"Burnt out as a carer"

I wanted to tell my story because I know I can’t be the only carer feeling burnt out.

I am a carer who has a  heart condition caring for three young people with Autism, ADHA, learning disability, and medical conditions and a child with Autism, learning disability and ADHD as if this was not enough I am also a carer of my mum who is in her 70’s and lives with a heart condition, Diabetes and has a stoma bag, problem is she lives 20 miles away from me.

The Southeastern trust does not seem to care that I am nearing burn out. Last week I had to go to my mum’s home four times in one week to check her stoma bag. I knew there was a problem but no one would come and look, instead I had to take photos and send them to the stoma nurses but no one came back to me. So I had to ring her GP who instructed me to take my mum to A&E. she had a long wait  for a bed as she needed admitted because I was right there was a problem. I wish i could say that it finsihed here but it didnt, after my mum was discharged there where still problems with the stoma bag and my running continued for several more days. 

No one has asked me can you keep running your mum to hospital appointments, can you keep running to her home to look after her stoma bag, can you keep running to the chemist, can you keep doing what a mum does for her disabled children. NO I’m the invisible person in the background saving the trust and society hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.

What will happen when I burn out?

What will the trust do for my mum if one of my children gets covid and I have to isolate for 14 days?

Will my mum be left on her own? Who will care for her? Who will change her stoma bag?

Why has my mum not been offered a care package, help, support or even direct payments?

I feel like carers like me being left to pick up the slack. I'm an invisible burnt out carer!