@gratia I know I feel your pain, every day. We try to move forward,then step back, move forward or so we think. then step back. A tribute to all caregivers.....perseverance and stamina. Best, Karla

@gratia I know that you feel bad about "snapping" at your mother. I snapped at my husband a few days ago because he picks at the dry skin on his arm until it bleeds. I have learned that this picking is a symptom of dementia but occasionally I forget this and am frustrated because I clean and bandage this lesion and then within minutes he is at it again often removing the bandage and exposing the open wound. It has not healed in over a month so I took him to the dermatologist yesterday to have him look at it. He took a biopsy and we are waiting to see if it is another basal cell carcinoma. I lost my patience and I think that is a normal human reaction when you have had it with a very frustrating situation. I also think that "losing it" occasionally releases the built up stress of our daily caregiving lives. We are not perfect but doing the best we can on any given day. About a week ago I finally cried for the first time in this now two year dementia journey. I wasn't crying for myself but for a baby opossum that my dog brought into the house. It had been injured and was now dying. I picked it up wrapped it a towel and held it until it stopped breathing and died. Then the floodgates opened. I was crying and grieving for this baby opossum but ALSO for everything that had happened for the last two years. I also saw this death as what my future will hold, the death of my husband. I realized later that it was also a metaphor for so many recent losses in my life. Thinking about it later, it allowed me to finally release what I had been holding in for two years. We need to be kind and forgiving with ourselves. That is a vital form of self care. May God bless you and your mother.