Nearly thirteen years later I welcome the on-sale day for my memoir, Kick-Ass Kinda Girl. There are no words to express my gratitude for the amazing support I have already received from my family and friends. Early readers across the country have found hope in my words and that is truly humbling.
Caregivers often fall into existing in either crisis mode or chronic mode, according to Dr. Lee Baucom, author of “Thrive Principles” and “The Immutable Laws of Living.”
I did it. I never thought I could, but I have!
It’s hard for me to believe, but after more than four years, my book, “Kick-Ass Kinda Girl: A Memoir of Life, Love & Caregiving,” about my life and its caregiving journey is finished and will be published this fall.
Just as new technology has changed television and telephones, it’s also changing caregiving.
For busy caregivers who need time to work or relax while their loved ones stay home, technology can provide an answer. For example, caregiver Peter Rosenberger, who hosts a caregiving radio show on IHeart radio, uses technology frequently to make his life work better as he cares for his wife, Gracie, who lost her lower legs in a car accident more than 30 years ago.
This year, I will be sharing insights from other caregiving experts like Peter Rosenberger, who I met when he interviewed me on his radio show in October. Like me, Rosenberger has a spouse who has extreme caregiving needs.
Sometimes life’s little things are hard to manage.
For example, Jess Esquivel’s grandmother needed wheels and a basket for her walker, but the family couldn’t afford the $66 to buy them.A $299 bath transfer chair was also out of the question.
When Tina Lewis’ mother became ill, life became tumultuous and exhausting.
Not only was her mother suffering, but Lewis, an only child, was suddenly a caregiver tackling numerous challenges. The first was simply figuring out what was wrong. Initially some doctors thought that depression might be the cause of her mother’s difficulties, but Lewis knew that wasn’t the case.
When a stroke or other sudden health event has wreaked havoc on a couple’s life together, retaining intimacy and joy may pale in the face of preeminent life and death issues.
Caregivers suffer disproportionately from depression, anxiety and loneliness, but each caregiver can take one step that will help combat all three: finding a support group.
When people becomes parents for the first time, they encounter a new world with demands and stresses and joys that they never anticipated.