and for travel expenses to stay in FL, in order to be there when my mom (hopefully) gets discharged from her current and abusive nursing home, so that I can transport and be with her to bring her to the hospital. There seem to be no available nursing home beds for her to be transferred to right now---the only reason I am considering putting her in a second nursing home temporarily (a few months) is because it will cost at least $7700 in ground transportation costs to drive her up north where I live—this will be the second leg of my fundraiser goal. The costs of living in FL temporarily to care for my mother if a nursing home will not take her in after her hospital discharge would be at least $1000 per month for a studio and I anticipate not more than a couple of months, along with a security deposit; otherwise, the cheapest extended stay studio is $80 per night which would add up to more than $3200 for the first month.

I will update my supporters of my progress either through a website I set up for my mom: www.savecarole.weebly.com. And I will upload copies of receipts for all expenses. I hope that I can successfully start this website to discuss my experience in helping my mother get out of this nursing home abuse situation. We all have a stake in knowing the ins and outs of such an ordeal as we all face aging in our respective country’s systems. So far, it’s taken a great deal of time in processing my grief, outrage and researching the resources needed to find help for my mother. If anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation with their loved ones, perhaps following my story will help others locate resources and know what to do in less time than it has taken me. Any donation or purchase of t-shirts I'm also selling for this cause would be tremendously helpful, as well as, sharing this fundraiser widely. Thank you very much and God bless.