Friday Fun: Give Us the Guffaws!

A major reason I’m glad today is here! It’s Friday, so let’s share some funnies. What’s a humorous experience that’s happened to you in your caregiving role? It could be something that happened years ago or just yesterday, as long as today it makes you giggle. We’ll giggle with you. Please share in our comments section. And, we’ll give away a $25 Visa gift card to someone who shares a ...

Glimpses of Grace

Although every day has blessings if I look for them, I have seen special glimpses of grace in the past week or two. I had mentioned in a previous blog that I was going to try to put my husband on an antidepressant. Frankly, I was scared to death to try this because of possible side effects. I was also afraid it could make things worse. Well, two weeks ago yesterday my husband went on the antidepressant. The...

Finding New When Old Is Robbed

Janet Cromer, author of “Professor Cromer Learns to Read: A Couples New Life after Brain Injury” joined us this afternoon on Your Caregiving Journey. Janet cared for her husband, Alan, after his 1998 cardiac arrest led to brain injury and, later, Parkinson’s. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of this post.) Janet spoke about the day their lives changed, when Alan had a heart...

Visualizations: The No-Cost, Feel-Good Daily Vitamin

This morning on Your Caregiving Journey, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, our happiness expert, joined us to talk about the power of visualizations. (You can listen to our show via the podcast at the bottom of this post.) About half-way through our show, Elizabeth led us through a seven-minute visualization. It’s a keeper! When you are struggling to sleep, simply listen to Elizabeth. I’m still...

Upcoming Fundraiser in Chicago: Passionate Focus Art Exhibit Is May 13

I’m lucky in that I feel I can make a positive impact in our world. Just like you do. In Chicago, I’m proud to make a difference by serving on the board for Guild for the Blind. The Guild helps persons who have received a diagnosis of low vision and who may feel that, in some ways, life has ended. The Guild provides programs and services to help them find a new way. Last year, the Guild...

Pointing the Finger at Mom and Dad

The New York Times reported the other day that Alice Miller, a psychoanalyst, died. Alice Miller, it seems, was the first to place the blame on our parents for our dysfunctions. In reading about her, I wondered if Miller worked to understand her own childhood. The article quotes Miller from her book,“The Body Never Lies,” in which she talks about her mother. “Not once did she apologize to me or express...

Carving Out a Dream During Caregiving

Today on Your Caregiving Journey, we had our book club discussion. This month, we read “My Mom Has Alzheimer’s: Inspiration and Help for Caregivers” by Linda A. Born. Linda joined us for a live discussion of her book; you can listen to our discussion via the player at the bottom of the post. (You can purchase Linda’s book in our store.) I loved our discussion so will encourage you to listen to our...

Bad Dreams (And a Lost Cat)

I left to go back home to CA for three days in order to take care of some business paperwork from an old account. The first night I had an awful dream that Gram was turning blue and was on her death bed. I have dreams like this frequently, and always if I am away from her for any length of time. They’re the kind of dreams that are so vivid and painful that they haunt you for the rest of the day and into the...

Take Our 2010 Family Caregiver Survey

We want to know what’s it like for you! Our 2010 Family Caregiver Survey asks you about your experiences, what’s hard, what help you wish you had, what changes you’ve made because of your role. The survey may take as long as 30 minutes, so feel free to save and restart your survey as needed. To thank you for completing our survey, you can schedule a free, 30-minute phone coaching call with Denise....

Tell Us: What Do You Think No One Understands?

You probably think this at least a few times a week: You just don’t understand. You might think this when a well-meaning friend says: “Why don’t you get more help?” Or, when a family member says, “Well, why don’t you just tell her to mind her own business?” Or, when another family member says, “I just don’t understand why you need those five minutes to yourself...

Elevator

Life has its ups and downs. Caregiving, though, can seem like an one-way elevator—it just goes down. Caregiving can be a downer. You see so much suffering. And, so much seems to suffer because of caregiving: Friendships, relationships, career goals, your health, your independence, your confidence. Is it possible to go up? You push the “Up” button on your elevator when: You choose forgiveness,...

Nursing Home Costs Rise; Home Care Costs Stay Constant

New data from Genworth’s 2010 Cost of Care Survey shows that home care costs have risen at an annual rate of just 1.7% over the past five years. That compares to annual increases of 6.7% for assisted living facilities, and 4.5% for a private room in a nursing home, over the same period.1 According to the survey, in 2005 the median annual rate for a private nursing home room was $60,225, compared with the...

April 26

Thanks for the suggestion re: thickening juice and so on. Tomorrow the phonoaudiologist should come to check on mum’s swallowing – how bad it is and so on. Today I’m just rambling…I was looking at mum today and she is much weaker than a year ago. Even more confused. Sometimes she seems to have lost her capacity to talk, she just says sounds, that seem to be like syllables, but make no sense....

Intimidating Talk

This week, in Tell Us, we asked you to tell us: Who or what intimidates you? So, today, on Table Talk, we tackled those intimidating situations and relationships with some coping techniques. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of the post.) It’s awful to feel intimidated. We feel controlled. Even worse, we feel like a lesser version of ourselves. We just feel less. So, the true question...

Letting Go of the Look of Stress

Image via Wikipedia Today on Your Caregiving Journey, Anna Stookey, our emotional wellness expert, shared tips on how we can minimize the look stress gives us. You probably are aware of the look: You walk as if the world rests on your shoulders. You frown. And, sometimes, you snap at everyone and everything. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of this post.) Anna shared some tips to help...

House Passage of Caregivers Bill Brings Hope to Wounded Warriors

With the House of Representatives’ 419-0 passage on Wednesday of legislation to provide financial and other assistance to caregivers of veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ed Edmundson may at last have an answer to the question of how he’ll be able to continue to care for his brain-injured son, Eric. Following Eric’s injury in 2005, Edmundson gave up his job and depleted his...

Friday Fun: Give Us the Guffaws

It’s Friday, so let’s share some funnies. What’s a humorous experience that’s happened to you in your caregiving role? It could be something that happened years ago or just yesterday, as long as today it makes you giggle. We’ll giggle with you. Please share in our comments section. And, we’ll give away a $25 Visa gift card to someone who shares a funny. (Update: Congratulations to Donna, who won the...

Tough Evening With Gram

Hi everyone. I just had an episode with Gram. My cousin and I put her on the bedside commode (since she now sorta passes out whenever we put her on the toilet), and in a matter of about a minute, she did her passing-out thing again. If that wasn’t scary enough, she was doing some kind of involuntary pursed-lip breathing thing that might have been what they call Cheyne-stoking. These events freak me out. Every...

We’ve Launched Caregiving Deals!

I’ve been thinking of a way to connect you with companies who create products and services for you. I’ve also been thinking of way to make the connection good for you. My thinking created a new site: Caregiving Deals. Beginning May 12, we’ll send a newsletter every Wednesday morning featuring caregiving deals–at least 30% off products or services you can use on your caregiving journey. Would...

When Your Caree Is Your Life’s Love

We talk about this regularly: How hard it is to care for a spouse. There’s something natural about caring for someone who’s lived a long life. There’s something terribly unnatural about caring for someone who should still have a long life ahead. On Wednesday, April 28, at 2:30 p.m. CT, Janet M. Cromer, RN, MA, LMHC, author of “Professor Cromer Learns to Read: A Couples New Life after Brain...

Spring Me! I’m Tired of Feeling Like Crap: A Free Webinar

As part of our We Break for Spring week-long celebration (May 2 through May 8), we’re holding a special (and free!) webinar entitled… Spring Me! I’m Tired of Feeling Like Crap! Here are the details: When: Thursday, May 6, at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. PT) OR Thursday, May 6, at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT) OR (new!) Friday, May 14 at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. PT) What: Caregiving can,...

What’s Your Color Today?

How are you feeling today? We’d love to know; just complete our poll, below. And, if you’d like, share how you’re feeling (and why) in our comments section. (If you choose “Other” in our poll, please write in your own answer in the blank field.) Today, My Color Is…customer...