Messages By: marylamb

My MIL is an extreme hoarder. One of the worst cases probably in America. There is simply nothing that we, as a family, can do about it. She is able to go to work, pay her bills, and therefore, her immediate family sees no need to step in and do anything about the situation. It's been over 4 years since anyone other then her has been in her house. My husband and I were the last one's that were in there and at that point in time I was ready to call the health department to have something done about the situation, and I was told not to and to mind my own business. She buys things that she simply does not need just for the sake of buying them. (She has a 47 inch flat screen tv, still in box, yet she does't have cable.) She averages about 4-5 computers a year, just b/c she feels like it. All these expensive things are bought through a home shopping channel on their easy pay plan, and they are never taken out of the box. So the boxes pile up. There's a swimming pool in the back yard that hasn't been cleaned in 11+ years. She just doesn't feel like doing it. She knows that she has a problem, but has said that she simply doesn't care about doing anything about it, so the rest of the family must sit around and watch from the sidelines as she leads this very lonely, sad life. I can no simply put into text how bad the extent of her hoarding issues are, and you add that to the 6 dogs that are not trained that she has as well as the fact that for years, she would just leave the back door open and feed any/all cats that were in the are... The house is simply a loss and the smell alone is enough to knock you over. It's a horrifying disease and for those of us who love someone with the problem, when the person refuses to recognize that there is a problem there is nothing but a feeling of lost and hopelessness that we can feel. Somedays all I can do is thank my lucky stars that my husband and I live across the country and only have to vist her every so many years, but coming back just makes the guilt of not getting her the help that she so needs and deserves, hurts even more. Flylady.net is a great way to get your life in order if you have a jumping off point. People like my MIL, there is no jumping off point, b/c I'm afraid for her... That the jumping off point means the end of the house all together and that would cause more bad then good.