Chronic Multiple Sclerosis is a long term, paralyzing disability. Dealing with incontinence is a huge part of our lives.
My husband can barely walk 20 ft. with a walker. I need to hold onto his gait belt so he doesn’t fall. Since he also needs help with toileting, we find ourselves in daily (sometimes hourly) discussions [...]

Have you ever felt like you just needed a break – from everything?

It’s easy to get tired of long term care-giving. I’m sure I’m not alone in daydreaming about easier days – days when Clay could get out of bed by himself or even stand up from a chair. Long term care becomes drudgery for the care-giver, not to mention dreary and frustrating for the person receiving [...]

It’s been a few weeks since Cindy started coming over to spend time with Clay – to relieve me of my caregiving duties. She comes at least once a week. What a blessing! The long term care of any individual can be exhausting, at times, so I now call Cindy “my angel”…

As with everything in this crazy world of duality, there are two sides to caregiving.

One is fraught with frustration, upset, blame, worry and fear. The other is blessed with compassion, patience, forgiveness, trust and love. And as different as these two sides may seem, they are sometimes difficult to keep separate. One moment of patience can quickly degrade into frustration, just as a moment of worry can gently melt into trusting.

The important thing to remember is that long term caregivers will most likely experience ALL of these feelings every single day. And these feelings do not make one “good” or “bad”. They simply are what they are, and they will pass and return, unless one consciously and diligently monitors one’s thoughts.

ATLANTA – Southern hospitality, it seems, extends to the elderly: A higher percentage of Southerners care for the old and ailing than do people in other parts of the country, according to a new study.