By AARP staff — 2019
Information and conversation are key to facing the challenges of care
Read on www.aarp.org
CLEAR ALL
No one can prepare us for the experience of providing care for a seriously ill family member or friend. When sickness strikes someone close to us, there may be a sense of chaos, urgency, and confusion.
Nicholas Pinter’s autism and bipolar disorder pose challenges for his parents. His father, Mike, right, learned mindfulness methods to help reduce his stress.
The bodies of lonely people are markedly different from the bodies of non-lonely people.
With each diagnosis, knowing her life hung in the balance, she was “stunned, then anguished” and astonished by “how much energy it takes to get from the bad news to actually starting on the return path to health.”
Linda Fox of Brooklyn donated a lobe of her liver to save her husband, whose own liver had failed. The transplant took, and Ms. Fox said although recovery from the surgery was no picnic, she would willingly do it again.
As the number of people with severe disabilities, debilitating chronic diseases and terminal illnesses grows, concern about their care has focused primarily on long-term care facilities, nursing homes, home health aides and hospices.
Whether you choose to be a family caregiver or the job is thrust upon you by circumstances, your most important responsibility beyond caring for your ill or disabled relative is caring for yourself.
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.” ~ Bruce Lee The premise of his philosophy was efficiency—complete and utter efficiency of the soul.
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When I retired from clinical practice several years ago, I let go into the unknown. I felt tentative, uncertain, yet knowing intuitively that I needed to heed the call.
After my husband died, a silly catchphrase became a lifeline for me. Instead of wishing for a reality I couldn’t have, I embraced the circumstances I was dealt.