I'm now 4 years into my caregiving journey. As I look back I see 4 stages I went through and want to share these with you:
Stage 1: THE NEW STAGE.
- The initial news fills you with shock, disbelief and all those emotions
- Then you jump in telling yourself I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll figure it out
- Here’s where I became obsessed with google - searching anything and everything about your loved one’s condition.
- You form your team - doctors, nurse navigators, family support, etc
- You try to figure out the who advocacy stuff
- You're taking care of your loved one
- This stage is focused on the NOW, the NEW and just figuring it out.
- You just want to get going on your loved one’s care
- You are putting your needs to the side
Stage 2: ROUTINE OR SETTLING IN STAGE.
- Things have now become routine somewhat
- You're trying to figure out how to balance work, home, caregiving
- Workload and to do list is bigger
- Fatigue is usually setting in
- Stress is increasing
- You start feeling stretched
- You may find yourself doing things alone
- You and your loved one are more comfortable with your team (doctors, nurses, help)
- You and your loved one are more comfortable with the clinic, labs, treatments, etc
- You become more of an expert with your loved one’s condition
- You're more comfortable with caregiving
- There are good days and bad days
- Your nutrition and self-care looks different
Stage 3: AWARENESS AND REALITY or as I call it the LIGHT BULB GOES ON
- Caregiving is taking its toll on your health both physically and mentally
- It affects your relationships
- You may be struggling with finances
- You may not see it or may not want to admit it yet - you may want to run from it.
- You realize you can’t do it all and shouldn’t have taken this all on yourself
- You hope it will go away
- Caregiving becomes a burden
- Wishing for your old life
- Realizing that you're stuck, stretched and overwhelmed...