On The Plus Side. . .

Seeing the silver lining in difficult situations is my specialty but can be challenging at times even for a Pollyanna like me. I do my best not to obsess about Robert’s long-term future but I am failing miserably lately. Robert forgetting his roommate’s name the other night really threw me for a loop. Is his memory going to further decline? Will his balance issues continue to get worse eventually landing him in...

I Got Nothin’

Lately I feel like I’m the busiest person I know and I have nothing accomplished to show for it! Things with Hubby are on smooth ice. Nothing better, nothing worse just the same. All the days are the same. You know what? It’s kind of nice.

What Do You Know Now?

This morning on Your Caregiving Journey, two family caregivers joined me to share their insights in response to this question: What do you know now that you wish you knew then? You can listen to our show via the player below. Gretchen Herrman, a member of one of my online support groups when she cared for mom until her mom’s death in 2004, and Kim Atchley, who cared for her parents, shared what caregiving was...

Proud and Disappointed

How can I be so proud and so disappointed at the same time? This is the question for me today. I am so proud of Nicole for handling her illness and especially the diagnosis as she has. I am proud of her for all the wonderful things she does, her art, her volunteering with the pre-K/K crowd and her writing skills but…. I am so disappointed with her in other areas. In conjunction with our trip to Hawaii...

Story in our Local Paper

We had some excitement today.  A story about my wife and I appeared in the local paper.  You can read the article here. I am truly amazed at what God has enabled my wife to do in spite of her illnesses.

Changed and Holding

Like with most anything we experience, caregiving has its good and bad. When we first moved into our house, it was October and this tree looked like a miniature weeping willow tree. When spring came…boy were we mistaken! My mother was very upset at me on Sunday because I wouldn’t take her to the hospital–we have had incidents like this before. The doctor has given me a check list; she was okay....

Amazing Day Yesterday

Yesterday, we planned to move Mom to the adult family home. Because of a random state inspection, we put it off until today. I’ve written about the extreme confusion Mom has experienced since she has been at home since April 1st, as well as during the two weeks she was in rehab prior to that. For the past three days, she has been back to her normal self mentally. No confusion. Zero. Last week, she...

Ten Life Lessons

Yesterday, I led our monthly webinar for professionals working with family caregivers. In the webinar, I shared the ten life lessons I learned from working with family caregivers. (If you’d like to listen to the webinar, go here.) I thought you’d enjoy them, too. The life lessons I’ve learned from family caregivers follow: 1. Health Gives You a Fighting Chance, No Matter What Happens. When you...

Our Trip to Hawaii

I’m not sure if I have spoke of our trip to Hawaii or not. Before I found this group I created a blog for my non-facebook friends and family. I basically post what I’ve said on facebook. Anyway, in February, my husband, Nicole and I went on an all-expense paid trip for 5 days to Honolulu. It is a long story but one you can read in my six different entries on my blog at ...

I’m So Proud of Nicole…

I am so proud of my daughter Nicole.  She is sixteen years old and she is chronically ill with a rare lung disease that was caused by a congenital heart defect that didn’t get diagnosed until she was 15-years-old. She is now “officially” a published writer, so to speak. She has her first article in the Spring issue of the Pathlight magazine, which is the quarterly publication that the...

CareGifters: Giving to Jane

We’ve selected our second CareGifters recipient: Jane. She cares for her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, who was diagnosed in January 2010 with a congenital heart defect, pulmonary hypertension, and Eisenmenger syndrome. She was also diagnosed in February of this year with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Our goal is to raise $500 to help Jane; you can help with your donation of $5. (If you want to give more,...

Poll: Your Day’s Toughest Time

In this week’s poll, sponsored by Caregiving.com and eCareDiary.com, we ask: What’s the hardest part of your day? Please vote and then share in our comments section. What’s the Hardest Part of Your Day?survey...

Let Go, Let God

Today on Your Caregiving Journey, Kathy joined me to share her story of forgiveness. You can listen to the show via the player below. Kathy’s story involves Hubby and the breakdown of their marriage in 2005. Her story also involves reconciling with Hubby in early 2007 despite the objections of family and friends. Kathy shared a turning point in forgiving her husband: She let go and let God. She also took...

Alzheimer’s Diagnostic Guidelines Updated

For the first time in 27 years, clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease dementia have been revised, and research guidelines for earlier stages of the disease have been characterized to reflect a deeper understanding of the disorder. The National Institute on Aging/Alzheimer’s Association Diagnostic Guidelines for Alzheimer’s Disease outline some new approaches for clinicians and provide...

No More Pain

Mom had a pretty good day today. She was feeling much better and was able to eat a liquid diet. She really enjoyed her cream of mushroom soup and lime sherbet. At 8 o’clock she told me to go home, because she didn’t want me to be out late. At about 10 pm, her nurse called me to say she was having trouble breathing and not responding well.  I went right down and was able to tell her I was there. Mom...

Busy, Busy, Busy

Today I finally felt that I could relax for once this week. I was able to sleep a lot, which was a good thing and a bad. Usually when I am exhausted I sleep lots, but at the end of the day all that sleeping only makes me feel exhausted. But besides feeling exhausted I felt accomplished This week I got a lot things done! I was able to go take an early placement test for school, finished filling out FAFSA...

Time To Go?

Mom has been ill for the past week, but refused to go to the doctor until Friday afternoon. The doctor suggested going straight to the ER. Mom said, “Absolutely not!” I got my sister to come (she’s four hours away). On Saturday morning, when her pain pills no longer touched the pain, and my sister and brother-in-law added their voices to mine, Mom agreed to go to the ER. By that time, we had to...

Mom is Moving to an Adult Family Home on Tuesday

When Mom was in the hospital last time in mid-March, an ER nurse that is a friend of our daughter’s told us about an adult family home that she was working at. We tried an adult family home in September, but although they were very caring, they didn’t have enough staffing to meet my Mom’s needs. They only had one caregiver for six residents, and all of the residents had similar mobility issues to...

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

First of all thanks to EVERYONE who contributed to the caregifting project for this month (me). I have bought a pair of shoes that came complete with soles, and my back and knees are thanking you. I also made an appointment for the dentist to take care of the dental pain. The rest of the money, at this point, I am setting aside to pay for respite help. I have decided to train one person to come in and get Mary...

Checking In

Today marks the first Saturday off and full weekend that I have had since January. Crazy busy season is finally over. Now I can concentrate my time fully on Mom. As for Mom, things have settled down a bit. She is looking good and feeling better. Mom is still in rehab and hopefully the roller coaster ride is over between hospital and rehab. I haven’t seen Mom during the week as it was too much for me since...

My Day in 3 Words

Caregiving had a bumpy night last night but no big deal, honestly. Just a disruption to my sleep but, water off a duck’s back this time. Later in the day as I was tidying up and putting away laundry, I passed by Hubby who was eating some lunch. I looked over at him and smiled as I was passing. He smiled back and said, “I love you.”

Pop Goes My Weasel

When you were young did you ever play with a Jack in the Box? You twisted and twisted the handle to play the ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ song knowing full well that ‘Jack’ was going to pop up and every time he did you still jumped. There were times if he wasn’t put back in the box just right; after the ‘pop’ part of the song, there was disappointment when the lid sprung open...