Jeff Turner
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

How To Avoid A Mild Stroke From The Stress Of An Elderly Parent Moving In!

My best friend’s wife called me one morning with a worried sound in her voice and said “Hey Jeff, I’m calling to let you know that they found Leighton on the floor at his job passed out. I’m on my way to Franklin hospital right now and I’m calling as many people as I can.”

My heart started pounding as I heard her telling me about it. We were just talking the night before about the stress that he’s been dealing with since his dad moved back in. Taking care of elderly parents can be very stressful. Now I’m on the phone calling my brother’s and some of the saints at the church to pray as I take a detour from traveling to the scrap metal yard to recycle some metal.

His Wife And Sister Teary Eyed At His Side.

After I make it to the hospital I see him lying there with his eyes closed with his wife and sister teary eyed standing at his side as they start to explain what happened. He was rushed to the hospital because of the way he felt and his blood pressure was through the roof.

He has a very stressful job as a fraud investigator with all the paper work and pressure to finish cases. He’s the type of guy that likes to be thorough so the work load and cases get to him because he doesn’t like to be behind. Most of the time he doesn’t even want other people working on his cases! I tell him all the time that tomorrows another day and the work will be there, but it’s hard for him to slow down.

And let’s not forget to mention his tenant that hasn’t paid her rent in a few months and won’t leave. All this stress led to his blood pressure rising to over 178/180 and he had a mild stroke. After a little while the nurse came in, woke him up and gave him some blood pressure pills. He opened his eyes, took the pills and looked at me and said, “This guy”, one of our favorite quotes and closed his eyes again. I smiled with relief that he still had his sense of humor.

I started talking about what Leon on “curb your enthusiasm” would be saying to him right now if he was there and he started laughing a little more. Then he started talking and telling me what actually happened. He didn’t actually pass out on the floor at his office like his wife told me.

He was feeling strange and walked out the office to get some air, but when he sat back down he put his head down, but couldn’t pick it back up and that’s when he got really scared. He said he started asking God to give him strength. He was finally able to pick his head up and he drove himself to the hospital.

What do you do when the stress of life hits you? Stress comes from a variety of sources. Many people have stress from their jobs. Many people have stress from losing their jobs in today’s economy and many people have stress when it comes down to taking care of their elderly parent’s especially when trying to do it on their own.

Family members say they’ll help, but they don’t. Financially it can be a huge strain on your budget which brings on added stress due to worry. What do you when your parents are at the age where they really can’t care for themselves anymore, but they think they can and their really hard to get along with? What are your options?

If You Knew You Was Going To Spill The Milk Would You?

We’ve all heard the expression don’t cry over spilled milk I’m sure. My question to you is if you knew you were going to spill the milk before it happened what would you do differently? Would you take extra precautions? You may be saying Jeff, what in the world does spilled milk have to do with my elderly mother or father moving back in with me.

In the middle of writing this article I was making myself some breakfast and pouring my orange juice. I had my plate in one hand and I put the cup on top of the refrigerator. After I finished pouring I accidentally knocked over the cup with the pitcher of orange juice. The juice spilled all over the top of the fridge and thought to myself why did I do that? After that I thought to myself don’t cry over spilled milk.

We all know our parents will eventually get old and won’t be able to care for themselves, so why not (before we spill the milk sought of speak) research our options and make decisions about what we are going to do? How to care for our elderly parents will be one of the most difficult decisions we all will have to make in life so we should take the time before we really have to. It will be well worth it.

Jeff Turner is the founder of https://li-junkremoval.com a downsizing, online estate sale and clutter removal service based in Suffolk County NY. He is the author of “Downsizing before Transition!” How seniors downsize with less stress, frustration and overwhelm. He lives in Amityville, NY on the very street he was raised and has 4 children. He can be reached at jeffturnerjeff@gmail.com

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