The American Cancer Society defines a caregiver as anyone not paid to provide care to a loved one. Whether a spouse, child, parent, sibling or close friend, caregivers sacrifice much of their lives to help someone in need.
Across much of the world, social distancing has meant that caregivers can no longer visit relatives in nursing homes. Caregiver support groups have been canceled or moved online
You may wonder what you can do as a caregiver to protect your ailing loved one.
First, don’t panic. A tiny proportion of the public currently has the disease, and recovery rates are high.
Still, no one wants to catch the infection, particularly the elderly or those with underlying health conditions, for whom it is much more dangerous.
This love may flow back and forth between the one receiving care and the caregiver in a way that deepens their bond. Years of caregiving may be a time for appreciation and connection as life slows from the fast pace of the outside world to the slow time of home and nurturance.
I became a caregiver to my mother who was diagnosed with colon cancer the summer after I graduated from high school. It was devastating, isolating, overwhelming and even embarrassing at times to have a sick parent when all of my peer’s parents were healthy and thriving.
A new year can be a time to reflect. How did the previous year work for me, my family, my community, the world? What could I change to bring more light into the coming year?
Our holiday tradition always included making gingerbread houses.
My husband, Don, and I would invite over a couple of our grandchildren, and we would build houses and gobble sweets. Really, the grandkids and I would sneak bites, while Don would tease us about it.
Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate family connections.
However, for caregivers, family relationships can be complicated.
Sometimes, resentment may arise when one or two family members take on most of the caregiving duties.
Caregiving can be scary—not in the way a Halloween horror flick provokes fear—but instead the way real life does.
Caregiving often involves loss and perhaps some unexpected changes. For me, it was my husband’s stroke that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Starting with that moment, fear became something that we both had to address.
When I was my husband’s caregiver, I wish I could have more easily connected with others experiencing similar issues. Now, many resources to find support groups exist, and the benefits to the members are immense. Here is a story of one such group; some names have been changed for privacy reasons.