We know that there are no cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, and Huntington’s. Witnessing the steady decline of someone we love who is afflicted with one of these diseases breaks your heart in a thousand different...
Is it time to celebrate Thanksgiving by letting go of traditions so you can focus on caregiver self-care? If you’re like me, you might have strived for decades to host Thanksgiving dinners that resembled Normal Rockwell paintings.
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Like mothers of small children, caregivers think they have to become adept at doing several things simultaneously. Otherwise, how would you ever get anything done? The problem with caregiver multi-tasking is that you're doing one thing while your...
I hadn’t seen my dear friend Maggie in months. She’s been caring for her husband, who is living with Parkinson’s Disease for more than five years. I was concerned about her, and I finally convinced her to join me for lunch at a...
I received an email from a woman whose husband died after a long illness with ALS. The disease was relentless in its progression, and she said, “The last three years were brutal.”
Her husband lost the ability to speak, eat, or move...
November is National Family Caregivers Month. It is a time when organizations strive to raise awareness of caregiving issues and thank caregivers for their invaluable contributions.
This annual recognition is lovely, but when...
Several years ago, I met Claudia, a remarkable caregiver, at a conference in Wisconsin. In the morning, I had spoken about how caregiver fatigue contributes to anger and a multitude of other physical and mental challenges.
At lunch, Claudia...
At an Alzheimer’s caregiving conference, I was inspired when a man named Barney described how he was choosing to live with dementia.
Barney had become frustrated because he couldn’t find the “Text” key on his...
When people suffer from pain, illness, or dementia chronic pain, their world becomes smaller and smaller. They tend to turn inward and focus solely on their own illness, feelings, and needs. Rather than expressing appreciation for everything you...
Managing is caregiver stress is difficult even when everything going well, but when you’re caring for someone who is experiencing physical and mental decline, things can go from calm to crises in a heartbeat.
A few years...
Buddha said, “Holding on to anger and resentment is like drinking poison every day and expecting the other guy to die.” I believe that is a true statement. I also believe that forgiveness can be an effective tool to reduce caregiver...
Following my husband’s first spinal fusion, Wally, a night nurse at the hospital, proved to me that person-centered care benefits the patient as well as their caregiver. Tubes were going into and coming out of multiple parts of my...
