Information and insights on medical topics.
Did you know that delirium was a symptom of a urinary tract infection? Neither did I, but it’s something I’m learning to recognize. Apparently, I’m not the only one who has experienced its impact because there was an article on the phenomenon in one of my nursing magazines last month. My husband Lynn’s doctor made the …
Prepare to become a caregiver. In 2015, research conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found that 43.5 million adults in the United States (approximately 29% of the adult population) had provided unpaid care to either a child or adult during that year. With the growing need for in-home medical interventions and the …
Have you heard of Typhoid Mary? Mary Mallon or Mary Brown (she used both names) worked as a cook and harbored the typhoid bacteria in her gallbladder. Wherever she worked, the families in those households became sick, and many died, but Mary herself never became ill. Authorities believed that Mary infected over 50 …
As a caregiver, I understand that my role involves providing a lot of physical care. For any caregiver, how much care is provided depends a lot on how significant are the limitations of the one for whom you’re caring. For me, the physical demands are many because Lynn’s physical limitations are many. But, …
“Giving the gift of receiving,” sounds like a contradiction. How can you give a gift that you receive? I think you can and I think it can be the greatest gift you give and receive all year. Here’s why. As a caregiver for someone who is totally disabled with very limited abilities, my world is …
Having turned fifty-seven this week, the hope of retirement in eight years seems bleak. Thinking of losing my income somehow, is much too scary to think of just now. To think of not having two jobs but just one is a dream for a long time in the future to come. For if I step …
Of all the caregiving responsibilities I do on a daily basis, the one I think that is most important is inspecting and caring for Lynn’s skin. For most people, if they get a cut or a scratch, or other skin irritation, it’s no big deal. They get a little Neosporin ointment, slap a Band-Aid on …
I picked up a magazine as I was waiting for Lynn to have an MRI last week and read an article entitled, “What happens if the caregiver gets sick?” It caught my eye because I’ve allowed that question to surface just on the edge of my consciousness several times but each time it comes, I …
When Lynn went to the doctor last week, several blood tests were done to find out why he is feeling so tired and run down. We got the results yesterday and were very surprised to find out that his hemoglobin was greatly improved (now 14) as were his other lab values. For the most part, …
We made arrangements for our home health nurse to give Lynn the flu shot today. I expect he will feel pretty rough tomorrow and maybe Sunday too because anytime he gets a vaccine or a change in medications or has to adjust to just about anything different, it knocks the wind out of him. It …
