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I need help! My husband's aunt was long relative and we finally got to reconnect as she was the most kindest and wonderful person ever, she love us and our kids unconditionally. Unfortunately she was very ill and fell into a coma. Hospital wouldn't give us any information since the sister was next in line and only one who could talk to the Hospital. This went the wrong way, her sister which is my husband's mother hated her sister and had threatened her son to never talk to their aunt or they will no longer be in her life. Now she is in charge of her case, and planning to do whatever she wants with her. Note: they had never spoke to each other for years since their mothers death (20 years ago or more) My husband's aunt had a mild dementia but her sister is insisting she has a severe dementia, and preventing her friends and family memebers to talk to her without a clear diagnosis from a professional. She took her phone, and keys and had the rehabilitation center with a no visit sign on the door.She is writing down everything she says to the nurses. She has log of everything she does or say. She keep telling us we can't talk to her because my husband's aunt it's going to say she wants to go home, and my husband's mother keeps insisting the reason why she says that is because she has the dementia. That my husband's aunt is very upset to be there as the rehabilitation center is not letting her go home as they are listening to my husband's mother who keeps telling them she has severe dementia. All her reasons and isolating her is because she thinks people are going to still her stuff. She wants to take over her Financials against her will.

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You call APS in the County Aunt is now in. Tell them you feel Aunts rights are being taken away. That you are not sure what type of paperwork, if any, MIL has where the facility is allowing MIL to make the shots. Ask that APS request that the facility do a competence test on Aunt to see if she now can make her own decisions.
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Sounds like your MIL is your Aunt's legal guardian. Becoming one's legal guardian happens through a court procedure. I can't imagine that your MIL is volunteering to do this work on her sister's behalf if they had such a terrible relationship. Maybe your MIL had a change of heart. As others have pointed out, it is absolutely illegal in the US to keep anyone "hostage" in a facility if they have cognitive capacity. Dementia is something that gets progressively worse. Your Aunt may have anosognosia, a condition where individuals are unaware of or deny having a specific deficit, such as a physical disability or mental health condition. This is not an uncommon thing with dementia and there have been many posts on this forum by frustrated family members. Your Aunt asking to "go home" is a very common dementia behavior called "Sundowning". They are actually referring to their childhood home, the one in their long-term memory, and not their most recent place of residence. https://www.agingcare.com/topics/19/sundowners-syndrome It is very possible your MIL is trying to prevent well-meaning but uninformed relatives from removing your Aunt from appropriate care. And, if MIL is her guardian you would have a very difficult time working against this. Please be content that she is getting the best care in her situation. Maybe contact your MIL and agree to monitored visits with MIL present. It would be better than no visit and you may see things differently.
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If, in fact, your husband's aunt is competent and her sister has had her put away against her will, which is highly doubtful, then you should call the ombudsman assigned to the facility the Auntie is in and tell them your story.

They will go speak to the woman and intervene if she is in fact being held against her will and is competent to go home.

I would encourage you to get educated about dementia. It is a tragic disease that leaves a person unable to function in reality. If you haven't seen her for a long time, it might be hard for you to see the deficits in her executive functions.

I would say that her sister, your MIL, is doing the best she can for her sister in a difficult relationship.

I can not understand why you didn't stay in touch with the Auntie over the years and I question why now you want to what? Rescue her? Take her in? Cause your MIL hardship? You are all over the place and don't really provide any information. Long estrangement leads me to believe that you didn't have a relationship and only met or saw her occasionally.

I would like to know what your purpose and intent is now that Auntie is in a facility.
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Caring1090 Apr 13, 2025
We been in touch with each other for 3 years and we saw her 3 months ago. She was doing amazing, and she had diabetes. Unfortunately 2 months ago she had covid, and after that her health wasnt that good. We spoke to her for her to move here so we can take care of her, but she insisted that she was fine. She was a very independent women and did everything. 2 weeks later after that she fainted and end up in a coma due to her diabetes as the insulin didn't work on her body that's what the doctors mention.

As I mention before we couldn't go to Georgia as my husband had too many days off for our son. So his brother went in his stead along with his mother.

We were planning to go last week while she was in the hospital but our son fell ill and end up in the hopsital.
Nothing works as one is plan, we have an special needs child and nothing is easy on us. She knew how hards it is for us, we have 3 kids and my husband is sole provider.
YYou can't assume and judge someone for trying to help a family memeber who is been take advantage of someone that we know is not at their best benefit.
We been in touch everyday and she has been part of our lives like an angel and we respected their wishes. She didn't have the dementia, and didn't have a diagnosis. While she woke up from her coma her brain was in confusion and her sister mentioned it was the dementia. She took over her case mentioning she is the only family memeber she's been in touch preventing everyone from calling her and taking her phone away.
She hasn't spoke to each since they were in their 20s.
My mother in law will not tell us the name of the place she put her in.
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My husband's mother doesn't live in Georgia and lives in the same state with us. Reason why we reach out to my mother in law was because the hospital had the sister on the files as her only relative. And won't give us how she was doing while she was in a coma. She was unstable, but she manage to recover and was able to be herself again. Unfortunately her sister is insisting she has dementia and has a case manager working with her. Her voice is not been heard, no one is listening to her. No one is validating anything. As she doesn't even want us or anyone out there to see or talk to her. I know alot of patients with demantia and i havent see them been isolated. Some of them even have phones. My mother in law told found this place where she said she is not allow to call anyone. How is this normal ? My husbands mother is doing everything while she is 20 minutes away from us. She has a paranoia and bipolar disorder and Angry outburst. she hasn't even talk to her in years. All her friends find these very weird. We don't want her money if that's what you think. We want to make sure she is not trap in a place against her will. No one is listening to her because her sister is controlling all of this. This is not normal as everyone knows her sister would not take care of her.

If you meet this person you will know she would tell you two different stories. Everyone is willing to step up and be a witness of how this person is not qualify to be her care taker.
This is going to be a fight but we will all fight to get her out. I appreciate your insight but we believe and we all know my husband's aunt.
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It’s unfortunate that your husband’s aunt did not have POA, stating who she would want to look after her care . But that is on her .
You could try talking to an eldercare attorney about this . Possibly call her County Agency of Aging , or APS . Perhaps the social worker can get to the bottom of whether or not aunt can make her own decisions etc.
Some of what you say doesn’t add up . I don’t think you have accurate information .
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Your husband’s aunt had a choice about who she wanted to be in charge if she was incapacitated. We all have that choice. She chose her sister, and you should respect that because there’s nothing you can do about it at this point. Also, please understand that the facility where aunt is has done their own professional analysis of aunt’s condition. Her sister isn’t the one holding her there, the facility is. Aunt would be discharged if she didn’t meet the criteria for care there.

From your post, I gather that you have only lately come to this situation. There may be a lot you don’t know. For instance, dementia can be mild but become severe very quickly. My family member had dementia that was growing worse for a long time, but if you rarely saw her, you wouldn’t know how bad it was. On May 5, she was walking well enough to go around the block, but by May 24, she was falling out of her dining chair and couldn’t walk at all. The progression of her disease caused that.

Dementia patients often say they want to go home. They say it for various reasons, but they have no idea where home is anymore, or they have vague ideas that home was a good place and they want to be there.

You should stay out of this. You have no authority in the matter, and there’s nothing you can contribute. Be thankful that aunt has someone to manage her illness, and if you really want to help, send a prepared dinner to your mother-in-law because she is probably exhausted from managing her sister’s care.
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Caring1090 Apr 13, 2025
I understand what you are saying but she didn't chose her sister. There is a law in Georgia that only her relative which is her sister the next in line. Her husband passed away and she doesn't have kids. There is no paper that she prove she wanted her sister to make the choices.
We have reached out to all her friends and they said she had no dementia and they all know her sister hated her. They're all worry about her
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