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Mary Ellen – How has your relationship with your son or daughter changed?

Mary Ellen – How has your relationship with your son or daughter changed?

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We butted heads a little bit before her injury, which I think is pretty typical of a mother and a teenage daughter. We got a long well, but we did butt heads. Everything totally changed after her accident because I was her caregiver, so she needed me... Show More

We butted heads a little bit before her injury, which I think is pretty typical of a mother and a teenage daughter. We got a long well, but we did butt heads. Everything totally changed after her accident because I was her caregiver, so she needed me, she needed me for everything. And that created in some ways a bond, in other ways, there was some friction. She hated not being independent; she hated having to need me, and having to ask for things. There were days when after the 20th request for help, or the 10th time that something wasn't adjusted quite right, I would get exasperated. Or sometimes I would see her and I would start crying, I would just be so overwhelmed with what she had to deal with. I found out later, and I found this out through a paper she wrote for school, that she felt a terrible sense of guilt at being such a burden, and would look at me feeling bad and then she would feel bad that she was making me feel bad. So, we had, we had some difficult days. Once we got to a point where she was more independent and we got some help with caregiving, that got a lot better. And hope she would agree, I think we have a great relationship.

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Mary Ellen – How has your relationship with your son or daughter changed?

Mary Ellen

Daughter injured in 2005 at age 15, quadriplegic
More Videos by Mary
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We butted heads a little bit before her injury, which I think is pretty typical of a mother and a teenage daughter. We got a long well, but we did butt heads. Everything totally changed after her accident because I was her caregiver, so she needed me, she needed me for everything. And that created in some ways a bond, in other ways, there was some friction. She hated not being independent; she hated having to need me, and having to ask for things. There were days when after the 20th request for help, or the 10th time that something wasn't adjusted quite right, I would get exasperated. Or sometimes I would see her and I would start crying, I would just be so overwhelmed with what she had to deal with. I found out later, and I found this out through a paper she wrote for school, that she felt a terrible sense of guilt at being such a burden, and would look at me feeling bad and then she would feel bad that she was making me feel bad. So, we had, we had some difficult days. Once we got to a point where she was more independent and we got some help with caregiving, that got a lot better. And hope she would agree, I think we have a great relationship.

Mary Ellen – How has your relationship with your son or daughter changed?
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