Friendships can become invaluable

I always have been a bit of a loner who had a few good friends and lots of acquaintances. I have enjoyed having friends and definitely have valued them. I also probably took them for granted. I guess that’s what you do when you are young. Well, as you can...

Are You Ever Afraid?

I know fear must be a common component of caregiving. There are so many unknowns that we face in dealing with a chronic disease. We don’t know what the future holds for our loved one and ourselves, nor do we know how things will be in one year, five years, or at...

Preventing Caregiver Burnout

In a recent column, I discussed the stages of caregiver burnout to help us recognize if we experience these feelings. Caregiver burnout is very common, and we need to pay attention to where we are so we can try to prevent the next more serious stage of caregiver...

Can we find any humor in what we do?

The correct answer is – we had better!! Good humor is the health of the soul, and it certainly can make our lives more enjoyable. It’s sometimes hard to find things to laugh about in caregiving, isn’t it, especially if our loved one has advanced disease or...

The Parkinson’s way

“There are moments when everything goes well. Don’t be frightened. It won’t last.” That’s where I am right now. Everything is stable and going pretty well. Stan’s medications are managing the Parkinson’s well, and the addition...

Caregivers also ‘have’ Parkinson’s Disease

The longer I am a caregiver, the more I realize that it’s very important to understand yourself and what your needs are – what satisfies you – what kinds of behaviors make you angry – what makes you happy and thus more patient? Why is this important and...

Caregiver’s Bill of Rights

Last month, I incorporated the “Caregiver’s Bible” into my column. This month I’d like to take a look at the “Caregiver’s Bill of Rights,” whose author is also unknown, but has also been in many caregiver publications. I...

Depression, Part 1

Does it surprise you to know that caregivers have very high rates of depression? Not me, because I’m sure I am one of them. My guess is that most of us have, are, or will experience depressive symptoms at some time. As the disease progresses we may be dealing...

Depression, Part 2

In my initial column on depression in caregivers, I focused more on the ups and downs of dealing with Parkinson’s Disease, the ‘blues’. It is very common when dealing with chronic illness to have good days and bad days, days when we seem to function...

Give Me Patience – But I Need it Right Now

During the course of any day, we as caregivers encounter many situations that require us to exercise more patience than we think we have. It might be as simple as waiting for our partners to finish a sentence, or changing our plans because their immediate medication...