My health is bad and I get it.  I haven't taken care of myself over the last 8 years of caregiver.  The Before I look good and the After I look horrendous.  The season has been unbelievable difficult with extenuating circumstances beyond just caregiving. But then I...

The other day at the bank I couldn't figure out how to get out the door.  It wouldn't do the automatic open thing.  It was a small thing and it had no automatic doors.  I asked the people how to get out of the door.  "Push!" they said. I'm sure I'm their laughingstock...

I just saw a news article of those fleeing the shelling in Ukraine.  They drive and when they run out of gas, they walk.  I read stories of people pushing their elderly loved ones  in wheelchairs through mud in freezing temperatures.  Agh!!!  Pray for them.

With both my loved one's legs out of commission at this point, it means getting in and out of the car isn't happening.  "Use a slide board" the uninitiated will say.  But that requires a level of cognition and participation on the part of the person sliding.  With the...

Yesterday I saw a news article in the front page of our local news about a homeless man.  He was an older gentleman and his story piqued my interest.  He had once had a job, a house, a car and pretty much all that he needed.  But then he had a stroke.  It put him in a...

I think of her death-yet-to-come every day.  Not that I want to, it's just that it's a reality.  I don't look forward to it.

Six years ago today my mom broke her hip for the first time.  She had been having signs and symptoms of LBD for the previous 2 years, but getting a major surgery changed everything.  The LBD exploded in addition to hip surgery, infection, problems with the hardware,...

She is home now.  If you were to say that you thought you changed your loved ones briefs more time than us, I would be hard pressed to believe you.  It was a messy day almost every hour.   But with a fresh broken hip (the other one broke a few years previous) and an...

Whew!  That previous post I couldn't hardly type.  I thought it was me just being excessively tired, but then I realized it was the medicine I was on.  It was so bad I had to get off the medicine.  Part of the caregiver journey is figuring out our own health as well....

It's officially been 8 years since my loved one had Lewy explode on the scene.  Eight years.  Some I have talked to are at 10 years.  I know this journey for others can last for 15 years.  You never know how long the journey will be but it typically is 10 years +/- 3...

When I see horrific earthquakes in Haiti, I remember that there are caregivers there that are exhausted and trying hard to care for their loved ones in the midst of crisis. When I see everything changing in Afghanistan, I remember that there are caregivers there in...

Dementia is a beast and it brings out the best in our loved ones and the worst.  It's as if everything is magnified. That's a problem when it's the things that have been hurtful and hard in the past, and now that is bad.  It's easy to loose patience and forget that...