A Day in the Life of a Caregiver

Of course things vary from day to day, so this is more of just snippets and examples of every day life, some days are easier than others, and some are quite difficult. Get up and get washed up for the day...go into mom's room to get Bella to take her out and tell mom to get up to go to the bathroom...take Bella out...go back inside to finish getting ready for the day...if mom hasn't gotten up, remind her again to get up to go to the bathroom. If she has gotten out of bed, check on her and make sure she is OK. If everything is OK, continue to get ready for school, and spend time with the Lord. Then there are the days, when things are not OK and at some point of the morning the words, "I'm soaking wet" are heard. That means stop whatever getting ready is going on to take care of that. Go into mom's room, take the wet sheets off the bed, put them downstairs to be ready for the laundry later (the laundry can't be started or else mom feels she has to go help finish it, and cannot be going up and down the stairs, especially with laundry or the laundry basket in her hands)...wipe down the pad on the bed...put the clean sheets on the bed...go check on her again, take her wet clothes and put them downstairs as well to make sure she does not just put them with the other clothes in the laundry basket... then sometimes there are the hard moments trying to encourage her to understand that she is not a burden, she is not too much trouble, or ugly, or just needing to be in a nursing home. That in itself can take so much out of the caregiver. Then if it's not the time to take care of the wet things, it's the time to find the missing things...the glasses that are not in the case or on the table in the room, or on the dresser, or on the kitchen table, or in the bathroom, but on the couch in the living room...or the wig that is not on the styrofoam head, or the crate next to it, or in the bed, or under the bed, or on the chair where some clothes are kept, or in the living room, or in the kitchen (and yes, I checked the food closet, the oven and even the refrigerator and freezer!! No place is out of bounds these days.), who would have guessed that it would be in one of dad's old hats in the hall closet. It was a rainy day, and she put the hat on to take Bella out I'm sure, then it stayed in the hat. After taking care of all of that, then finish getting ready to go. Scramble the egg, get the toast, and the butter, put it on the plate for mom to make her egg sandwich for when she eats breakfast. Make toast for myself to bring to school for my breakfast. Make sure mom's pills are on her plate so she will remember to take them...head off to school. Give my energy for things needed there...come home and take Bella out...try to convince her to come inside after a while...make dinner or heat up what is already in the refrigerator...give mom "permission" to take her bath...help mom get her dinner or her drink back to her room so she can sit in bed and eat...get Bella's dinner and bring it in to mom's room...eat dinner...wash the dishes and clean the kitchen...get ready for evening...take Bella out again...go try to relax a little before bedtime. Sometimes that includes taking care of the laundry, or being available for mom's beck and call for whatever she needs for that moment. And sometimes, thankfully, I get to just blog it out. Sometimes it's putting cream on the spots, putting lotion on the legs and feet, clipping the toenails, or taking care of the face. Other times there is a bit of time to relax and zone out downstairs. These things can truly exhaust the caregiver, but sometimes with so many things on the mind and so many emotions, it is hard for sleep to come to the caregiver. It does eventually come, but all too soon comes the morning where it starts again. Would the caregiver want it any other way? Of course not, even though it's difficult, it's what the caregiver chooses and feels pleased to do. Realizing that they were cared for for years, the caregiver wants to be able to give back and care for the one who cared for them. There are lots of emotions that go along with the care, which cannot be seen or shown to the one being cared for, so the caregiver many times just has to deal with those emotions on his/her own. This is not meant to be a "feel bad for the caregiver" post, but just a little knowledge of what caregivers do on a daily basis. To all those who are caregivers, you are doing a great job honoring your loved ones. Be encouraged that there are some that can understand what days may be like for you and those people want to encourage you to keep on keeping on.
*As I finished posting this last night, I realized I missed a couple of things for after school. Many times it's not just coming home from school. Sometimes it entails heading to the grocery store to pick up things that cannot wait until the weekend. Sometimes it's rushing home to pick do a quick pick-up to head to an appointment, whether it be the doctor, physical therapist, dermatologist, or neurologist...although there are many more appointments that need to be made for the person being cared for. Sometimes it's going from that appointment to something else as well. Then coming home to take Bella out, get dinner, give permission for the bath, also answer several times what day it is. The frustration level from answering that has amazingly gotten much better though. After dinner and a little time to relax, take Bella out again, head inside to give Bella her fresh breath treat, and give mom her night time meds. Pray with her so she will sleep well without seeing black things when she closes her eyes, which hasn't been mentioned much lately.
Now that should take care of the evening things that were thought of afterward. If any others come to mind they will be added too. :)
Lord, thank you for caring for the caregiver. Help us to draw our strength from You.