Sunday, June 14, 2009
We won an award!
Matters of the Mind...and the Heart won the bronze award at the 18th Annual National mature Media Awards. These awards honor the best in advertising, marketing and educational materials for older adults. I am honored and blessed to have won this award sponsored by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and American Custom Publishing Corporation.
The Heart of a caregiver
I recently wrote in my monthly newsletter about my reluctance to begin caregiving my mother in law, Bette. A caregiver wrote this back.
"Your caregiver note really hit the nail on the head for me. I'm glad to know that even you didn't do or say everything right. Many times I too got frustrated no matter how hard I tried to be patient with Jo's mom. As we began the Alzheimer journey, she was my least favorite person. Even when she was well, she telephoned so many times, I threatened to change our phone number. So it was very difficult for me to step in and become her primary caregiver. Now I see that it wasn't easy for her either after living alone for 40 years, she had to accept that she couldn't do things like bathe herself. I took 'baby steps' with her each week in trying to get her to bathe and allow me to wash her. We did it one step at a time. I know we can't go back and change the past. We could have done a lot worse. We can only take comfort in knowing we did our best at the time and cherish the memories of years before."
We can develop the heart of a caregiver when we can step outside ourselves and into the world of the person with Alzheimer's. This caregiver did just that, one step at a time. That is the way I had to do it too.
"Your caregiver note really hit the nail on the head for me. I'm glad to know that even you didn't do or say everything right. Many times I too got frustrated no matter how hard I tried to be patient with Jo's mom. As we began the Alzheimer journey, she was my least favorite person. Even when she was well, she telephoned so many times, I threatened to change our phone number. So it was very difficult for me to step in and become her primary caregiver. Now I see that it wasn't easy for her either after living alone for 40 years, she had to accept that she couldn't do things like bathe herself. I took 'baby steps' with her each week in trying to get her to bathe and allow me to wash her. We did it one step at a time. I know we can't go back and change the past. We could have done a lot worse. We can only take comfort in knowing we did our best at the time and cherish the memories of years before."
We can develop the heart of a caregiver when we can step outside ourselves and into the world of the person with Alzheimer's. This caregiver did just that, one step at a time. That is the way I had to do it too.
Greatest challenges
What are the greatest challenges for you in caring for your special someone with Alzheimer's? I'm curious as to what drives you to seek information and during what stage of the disease. My sense is, that those who seek out coaching or classes on Alzheimer's or connect with the Alzheimer's Association are just diagnosed and want information or the caregiver can't understand some behavior of their family member with Alzheimer's.
Many people are referred for coaching when a professional notes that the caregiver is stretched to their limit and need support.
I'd be interested to hear from Alzheimer caregivers about this. Have you sought help understanding the disease? Where did you find that information? What was most helpful? What drove you to seek that knowledge. What is the biggest challenge?
Many people are referred for coaching when a professional notes that the caregiver is stretched to their limit and need support.
I'd be interested to hear from Alzheimer caregivers about this. Have you sought help understanding the disease? Where did you find that information? What was most helpful? What drove you to seek that knowledge. What is the biggest challenge?
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