by External Article | Jun 13, 2023 | Caring for a Parent, Housing, Long Term Caregiving |
In art, we edit the narrative details to maintain credibility. In life, the universe never doubts its own veracity. By the time my mother returned to live in the new house that my father had rented for us after the fire—less than six months after her stroke—there was... 
by External Article | Feb 1, 2023 | Caring for a Romantic Partner, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation |
I knew what was going on the moment I rushed up two flights of stairs and found him. The kind of stroke my husband Roland had that morning, basilar artery ischemic, is not the sort of thing you want to be googling. It has a high mortality rate in cases where the... 
by External Article | Jan 12, 2023 | Caring for a Parent, Generation Z |
as of 2020, more than one in six Americans was actively responsible for the daily needs and well-being of a loved one. That number only increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, as families took loved ones out of long-term care, adult day centers closed, and the paid... 
by External Article | Oct 5, 2021 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Occasional Caregiving |
My father and I have not been especially close for all of my adult life because of his inability to communicate or relate to me, to others or to the world in general in a meaningful way. As he has aged, his danger and menace have pretty much disappeared, and he has... 
by External Article | Jul 13, 2020 | Care Work Library, Caregiver Burnout, Caring for a Parent, Housing, Long Term Caregiving |
I am a single mom caring for my semi-paralysed father in India and supporting my two sons. In December 2014, my widowed father fell ill and moved in with me and my sons in Chennai, and together, we handled a flood of problems, both figurative (his cataract operations,... 
by Bob Harrison | Jun 9, 2020 | Caregiver Stories, Caring for a Parent, Death & Dying |
It was a late October morning, 2005, and there was a crisp chill in the air. Couldn’t decide if I should go out and work in the garden, tinker in our antique shop, or just relax inside, in the warm. In the minute, it seemed like I was facing a dilemma. My wife... 
by External Article | Apr 30, 2020 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation |
On a Tuesday in April, Michelle Walton woke up in Plantation, Florida, at eight. Her back hurt. It’s a pain that’s been omnipresent since the 48-year-old injured it caring for her mother, a woman she says she loves deeply but who is challenging even on the best... 
by External Article | Apr 27, 2020 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Finances, Finding Caregiver Support, For Professional Caregivers, Housing, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation, Working Family Caregivers |
On a Tuesday in April, Michelle Walton woke up in Plantation, Florida, at eight. Her back hurt. It’s a pain that’s been omnipresent since the 48-year-old injured it caring for her mother, a woman she says she loves deeply but who is challenging even on the best day.... 
by Caroline H. Sheppard, MSW | Feb 4, 2020 | Caring for a Parent |
In 1997, I took a two-year leave of absence from my position as a School Social Worker. This decision was driven, not by my desire to leave, but by a consideration for my spouse, who wanted to move near his family in Florida. In my mind, this move was going to be... 
by External Article | Jul 8, 2019 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Finding Caregiver Support, Generation X, Long Term Caregiving |
A young woman’s struggle to help a husband whose brain was suddenly scrambled. Kelly Baxter was 36 years old and had just moved to Illinois with her 41-year-old husband, Ted, when he suffered a disabling stroke that derailed his high-powered career in international... 
by Sue K Green | Feb 19, 2019 | Caring for a Romantic Partner, Poetry |
His independence taken by stroke; he fights back and I am there for him. Near, aware, anticipating his needs, but reaching out only as he calls. Standing silently by as he struggles to regain all that he has lost Recognizing little steps, slow... 
by Guest Author | Jan 4, 2019 | Caregiving 101 |
A stroke is considered by many as a form of “brain attack”. It starts with sudden dizziness, headaches, and numbness in the face, arm, and legs on one side of the body. A stroke is mostly caused by a blocked artery or a burst of a blood vessel that causes... by Guest Author | Dec 27, 2018 | Caring for a Parent |
It was July 5th of this year and I had canceled my appointments for the day because sometimes it’s just too much. Life is too much. Being ‘on’ is too much. Sometimes I just need a few hours alone to recharge. My dad hasn’t been well for years. Since I was in college... 
by Guest Author | Dec 1, 2018 | Caring for a Romantic Partner |
After my husband suffered a catastrophic stroke in 2005, the holidays didn’t seem so merry. I found myself yearning for our life before Don became paralyzed from the neck down and had to use a respirator to breathe. Everything about the holiday season seemed to... 
by External Article | Sep 26, 2018 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Finding Meaning, Housing, Long Term Caregiving, Millennial Generation, Sandwich Generation |
Sonia Singh talks to her friend Anjli. Anjli is now caregiver for her mom, who took care of her father for years. First her mom was living with her brother, now she’s living in a care home. You might think having the support of a care home would mean caregiving... 
by cjgolden | Jul 28, 2018 | Baby Boom Generation, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Long Term Caregiving, Planning, Wellness |
Life is uncertain. Biker Joe is now relearning to walk. The political climate is unsure. Yesterday I watched in amazement as Joe – who has progressed from wheelchair to walker to learning to walk with a cane – took his first independent steps since August, 2016. With... 
by External Article | Jun 6, 2018 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Generation X, Long Term Caregiving |
People associate forgetfulness with age — and dementia. But this couple navigates marriage when only one of them can form new memories like most of us. Here’s how one couple has built a life — and a memorable marriage — after stroke induced... 
by cjgolden | Mar 24, 2018 | Baby Boom Generation, Caregiver Stories, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Long Term Caregiving, Planning |
“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” ~ Joseph Campbell “I hate my life” No, that’s not me speaking. My life is lovely just as it is. I am quoting the oft written or spoken phrase that comes from someone whose... 
by cjgolden | Mar 9, 2018 | Baby Boom Generation, Caregiver Stories, Caring for a Romantic Partner, Long Term Caregiving |
2016. One heck of a painful year for so many, and one in which Joe and I faced the challenge of our lives. Literally. It was in May of 2016 that Joe’s speech became halting, slurred, showing that something was amiss in his central nervous system. Yet, we didn’t... 
by External Article | Sep 25, 2017 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Long Term Caregiving |
I’ve watched for 10 years as she lived with cancer. Watched as her mother, father, brother died while she went through chemotherapy. Watched the bone marrow extractions. Watched the drainage tube being installed in her abdomen to syphon off the fluid. Watched the... 
by External Article | Jul 19, 2017 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Sandwich Generation |
We have not been incredibly close over our lifetimes, and I was very much looking forward to us spending some time getting to know one another, now, as adults who had both forgiven the past and put it behind us. I have to be honest with you: I’m angry that I... by External Article | Jul 1, 2017 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Finances, Generation X, Long Distance Caregiving, Long Term Caregiving, Working Family Caregivers |
When Cornelia Shipley got the call that her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and then her father had a stroke within the same week, she was living in New Mexico where she had moved for her dream job. But the parents who needed her were living 1500 miles away,... 
by External Article | Jun 12, 2017 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Grief, Occasional Caregiving |
Nearly a decade after my father died, his last wife decided it was time to deal with his papers. Winnefred had had a stroke not long before she and my dad met, so soon he became her lover and live-in caretaker. He guided her walker around the Safeway while they... 
by Tedx | May 19, 2017 | Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Long Term Caregiving, Planning, Working Family Caregivers |
Caregivers are ordinary people like you and me. They are the family or friends who care for a loved one that is suffering from a challenging health condition. Caregivers are currently invisible in our health and care systems, and yet they are essential for the... 
by External Article | May 17, 2017 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Generation X, Reviews, Working Family Caregivers |
In 2010, Elizabeth Powell’s career was on fire. Her sophomore release under the moniker Land of Talk—which featured members of Arcade Fire and Stars no less—was garnering critical acclaim, eventually being longlisted for the 2011 Polaris Prize, Canada’s album of the... 
by Guest Author | Apr 23, 2017 | Caring for a Romantic Partner, Interviews |
What’s your life really like? Really, day to day, nothing to write home about. I am blessed that my husband requires only a small amount of care during the day and my job is close by. So I can run home at lunch and feed/toilet him if necessary. Then back to... 
by External Article | Oct 16, 2016 | Care Work Library, Caring for a Parent, Grief, Housing, Millennial Generation, Planning, Sandwich Generation |
The stroke affected the right side of her body and because it occurred on the left side of the brain where language is, she is also suffering from Aphasia, which affects her verbal communication. I switch 12-hour shifts at the hospital with my father. I massage her,... 
by Guest Author | Aug 10, 2016 | Caregiver News |
It’s assumed that family and friends will help out in the event of a medical crisis, but that’s not always feasible. And when stroke survivors need more than 20 hours of care per week, as a study in the August edition of Stroke shows, it’s a large burden for their... 
by David Waterman | Oct 23, 2015 | Caregiver Stories |
I fell through an open unsecured manhole on July 27, 2014, and that began a year plus a long time of dealing with chronic back pain, visits to doctors and a Presbyterian Pain and Spine Clinic. Complicating matters is the fact that I am my wife’s caregiver as... 
by Donna Thomson | Sep 5, 2015 | Caregiver Stories |
by Donna Thomson, author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Life of Caregiving When I was a teenager, I longed for something exciting to happen. Walking home from school, I prayed for tragedy, drama and romance. “Be careful what... 
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