E124: 8 Personal Practices That I Incorporated Into My Caregiver Life

Do you remember the date?  The date you became a caregiver for your loved one?  It’s not the date you celebrate or the date you really want to remember.   But it is the day your life changed.  

You’re sitting in the doctor’s office with your loved one and the doctor reveals the cancer diagnosis.   How do you move forward?

OR

You get the call that there was an accident and you rush to the hospital? 

OR

You get a call from your spouse's work, something is off and they send your loved one home.  You convince them to go to the ER and the doctor’s indicate that they are having a stroke. 

Just a few scenarios of how you become a caregiver suddenly.  

It’s not a profession or career we look forward to or go to school for.  As I think back in my youth, I never played house as a caregiver (it was usually mom, doctor and once in a while I played Alice from the Brady Bunch).  As a side bar, I think our youth should be more aware that as adults we may have to be a caregiver.  

Based on recent statistics 

DID YOU KNOW?  There are approximately 40 million family caregivers in the United States, 

Can you pinpoint that day/time when you took on the role of caregiver?  I bet you didn’t even think about yourself.  You were focused on your loved one.  It may even seem like a big blur since it’s been such a shock or traumatic event.  

Once the shock, information and initial days settle in, you now start thinking about all the questions.  What will the future look like?  How do I do this?  How do I fit this into my life now?  What type of care does your loved one need?  Your commitments?  And much more.  

In this episode,  you'll get my 8 personal practices that I incorporated into my caregiver life.  These were my experiences and lessons learned.  My hope is a few of these will make your life easier, reduce stress and/or challenge you to think differently

1. Stay prepared by asking questions by recording your thoughts and questions in notebook, the notes on your phone or place to list them out
2. Put all contacts in your phone.   
3. Have a strategy to handle communicating with family and friends. 
4. Assess your current situation and determine what your priorities are and where you can get help.  
5. Find you insurance and financial advocate.
6. Find a caregiver community.  You will need to lean on support.   Family and friends will help but no one understands caregiving as much as other caregivers.  
7. Focus on the right self-care for you at this time.  
8. Focus on positive and gratitude.  Your negative thoughts will want to take over and those thoughts aren't always true. Look for moments of positivity and joy during this challenging time. 

As you and I keep going in our caregiving journeys, we learn more about ourselves and find more ways to be more efficient, courageous and resilient during this time.  We test out things and find new ways of being a better caregiver.