The National Alliance for Caregiving is seeking family caregivers of Veterans for a new study. This study will provide an opportunity for caregivers of Veterans to be heard and improve services for caregivers and Veterans now and in the future.
If you are a family caregiver of a Veteran or know of one, and wish to take part in this study, please sign up at:
www.gwsurvey.com/caregiversofveterans.html
Tags: veterans
What are you saving for?
On Friday’s episode of Your Caregiving Journey, Ellen Rogin, our wealthness expert, encouraged us to take steps today to plan for our tomorrow. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of the post.)
Our discussion focused on saving for a dream or a vision. Perhaps it’s a small business. Your own home. A European vacation. Saving involves a financial plan but also includes saving physically and emotionally. You save physically by eating well and exercising. You save emotionally by creating and nurturing a support system.
You may feel: “I am saving myself for tomorrow. When caregiving ends, I can concentrate on myself.” That’s not saving—that’s withholding.
Hello, everyone…
I stumbled upon Denise’s website a month or so ago on a day that I was feeling very alone and that the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I was amazed at the resources available, and listened to several of the podcasts. It was so good to hear from others that were feeling the same way and had great advice and tips to make this caregiving journey easier. I emailed Denise a few times, one thing led to another, and today I’m starting my own blog.
I am the primary caregiver for my wonderful, amazing mom who is 86-years-old. I really like the phrase “caregiving journey” because it is so descriptive. This is a journey, and I try to remind myself of that. Sometimes, I act more like it’s a sprint—when I know that it needs to be a slow, steady journey.
It is two weeks ago today that we moved into our new home. I really do love it. I love seeing the sun streaming into the living room windows in the early morning. I love the fact that my husband’s wheelchair is not blocking traffic areas nearly as badly as it did when we lived in our apartment. I am glad that my husband seems to like our new home also.
Even in our new home, however, caregiving issues continue to press heavy on my spirit at times. So much of caregiving is just plain gross, thankless, and just not a lot of fun. I must remind myself that this is my calling right now. I must remind myself that this is developing my character and stretching my faith. I must remind myself that even the difficult “gifts” of life (the troubles and trials) are good, if I don’t become bitter in the process and if I try to see God’s hand in even these things. Thank you, Lord, for Your presence in my life, for my family, for my friends, for my new home, for beautiful sunshiny weather, and for a host of other blessings. Make me also thankful for and in the difficulties of caregiving.
(Editor’s Note: A visitor just sent us a request for your suggestions. Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in our comments section. Her note to us follows.)
My mother-in-law has entered a stage where she won’t swallow her food. Usually she eats well in the mornings but by lunch and supper she can’t swallow no matter what food we offer.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Wondering how long this can last before it causes serious problems. She was just in the hospital with a UTI and dehydration and constipation. No matter how hard we have tried to avoid the 3 problems, they happened anyway.
Tags: personal care
On today’s episode of Your Caregiving Journey, we met Michael Lindenmayer, founding partner and chairman, Caregiver Relief Fund, a social venture launched last year to help family caregivers. (You can listen to our interview at the bottom of this post.)
The premise is simple: Provide relief so family caregivers have time and rest. The relief comes in the form of vouchers redeemed for in-home care provided by a local home care agency.
Family caregivers can receive vouchers by apply for help at the Caregiver Relief Funds’s website. When approved, the family caregiver receives the voucher for a set amount of hours of service (i.e., a companion sitter for three or four hours) and the contact information for the local home care agency supplying the companion sitter or home health aide.
My husband recently said to me, “Do you know what you don’t do when you are taking care of mother?” I said, “What’s that?” He said, “You don’t talk to mother very much, and I always talk to her.” I said, “I know that but realize that you have always been a talker, my family did not talk to each other, and mother and I did not talk to each other.”
Unfortunately some of us grew up that way, not being able to communicate to a parent, sibling or spouse and often our kids as well.
On Monday, Sheri Samotin of LifeBridge Solutions joined us for our weekly chat. Our show was a follow-up to our must-listen January show on managing insurance and Medicare claims that are denied. (You can listen to Monday’s show via the player at the bottom of this post.)
Sheri shared tips on to stay organized with insurance bills and claims:
1. Use a three-ring binder; organize by provider and then by reverse chronological order.
I remember as a child the first day of school and getting my favorite supply, the largest box of crayola crayons the store sold. They always smelled so good and the points were so perfect and there were so many possibilities with all of the shades to create beautiful pictures.
I went to a Catholic grammar school so of course was raised to be neat and always stay inside the lines. When I am with small children to this day the first thing I ask for them to bring over or if I’m at their home to go and fetch is the coloring book and crayons. Aunt Donna always encourages them to stay in the lines. Occasionally they get frustrated as it sure is more fun and easier to scribble the crayon over the paper.
Isn’t life the same way? Isn’t it easy to just get sloppy and want to scribble through our lives. Ive noticed a little that I sometimes lately have been coloring outside my line.
Read the rest of this entry »
I recently wrote a blog titled ‘Invisible People’, it was written as a result of an ‘experiment’ I did on facebook.
One of my facebook friends, Kym, who is also a dear friend from my church, posted on Feb.22 that there were free pancakes being given away at a ihop the next day, and who wanted to go with. As I wrote in the blog ‘Invisible People’ I said I did, but I couldn’t because my husband was not here so I couldn’t leave the house.
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