Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Disabled husband, 3 kids

285 replies

LdnRed99 · 20/01/2020 02:46

Disabled husband and 3 kids...

My husband was born with a condition which is degenerative and recently he has started using a wheelchair. He is looking to buy a new one that can be folded down to take about with us. Whilst we are the getting a hoist for our car there may be times we don't have a hoist available and he is expecting me on those occasions to lift the chair in and out of the car. I already have shoulder problems from lifting our double pram in and out of our boot (we have a 5 year old girl and identical twin boys at 10 months).

Am I being unfair telling him I won't be doing that ever and he can use an adapted taxi instead should that situation arise?

Please vote and comment...I'd love to know why you answered the way you did

OP posts:
woodchuck99 · 20/01/2020 16:15

For me he is a victim in as much that he is dependent on the op and that his options for leaving are virtually nil.

I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. He works and the mobility car will be his. Obviously he can't drive it but if he wasn't with OP that he would be able to use them money to pay for taxis instead.

WaterOffADucksCrack · 20/01/2020 16:17

I bet you would think it quite nasty if the mother was irritated by their child huffing and puffing because they were in pain. ah ok so you've misinterpreted the op ranting on an anonymous forum as her being nasty to her partner/kids and you think the answer to help all parties is a big pile on of being unkind.

Nixby3 · 20/01/2020 16:26

The phrases about losing them because of his stupid mistakes/attitude, maybe he should live in a care home, he's huffing and puffing when he's struggling and it not being an option for his parents helping because she can't stand them - op sounds manipulative and controlling. No being disabled does not mean you are incompetent but he does sound like a victim.

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 20/01/2020 16:44

Obviously he can't drive it but if he wasn't with OP that he would be able to use them money to pay for taxis instead.

Which actually is another issue. If op doesn't want to drive him, can't lift his wheelchair etc then maybe they should give back his motability car so that he gets his benefits back to pay for taxis to help him get around. It seems all kinds of wrong that he's told to get taxis whilst his wife and children have use of the car provided for his needs.

Nixby3 · 20/01/2020 16:50

Its convenient for the op to have the car Hmm

woodchuck99 · 20/01/2020 16:54

ah ok so you've misinterpreted the op ranting on an anonymous forum as her being nasty to her partner/kids and you think the answer to help all parties is a big pile on of being unkind.

I didn't say anything about her being nasty to her kids. She hasn't just ranted on an anonymous forum. She has also made comments to him. Don't really see how it helps all parties to be sympathetic about that.

Hearhoovesthinkzebras · 20/01/2020 17:05

Its convenient for the op to have the car

I'm sure it is but a motability car is paid for out of the DH benefits and is meant for his needs so it seems a bit much to tell him to get taxis. If he had the benefits, rather than the car, then he would have the money to get taxis independently rather than have to rely on op to drive him.

Nixby3 · 20/01/2020 17:38

Hearhooves I was being sarcastic! (Emoji didn't show) I agree with you!

gingersausage · 20/01/2020 18:03

It’s the same old story on MN; mothers are saints and disabled people (especially wheelchair users) are the scum of the earth. Some of us are actually both, amazingly enough 🙄.

@JKScot4, just for reference a mobility scooter and a wheelchair are very different things. If a person needs a wheelchair, a flimsy scooter is unlikely to be suitable.

WiddlinDiddlin · 20/01/2020 18:04

I've ticked YABU ... not because its unreasonable to refuse to do something that causes you pain...

But because I don't think either of you have actually looked at all the available options properly and understood their uses, and as such you are getting worked up about something that might not ever need to be an issue.

Go to something like NAIDEX. Look at, in person, the various options there are for both cars and wheelchairs.

Get wheelchair dealers to come OUT to you and you can test their products, he can drive them around, you can see how they pack away/fold down/etc.

THEN you can make decisions about what you can and cannot do - to decide based on no information you will not do something is ridiculous.

abstractprojection · 20/01/2020 18:13

On the huffing and puffing and walking slowly.

My Dad did this, he had a hernia but hadn't told anyone, until we were half way home (and half way from a cab station) late at night in the cold and pouring rain. One tiny baby step at a time, ouch, ouch ouch. It took an hour for what should have been a 20min walk tops. I was carrying heavy things for both of us. At no point did he consider this or say I could go ahead. The next morning my shoulder was extreme pain and I had a cold. At no point did he ask or care how I was.

I was extremely pissed off as I think he deliberately withheld until we were just far away enough from the cab station for it to be an option, which he knew I would have insisted on, and which would have stopped both his own pain and his infliction of discomfort on me.

Now I love my Dad to bits and he's a wonderful man, but pain does things to people and changes their behaviour. It makes people only think about them-self, their pain, how their pain and 'lot' is worse then anyone else, it can even make them on some level want to share their pain with others, literally.

So basically pain can make the nicest person in the world a bit of a thoughtless proud self-indulgent twat, and those that love them can in turn get a bit pissed off.

thelongdarkteatimeofthesoul · 20/01/2020 18:16

gingersausage Nobody whatsoever has said that, at all!

The views are either that the disabled person is a victim and the carer an abuser, or that both people are humans in a difficult situation and neither are the devil nor an angel.

The OP's left the thread though so there's not much point speculating about what's going on beyond what she's said or going around in circles.

There is nothing indicating that the OP doesn't drive her husband in the mobility car - she doesn't want to lift the wheelchair when they don't have access to the mobility car due to being away on holiday etc. Also he has twins too, not just the OP.

Purpleartichoke · 20/01/2020 18:17

DH and I both have health problems. We both help one another, but also have to respect our own limitations.

If you can’t lift the chair once in a while, You might just have to accept that certain travel is not in the cards for your family.

I am really concerned about the negative feelings towards him making an effort to get down on the floor with the kids or help out, but letting his exertion be visible.

ddl1 · 20/01/2020 19:41

YADNBU to refuse to lift him and his chair in and out of the car, when there are other options available (the adapted taxi, or just making sure you always have the hoist). Professional carers are generally forbidden to do such things on their own: you need at least two carers to lift somebody; otherwise it's against health and safety rules. You won't be helping either your husband or your children if you injure yourself.

However, some of the other things that you say are worrying me. You say that you tell him 'sometimes' (so it's happened repeatedly Pe - not a one-off wake-up call) that he will lose you all if he doesn't 'stop making stupid mistakes'. What do you mean by stupid mistakes? Unless it's something extreme, like that he's having affairs, or hitting you or the children, or at least making his health worse by drinking or flagrantly disobeying doctor's orders about diet, this seems an extreme response on your part. People who have chronic health problems or disabilities, especially younger people, often feel very guilty and frightened of rejection already. It also seems unfair at this stage to tell him he should go and live in a care home. If his problems are progressive, then one day he may have to - or receive professional home care - but this shouldn't be used in arguments IMO.

Also: it it really impossible for his parents to provide a bit of help? Why can't you stand them? What have they done? I can imagine situations where it would be impossible so I'm not saying you're definitely being U about it, but is it truly not tolerable even occasionally?

Is there any chance that the council might be able to provide some form of home care? I know councils are notoriously poorly funded with regard to social care at present; but even a small amount could be very useful. Or at least might the twins be made a priority for nursery attendance, which would reduce some of the workload? I suspect you might have to keep a bit quiet about your mum staying with you. I assume that the older child is already in school.

AgnusandMagnus · 20/01/2020 19:55

If a disabled woman came on here saying her partner told her she would have to go live in a care home away from her children because she was making "stupid mistakes" the response would be one of unilateral anger. He'd be called abusive and rightly. Part of me thinks this is a reverse or a complete wind up.

SD1978 · 20/01/2020 20:01

I do think, reading your updates that you need to see your GP regarding some counselling for you. You knew that this would happen and yet seem to be utterly unprepared to assist in your husbands car. I get your frustrated but some of your comments are borderline abusive- no doubt due to stress. Talking about care homes and hating he makes noises due to pain- this was always how things were going to go in the relationship ship and you seem utterly unprepared now to accept that. You need to either deal with this, get some strategies to cope, or quite frankly walk away now before he becomes more physically and emotionally ally reliant on you. Currently you don't seem to be able to provide him any physical or emotional support from your post and replies and he will only become more reliant on both as this continues.

JKScot4 · 20/01/2020 20:18

@gingersausage
Thanks for your condescending comment, I’m well aware of the difference, but OPs DH is still able to walk so isn’t completely wheelchair bound, do you every consider that the ppl you are talking down to just might have experience in these matters; personally or professionally? I posted the link as it’s a possibility, not every wc user has the same needs 🙄

JKScot4 · 20/01/2020 20:20

OP also look into Access to Work for your DH, take a bit of the load off you, this can fund a taxi to work.

andyjusthangingaround · 20/01/2020 20:37

hmmmm Hmm

Disabled husband, 3 kids
Lillygolightly · 20/01/2020 21:29

@LdnRed99 I’m a full time carer to my MIL who has Alzheimer’s and can completely and utterly understand how full on caring can be. It is also not easy to anticipate how hard things will be in the future, what you can cope with now may be unbearable in a year, you just never know, but you do your best with what you have at the time.

For those saying you knew your husbands health problems before you married and therefore should just be willing to put up with it have no clue what they are talking about. Presumably you married your husband because you loved him, and decided to marry despite his illness, this however does not mean that you have to put your own health at risk because you have to care for his. You’ve given him a wife, a family and a carer, love, support, care and attention. You have also willingly and knowingly done all the heavy lifting in terms of parenting and housework and no doubt a mulititude of other things. He may be ill and whilst that is very sad for him, it is also sad for you, as you have also made an incredible sacrifice in order to be with him and give as much of yourself as you have. You’ve continued to stay with him, love and care for him despite knowing that it makes your life harder. Many of those that are judging on this thread would never be able to do such a thing due to the level of selflessness it requires.

As for you my lovely, you do have to have some boundaries, and not because you are unwilling to support and care for your DH, but because you have to also care for yourself and your children. Since he cannot step in in regards to the care of the children and especially while they are so young it is imperative that you think of your own long term health, because they need you, they all need you, him included.

It’s a good idea to think ahead and think of what you think you can and can’t manage and draw up some lines in the sand for things you are not willing or able to do so that you can make a plan to have those needs covered by outside assistance. The sooner you get the ball rolling on this the better because as I’m sure you are aware the adult social care system moves very slow indeed. As much as the idea is abhorrent, do look at some care facilities which can offer you some respite, you might not use it for a long time to come but when you need it that rest can be worth its weight in gold.

When I first took on the care of my MIL who now lives with us, things were very manageable but she soon suffered a decline which has made Care very tricky indeed. I have 3 DC myself, the youngest just a toddler. There are days when I’m at the end of my tether and the exhaustion is like none I’ve ever known, despite having done the whole newborn sleep deprivation thing and the constant supervision of toddlers. I am needed all the time, it’s constant, unrelenting and it’s day after day. It’s ok to feel not ok with it all, you cannot be superwoman all of the time, and despite the needs of your DH and those of your children you do have to put yourself first once in a while. Flowers

WaterOffADucksCrack · 20/01/2020 21:45

I attend a supporting carers group. Many people there care for spouses with all kinds of disabilities including dementia. People there do say the things they would never say to the person they care for. Some talk about things they have regrettably said to the person they care for out of frustration or whatever.

Nobody has ever suggested any of the others are "utterly unprepared" even though they knew they would be in this situation.....funnily enough prior knowledge doesn't miraculously make it easier emotionally, physically or financially. Some conditions can randomly and rapidly change.

Some people also seem to be unaware that it takes two people to make babies! OP didn't get herself pregnant! And people don't choose to make twins, they just happen!

Carers are human beings too.

Schuyler · 20/01/2020 21:47

While I absolutely think you shouldn’t have to put your own health at risk to lift his wheelchair, some of your comments are manipulative. It doesn’t sound like you’re letting venting, you have gone beyond that as you’re saying it directly to him. When it gets to that point, it’s a problem.

Both of you need to have a discussion. You both knew he had a degenerative condition when you got married and chose to start a family. You both knew his needs would get worse. I can well imagine neither of you realised how hard it would be. You sound immensely resentful towards him. It doesn’t sound like a happy environment for either of you to be living in. It’s ok if you can’t deal with it. It’s ok to end a marriage. It’s not ok to make barbed comments about him going into a care home and how the noises his pain makes bothers you. Is he innocent in this? I highly doubt it. I don’t think you’re a bad person or abusive but some of what you say to him and about him is not pleasant. You both bear responsibility to the family you chose to create.

woodchuck99 · 20/01/2020 21:51

Many of those that are judging on this thread would never be able to do such a thing due to the level of selflessness it requires.

Well I'm judging as a disabled person who would tell my DH to Fuck off if I heard him talking about me the way OP's is talking about her DH. He has not got Alzheimer's and as someone who is physically disabled I find the comparison quite insulting. Her DH works and is clearly capable of looking after himself. What he can't do is help OP look after her three children and that is why she is tired.

thelongdarkteatimeofthesoul · 20/01/2020 21:52

woodchuck99 their three children - his three children - not just hers.

woodchuck99 · 20/01/2020 21:55

their three children - his three children - not just hers.

I am aware of that. What is your point?

Swipe left for the next trending thread