Vanessa is a single divorced mother with two teenage children. Her mother, Lena, has a stroke which apparently causes some memory loss as well as some disability in being able to fend for herself. Vanessa decides to move in with her mother and take care of her. In return, Vanessa who is temporarily out of work, has a place to live and share her mother's retirement income.

Lena is anything but easy to take care of. She has mood swings and often forgets what she is doing. She seems to display a lot of anger and takes it out on Vanessa, calling her all kinds of horrible names. She is never happy and is constantly calling for attention. In trying to take care of her own children as well as her mother, Vanessa is quickly being drained of her physical and emotional strength. In addition Vanessa's brother and two sisters are happy she is taking care of her mother since they are now absolved of the responsibility, but they treat Vanessa terribly. They also call her awful names and accuse her of being a "leech". On the other hand they have plenty of advice on how to deal with their mother but never offer any of their own time to help. After all, they reason, Vanessa is receiving benefits from caring for her mother and logically she should be responsible for all the care.

On the advice of a friend, Vanessa hires a care manager, Toby Sampson, who comes highly recommended in solving family disputes. Toby is a licensed mediator. Toby first does a care assessment of Lena and comes away suspecting there is more to her personality disorder than a stroke. He makes arrangements to take Lena to a geriatric Physician who does a complete physical assessment and recognizes that Lena's mental state is due more to improper medications and severe depression. Lena's medications are reduced and changed and she is put on antidepressants. In addition her diet is upgraded, she is to receive more fluids, more healthy foods and especially receive vitamin supplements. Particularly important is a prescription for vitamin B12 shots.

The doctor insists on as much exercise as Lena can handle. Brent, the care manager, helps convince Lena of the need for her new care program and helps oversee her following through on the exercise program. Over the ensuing months Lena's lack of memory and abusive behavior become less severe. She is also better able to care for herself without Vanessa's assistance.

In addition to the assessment, one of the first things Toby does is to contact Vanessa's older brother who is the family leader. He has a long talk with her brother and gives the brother a different perspective on the issues. With a better understanding of the situation, the brother calls a family meeting and Toby mediates a successful resolution of the family mistreatment of Vanessa and the ensuing bad feelings. Everyone including Vanessa is called upon to do their part in managing the care of her mother and to work on better family relations. The issue of Vanessa "sponging" off of her mother is addressed and an adequate solution is agreed to by all. Toby will follow up in a month to make sure everyone is following through on his or her commitment.

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