You Might Be A Caregiver If.......

mr steve said:

wow
Is there life after care giving...

Or you borrow sheets from the local hospital because they fit better on the hospital you have set up in the living room...

caregiver support
Anybody get nauseaous reading all of the tips for caregivers.
Take some time for yourself every day?... Like when? Maybe if there were ten more hours in a day.

Delegate. If there was anyone to delegate some resonsibility to, you wouldn't have to be trying to do everything yourself.

Exercise?..........WHEN? I get my exercise running from the kitchen to the bedroom, the bathroom, over and over and over.

Take good care of your own health. Again, when? I have used all my sick days and vacation days to take care of the cancer patient, when do I have time to see a doctor? (And I actually work in the same practice as my family doctor, and I don't have time to see him as often as I should).!


All of the caregiver tips sound wonderful, but how many people find them the least bit realistic?

lostmyheart said:

You Might Be a Caregiver if...
*the nurse asks your loved one what month and day it is, and YOU have no clue

*you have anxiety attacks at the grocery store, trying to find something that they just MIGHT try to eat

*your loved one has an open wound (where the tumor has come out), and while you are in the hospital the nurses actually bring YOU the cleaning supplies for the wound and watch as YOU clean and dress it

*you feel alone, alienated, exhausted, overwhelmed, heartbroken, scared and guilty on a daily basis.

*your tolerance for selfish people and their BS totally disappears



(RIP my love. I would do it over and over and over again for you)

Thanks
I'm from the brain cancer board and I just finished reading every one of these posts. Can so relate. I laughed and cried and felt a little less alone. Thank you.
Cindy in Salem, OR
Mom of David, 25 y/o when diagnosed with anaplastic oligodendroglioma May 15, 2009.

You might be a caregiver if...

You know the best place to get a bottomless cup of GOOD coffee.

You eat alone in restaurants.

Petesgirl said:

caregiver support
Anybody get nauseaous reading all of the tips for caregivers.
Take some time for yourself every day?... Like when? Maybe if there were ten more hours in a day.

Delegate. If there was anyone to delegate some resonsibility to, you wouldn't have to be trying to do everything yourself.

Exercise?..........WHEN? I get my exercise running from the kitchen to the bedroom, the bathroom, over and over and over.

Take good care of your own health. Again, when? I have used all my sick days and vacation days to take care of the cancer patient, when do I have time to see a doctor? (And I actually work in the same practice as my family doctor, and I don't have time to see him as often as I should).!


All of the caregiver tips sound wonderful, but how many people find them the least bit realistic?

Caregiver support

Exactly, Petesgirl! (Just seeing this in 2017) Love the advice about getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet (balanced diet = coffee in one hand, half-eaten peanut butter sandwich from yesterday in the other), etc.

You Might Be A Caregiver If...

When your alarm goes off in the morning but you don't want to get out of bed because you are tired and it will be a long medical day.

When you cry in the shower where no one can see or hear you.