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.
Strangely enough, when someone suffers from a stroke or other debilitating ailment, at least two people end up needing help—the sufferer and the caregiver.
When you are suddenly thrust into life as a caregiver, handling a loved one’s medical needs can be one of the most confusing things for you to manage.
Unless you have a medical background, you’ll be learning all sorts of new vocabulary and medical processes. You may be interacting with multiple doctors about varied medications and treatments, all of which you need to oversee. You may need to perform a litany of tasks at home, ranging from administering injections to monitoring blood oxygen levels, while also assisting with baths and other cleanliness tasks.
One of the most heart-wrenching aspects of being a caregiver is deciding how to let go of your loved one.
When is the right time to move a patient into hospice, which can provide loving and professional support while someone is dying? When would residential placement be helpful, or would dying at home be preferable? Could palliative care, which helps with pain management, be of use? How do you approach making certain the will and any other legal issues are properly addressed? Should preparations be made in advance for a funeral?
When suddenly thrust into life as a caregiver, one needs support—financial, social, emotional, and physical—but how and where do you find it?
The answer to that will be unique for every person and each situation. Some people might have big families or an extensive group of supportive friends who jump in to help out, but most will not have this ideal situation.