Shares about coping with negative emotions facing caregivers.
As a caregiver, I’m asked to assume many roles–comforter, nurse, counselor, banker, chauffeur, and many others; but the one role that I really hate is being the man-of-the-house. I’m sure the same holds true for men who are caregivers to women. I would venture to say that most caregivers are satisfied with their God-given gender. I […]
I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAN! Read More »
In the early days of my journey as an MS Caregiver, Lynn would fall, or we would get into a situation that was difficult and we would look at each other and laugh. We coped with a lot of our hardships by laughing at how bizarre the situation would become as compared to
I guess I think that I can do whatever I set my mind to and that my body and abilities will fall in line to make sure it happens. So I strive to be the best manager, employee, mother, wife, caregiver, and friend, I can be. I want to take care of everyone’s needs and
Reaching my Saturation Point – at least today Read More »
Have you seen that commercial that asks, “Where do you hurt when you have depression?” and the answer is, “Everywhere.”? That came on while I was helping do something this week for Lynn and suddenly I realized that maybe I have “misdiagnosed” his symptoms. Lynn started on Rebif about two months ago. Over the past
Pressure. So much pressure. …but where does it come from? Me or “them?” This has been one of those weeks where I have felt I was under extreme pressure all week. The week started off with me getting up early on Monday for a conference call that wasn’t actually scheduled till Tuesday. I needed to
Sometimes I Feel Like I will Explode Read More »
Ever since Lynn became totally disabled, I’ve had lots of encouragement to get some help. I know I need help. My muscles hurt from overuse; I get frustrated trying to do everything I need to do; I know that there is a high risk as a caregiver that I will have a shorter lifespan. So
Why is Getting Help so Hard to do? Read More »
I thought I was beyond grieving about how things had changed. …or maybe we are never completely finished grieving over the loss. It seems to come back when you’re not expecting it which in many ways makes it harder to handle. Here’s what brought it on this week. Every morning as I’m preparing Lynn’s morning
Grieving over things lost Read More »
It is Lynn’s belief that if he accepts that he has MS then he is allowing MS to “have” him. He says that he has seen enough people who we struggling along, maybe feeling bad, but still going along until they find out they have a serious condition. Then as soon as they accept that they
In 2010, I was going into work every day and Lynn stayed home alone. At that time he was still walking though he would lose his balance frequently and fall. However, being the stubborn man he was, he chose not to use his rollator unless absolutely necessary (i.e. he was too tired or had too
The Day It all Changed Read More »
It’s 12:12 a.m. Christmas Eve. In a few hours I’ll be back up getting ready for my kids to come over for our Christmas Eve time together. I love having them come over but as with all things, MS gets in the way it seems. I had a call from my son earlier saying he
