Saturday, October 15 - it was time to go to the concert. I helped Mom pick her outfit and dress, so she was ready to get picked up by my brother and his wife. I was planning to go but I just did not feel up to making the trip. I stayed home and made a drawing.
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Side by side caregiving experiences - Care Recipient and Family Caregiver
We are getting ready for Year 2 of our Home-based Family Caregiving adventure.
Mom is in better shape today than she was a year ago. She is happy and content in her new home. She has adjusted to the daily personal care routine with the caregivers provided by Home Support. Last evening she had her first outing to see a symphony concert and it had a big, positive impact. However, today she has elected to stay in bed to catch up her energy after the big effort yesterday.
Financial insecurity is increasing as I have difficulty finding paid work that fits with my caregiving responsibilities. We are going to make a scheduling adjustment next month (November) to reduce the amount of paid in-home care support because I don't have paid work to rationalize the expense. I will be providing more in-home care myself to make up the difference. My anxiety about finances surfaces as depression. I feel isolated and I don't want to tell anyone how difficult I am finding our situation. I don't want to cause stress for other family members.
Processing day to day events helps me to stay focused and identify priorities for my fragmented time and energy. A big focus for me this next year is to build a cohort of caregivers so that we all have someone to call: to commiserate, complain, troubleshoot, problem solve and advocate to improve the circumstances of providing home-based care to our loved ones without adequate supports to sustain the care infrastructure we are bringing to the health care system.
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