This Week’s Deal: 20% Off Group Coaching with Denise

During the week of February 28 through March 6, you’ll save 20% off when you schedule and purchase 4, 60-minute group coaching sessions with Denise. The regular cost for 4, 30-minute group coaching sessions is $600. This week, your cost is $480 for your four sessions, which can be scheduled at your convenience. When you and three friends or family members take advantage of this week’s deal, you’ll...

Au Contraire: We Can’t Kill with Kindness

In a recent Huffington Post article, Jason Marsh writes about a new book “The Compassionate Instinct” that he’s edited with Dacher Keltner and Jeremy Adam Smith. Marsh writes that our kindness toward others is also a kind act toward ourselves. He writes: “For example, neuroscience suggests that when we give to others, our brain shows heightened activity in the nucleus accumbens, a region...

Sad News

Mabel Romick, one of our Caregiver of the Year Award winners, was in a serious car accident with her husband, Ken, who has Alzheimer’s and for whom she cares. A drunk driver hit their car. Sharon, one of our bloggers, alerted me to the news after reading Mabel’s blog. Mabel’s daughter, Deborah, updated Mabel’s blog with the news. Mabel has a long recovery ahead of her. Deborah is now caring...

Feb. 27

Mum has settled down a bit. She is now eating and drinking and taking her supplement of Calogen. She’s had abdominal pain and we’ve given her what the doctor prescribed – gas medicine (luftal) and anti-spasm medicine. This helped and the pain passed. She is very thin, her bones seem to stick up through her skin and she isn’t really walking anymore. The aids sort of push her along....

Ask Denise: Should Mom Come Home to My Home?

Dear Denise, I’m not really sure how to work myself around the site yet. However, I wanted to tell you my story and ask for some advice. My mother that had a massive stroke last year. It left her paralyzed on her dominant side and considerable amount of brain damage. She also shows signs of Alzheimer’s. She is currently in a nursing home and very, very depressed. I want to bring her home to take care of...

Activity Ideas to Beat Back the Winter Blues

On Thursday, Becky Lowry and Nancy Hanley, My Health Care Manager, joined us on Your Caregiving Journey to share activity ideas to beat back the cabin fever. You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of this post. Some suggestions we discussed during the show include: 1. Move–exercise can help you both feel better. Consider the Sit and Be Fit exercise videos; visit here for more information....

Brownish/Greenish Stuff and Nourishment 1&2

Brownish – Greenish Stuff  (2007) Brownish – greenish stuff, casserole types, mixed together meats, particularly beef, but also some ground turkey dishes, chop suey dishes with beef and brown sauce, pasta dishes, rice dishes, fish, unless finely chopped, most legume dishes, ham, unless finely chopped….these were not a few of mom’s favorite things! It was a frustrating first year trying to...

This Week’s Poll: Do You Feel Invisible?

Yesterday, Donna W. wrote how, as a family caregiver, she can feel invisible. So, we ask you: Do you feel invisible? Vote in our poll; feel free to share your thoughts in our comments section. As a family caregiver, do you feel...

Survey: What Do You Expect from a Medical Practice?

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is conducting a national survey to learn more about what patients and their families expect from a high quality medical practice. NCQA is the national organization that develops quality standards and performance measures for a wide range of health care organizations, including physician practices, to identify those that deliver high quality care and service. The...

Invisible People

Something triggered this thought recently. I can’t say what it was, but the thought was that, as caregivers, we are invisible people.  We aren’t seen, aren’t heard from, aren’t thought about. Not all caregivers are in that category, but I’d be interested in doing a poll to see just how many felt that way! I inadvertently tested this out earlier this week. A national restaurant was...

Stopping the Shoulding

This morning on Your Caregiving Journey, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, our happiness expert and author of “A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription For Happiness,” joined us for a discussion about “shoulding.” (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of the post.) You know: We should on ourselves: I should have done more. Others should on us: You should have done more. Oh, the shoulding can...

Simplify: Use “No” as an Agent to Prioritize and to Reassess

Sue is the consummate caregiver: She cares for her three school-aged children, her parents and her in-laws, all who live nearby. Since her youngest started kindergarten, she has been interested in starting a part-time, home-based business. She wants to be available for her children and her parents, but she also would like to have some extra money—and an interest outside her...

Unspoken Languages

Chad & I have this unspoken language between us. For example, when we were housebreaking our sweet little leaky puppy (long before we had to housebreak our sweet little leaky kids),we would just give each other a look. We each knew we wanted to scream,”THERE HAVE BEEN NO ACCIDENTS TODAY! SHE DIDN’T PEE ON THE FLOOR TODAY!” Yet, we knew the instant we birthed the words from our mouths, that sweet little...

Quick Update

I’ve been having such a rough time lately but things somewhat smoothed out for a few hours today at least.  I’ve not been able to blog – when I get a chance, I find myself asleep in my recliner with my laptop on my lap. Both of my parents’ conditions are worsening.  If there is a transplant out there for my Mom I feel we are getting much closer to it.  I fear if she doesn’t get one...

Moving Day!

It hardly seems possible but we are finally moved into our new condo! The last couple weeks have been very busy. I have been slowly moving over little things. I even had help with these before big moving day activities from my son and a couple of other ladies from my church. Yesterday was the big day, however, as the deacons of our church moved over the big items. Everything went great yesterday. The weather...

The Person Left Behind in The Shadows

“A woman’s hopes are woven of sunbeams; a shadow annihilates them”  George Eliot She may have been a dancer, a singer, a baker or cook A seamstress, a crafter, a reader of book A daughter, a wife, a mother, a grandma A teacher, a nurse, an instructor of drama Whoever she was, whatever she did The hopes and the dreams are forever now hid Back in the shadows, the shell now...

This Week’s Deal: Save $10 on The Caregiving Years Presentation Program

Take $10 off The Caregiving Years presentation program. You’ll pay $99, $10 off our regular price of $109. Do you need a presentation for a caregiving conference? A community presentation to family caregivers? Bring The Caregiving Years to your community with our presentation program. We’ll e-mail the PowerPoint presentation to you, which includes the script and hand-outs. You can print and make...

Even If a Choice, It’s Still Difficult

Today on Your Caregiving Journey, Donna Ryan joined us to talk about her recent trip to Atlanta with her mom. (You can listen to our discussion via the player at the bottom of this post.) Toward the end of the show, we talked about the worry about discussing caregiving with non-caregiving friends. With the worry comes the concern that complaining could be misinterpreted as being disrespectful to a caree. This...

Tell Us: What’s Your Gold Medal?

Image via Wikipedia In a caregiving role, you learn how to manage tasks and duties that last year or last decade or last century seemed unimaginable. Now, these skills seem to be second nature. Perhaps the pureed meal you prepare is now a family favorite, a meal family members request on special days, like birthdays. Or, maybe you can maneuver a wheelchair and carry a bag of groceries. Or transfer from bed...

Spending the Days

I recently saw this quote: How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~ Annie Dillard Oh, geez, I thought. Really? My immediate thought: I spend my days doing things I don’t want to do so someday I can do what I want. Is this really my life? And, then, I really started thinking about how I spend my days. Oh, boy. It seems I spend my days in too much anger about situations I can’t change; in...

Pulling the Weeds So Roses Bloom

Today on Your Caregiving Journey, Anna Stookey, our emotional health expert, joined us for a discussion on how to weed our friendship gardens. (You can listen to the show via the player at the bottom of the post.) Show highlights include: 1. In a caregiving role, our needs change and so may our friendships. Our priorities may shift our friendships. 2. We can choose to dance with or dance away from those in our...

“A Few Months Left”

I just came from my Gram’s doctor’s appointment. They think she only has a few months left, and bluntly discussed her dying at home. The words hit me like a slap in the face, even though I know that the signs are there. She has been getting weaker and weaker, and there has been a change even since last month. There were four of us in the room. My Gram, her day-time caregiver, me, and the doctor. When...