Spanish philosopher Francesco Torralba once said,
"Not all sick people can be cured,
but they can all be taken care of."
Hello and welcome to<i> Case Closed</i> .
It's true, there are some untreatable illnesses
but everyone deserves care.
Let's see how this quote relates to our first case.
Please bring out the litigants.
I can't expect to be rewarded as a father
if I can't fulfill my duties as son.
Oftentimes, as hard as it may be,
you have to opt for what's best for the whole family.
Good afternoon and welcome.
Good afternoon.
Arturo, you're suing your wife Carolina.
-Correct? -Yes.
Okay.
Tell me why you're suing her
and what you demand to settle this case.
Yes, ma'am.
I demand that my mother
be returned to our home immediately.
If she refuses, I'll be forced to demand a divorce,
despite how long we've been married.
You do realize this sounds like an ultimatum, right?
Yes, but the situation warrants it.
There are certain ways to phrase things,
and in this case, you aren't giving her many options.
It may sound that way, ma'am, but believe me, this is serious.
Our life has become a living hell.
I don't see another way out.
Try and explain it to me.
Sure.
This all started two years ago
when my mother fractured her hip in an accident.
The whole thing caught us by surprise.
We ultimately decided to move her into our house.
However, that's when we became aware of certain...
abnormal situations.
I must admit, there were things that weren't normal.
-But before I get to that... -What situations?
She would forget things, like presents we'd given her.
-I'd like to touch upon... -Not only that.
I can explain.
There are a few important things to touch upon.
My wife, my mother, and I
agreed to sell my mother's apartment.
We sold it for $80,000.
We all mutually agreed on it. my mother's apartment.
My mother-in-law knew about it and had decided on selling
because we had agreed to take her in.
Understood.
So yoRight. your mom'
We used the $80,000 to finish paying off our home.
We owed $72,000.
Okay.
Again, we had all agreed.
That includes my mother-in-law.
Right. She consented to it, too.
Yes.
We used the remaining $8,000 to pay off other things.
We all settled in comfortably.
Once my mother was living with us, though,
certain things started happening.
I must admit, they were alarming.
It got to the point where I had to take her to a doctor.
That's when the nightmare really began,
because she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
That came as a shock to us. We were all very shaken by that.
Up until then, things at the house were rather peaceful.
After the diagnosis,
my wife and I agreed to take my mother to a nursing home.
My mother's been living at the home for two months now.
Certainly other things happened that led up to that decision.
Of course.
What ultimately led you guys to take her to a home?
No one puts a loved one in a home
unless there's disruptive behavior
that's interfering with the family dynamic.
I can explain, ma'am.
He considers these events to be trivial,
but they add up...
Could you give me examples?
She's fairly active for a 68-year-old,
so she likes helping me cook.
However, she always ends up burning the food
and leaving the stove burners on.
She leaves pot lids on the hot burners
and they end up warping and getting burnt.
The smoke detector's gone off multiple times.
We've also had to lock my daughter's room
because she's taken to "fixing up" her room.
She's thrown out a number of her school projects.
Hold on.
These projects took my daughter four days to finish
and they included pricey materials.
She threw them out for the sake of tidying up her room.
I came home the other day
and there was a random man fixing the A/C.
I didn't authorize this man to enter the house.
The door was open and she was there with him.
She claimed the A/C was broken,
but she had put the thermostat at 80 degrees.
It wasn't actually broken.
Has she ever escaped?
Of course, ma'am.
She was making juice one day and she needed sugar.
Instead of calling me,
she went to the market to buy some,
but never came back.
She got lost.
-Was she lost for many days? -Just one.
-It's still very stressful. -Of course!
You can't help but feel worried about them.
She came back home after having been beaten.
She had a police report and everything.
So multiple things happened.
Because of all this, you decided to put her in a home.
You have no idea how hard it was
seeing my mother in that home, ma'am.
My mother thinks I abandoned her
and left her to die there.
My daughter's very close to her grandmother,
so that's another thing.
So during moments of lucidity...
She still has moments of lucidity, right?
She's just depressed because she's living in a home.
She thinks we abandoned her there, but that's not true.
She's still in the first stages of Alzheimer's.
It's a process.
Her memory is going to deteriorate,
as will our family.
But you can't abandon family like that.
-We aren't abandoning her. -No one's abandoned her.
You found a suitable home for her
where she'll be cared for 24/7.
She'll have all the medical attention she needs.
Otherwise, you're going to end up with a broken family.
You already threatened to file for divorce
if your demands aren't met.
You'd rather break up your family?
We've been married for 18 years, ma'am.
What's your daughter's take in all this?
She's a 15-year-old girl.
She needs attention, too.
From both her parents.
My wife seems to think that a family is comprised
I can't leave her in those conditions.
-No one's abandoned her. -She's not well there, ma'am.
Her health's taken a
It truly hurts.
I can't go on seeing her like that.
She should come live with us.
The last time I saw her,
she told me to take her back to her old apartment.
The one we sold to pay off the house.
So she doesn't even remember that she sold her house.
The disease is progressing.
Neither of you have mentioned your daughter.
How is she taking it?
Not well, ma'am.
That's the worst part of it.
WMy daughter got so upset, she did this.
I brought a video of it. he!
Let's see the video.
<i> Mom, Dad, I've chained myself</i> <i> to Grandma's bed here.</i>
<i> I'm not leaving till you guys</i> <i> bring her back home.</i>
<i> I've got it all planned out.</i>
<i> I have food and supplies</i> <i> to last me a while.</i>
<i> I'm not leaving, Mom.</i>
<i> Not until Grandma</i> <i> comes back home.</i>
She unchained herself to come here, apparently.
She freed herself to be here.
Sorry to barge in, ma'am.
Not a problem.
I wanted you here. You belong here.
My parents both know this isn't like me.
I'm not some spoiled brat.
Okay, wait. We're going to take a break.
What'from it.nd our famiy
I'm just trying to protect my family from that trauma.
I understand.
Why should my mother have to die alone?
She's not going to die alone, though.
Why do you think that?
Do you live in Timbuktu
or are you driving distance away from the home?
She should live with us.
We can't take proper care of her.
Quiet.
Do you realize how
-your grandma's illness works? -Yes.
-Have you read up on it? -Yeah.
You know your grandmother's been acting odd lately.
She threw away your school projects, got lost,
and she's burned a few things.
She's in danger of hurting herself
and you guys are in danger of being on the receiving end
of her unpredictable behavior.
Why'd you chain yourself to the bed?
Because Mom doesn't understand
how much I miss my grandmother.
She's a part of my life.
I keep telling them but they never listen.
Whenever I visit my grandma, she recognizes me
and she begs me to get her out of there.
Quiet.
Don't bicker.
Are you going to keep at it like this forever?
See what my family's come to?
Listen to your daughter.
She's clearly heartbroken
because she only sees her grandmother when she's lucid.
I understand what you're saying,
but your family decided to put your grandmother there.
Were you involved in this decision?
No, they never asked me.
No one asked you anything.
They just told you.
Yeah, they told me they'd put my grandmother there.
They didn't care about my feelings.
Very well.
Who's supposed to watch over Grandma while you're at school?
What if she burns the kitchen down
or wanders out into the streets again?
What if she grabs a knife, and ends up cutting herself.
Who's going to take care of Grandma?
You tell me.
My dad could hire a nurse.
Are you guys rich?
We've thought about hiring a nurse before, but...
Look at it objectively.
At-home nurses charge $35 an hour.
We pay $200 a day at the home.
If it fits in your budget, by all means, do it,
but it definitely isn't cheap.
Please bring out Dr. Moises Irizarry
and Dr. Madeline Hernandez.
How can you possibly afford to pay for an at-home nurse
given the fact that your grandmother needs 24-hour care?
If I have to work more hours, I will.
What about your family?
If he's going to be working all the time...
This is an emergency that requires sacrifice.
Yes, but for how long?
I'm sure you hear cases like this one daily.
I get many calls on the same subject.
It's tough.
What's the basis for an early Alzheimer's diagnosis
and are there any medications that can ameliorate symptoms?
It's important to note that the symptoms they've described
align with moderate to advanced Alzheimer's,
and they're more advanced than that of early Alzheimer's.
Early Alzheimer's is characterized by confusion,
but once these people begin to have issues with cooking
and other day-to-day activities,
that's when they need 24-hour assistance.
They need someone watching over them,
otherwise they might disappear at random.
but besides Amber Alerts,
which notify us of missing children,
there are constant Silver Alerts
notifying us of missing elderly persons.
I see these alerts all the time on the road.
It's scary knowing that there's a senior driving a car...
It's dangerous!
They tend to have episodes at night,
which makes things that much harder.
Quick question.
Is there medication to help people in this stage?
ThIt just slows down theit isdegenerative process e.
so the symptoms lessen slightly.
There is medication available.
She's probably already taking medication.
There iShe probably is.ilable.
What's the following stage of the disease like?
The severe stage brings fewer moments of lucidity,
and shorter periods too.
Do aggressive behaviors arise?
Yes, there could be momentary and random bouts of violence.
That can cause confusion in families
and add stress to an already-stressful situation.
Hear that?
What does one do in cases like these
where loved ones claimed to have been abandoned?
What if they don't understand when you explain it?
"I didn't abandon you, Mom. I love you so much,
I brought you to a place where you have 24-hour care."
She may not understand it at first...
They can process it at first, but in time, they forget.
Many of these patients also suffer from depressiondu.
The decision this family made was inevitable.
They would've had to do it eventually.
They have other options.
They can enroll her in a daycare,
but even then they'll need a nurse at night.
These patients tend to be the most agitated at night.
This is when they exhibit the most symptoms.
So able to rest at allome,be
because they have to constantly watch over her.
We can hire someone for that.
She'd cry in the middle of the night.
Listen.
Even if you hire someone to take care of her at night,
if this person wakes up and has a violent episode,
how are they going to sleep?
It's impossible.
These people obviously love her.
They don't want to see her in these kinds of situations.
At the end of the day,
your best bet is to accept the situation.
She'll be under better care at the home
and you can come visit her as often as you'd like.
How far away do you live from the home?
-Do you live close by? -We live 15 minutes away.
15 minutes away!
You can bike there or take the bus.
Your mom or dad can take you, too.
You can spend as much time as you'd like with her...
knowing that she's in good hands
and that she isn't putting her life or your lives at risk.
That's an act of love.
You shouldn't feel guilty
because you haven't done anything wrong.
You did the right thing. The responsible thing.
My ruling.
Your claim is denied.
You're to undergo therapy as well.
If anyone here needs therapy, it's you.
Only then can you help your family adjust.
This is a part of life.
We have to take it with pride, courage, and dignity.
You haven't done anything wrong.
That was an act of love.
You made sure your mother's in good care 24/7,
and both she and your family are safe.
It's final.
Case closed.
Let's take a quick break.7-30
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