Porter last tends to her father at 10 p.m., when she changes him again and then goes to bed, a baby monitor in her room to listen in on him. But her duties don't end there. Mother was so paranoid, she called the sheriff three times on me after Dad's stroke. She thought I was stealing her car keys. It's just that she couldn't remember where she put them.
Porter never stops working.
Just to get time to run the family errands, she has to have her eldest daughter cover for her at home. Porter even includes her mother in her one regular respite, a weekly lunch with friends. Porter is one of 22.4 million family caregivers in America, about half of whom are tending to aging parents. This trend is projected to continue as the number of people over 65 doubles in 30 years, with the fastest-growing group being those over 85. People are living longer than ever, often with multiple chronic conditions like heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and emphysema.