Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2004. Mattie was two years old and this was classic Mattie. He loved our living room window, getting as close to it as possible, and walking behind my plant stand. What you can't see is on the plant stand was Patches' cat bed. I put it up there to give her some safe space from little hands. Mattie wanted desperately to get up to that level to inspect the cat bed. Mattie was a busy little fellow, his body and mind were always in motion, therefore, as a result, I learned to work with his style!
Quote of the day: The kindest and best caregivers are those who realize that it could easily be them in the weaker one's place; they do not distance the one in need by making them an "other." ~ Pamela Cox
It was another busy day on the farm. My mom had her physical therapy session at 10am. Given that I had a doctor appointment at the hospital today, I did not send my dad to his memory care center. I just couldn't juggle that on top of everything else. My doctor's appointment was at 2:30pm, and it is about a 30 minute commute each way. Given that my mom likes going out each day, I timed a visit to the frozen yogurt store after my mom's therapy session and before my visit to the hospital. That may sound all well and wonderful, but it was stressful. My parents move slowly and taking them out requires a lot of coordination and when I have a time deadline, the pressure on me is even more significant. Of course while at the yogurt store, my dad had an irritable bowel attack. Needless to say, I got him home, changed him completely and then scrambled to get everything I needed to go to my appointment. By the time I got to the hospital, I felt like I ran a marathon.
When I got to the fifth floor of the hospital, they had a greeter by the elevator. She looked at me and deduced I was seeing an OB! Rather hysterical, as I don't look pregnant and I am too old to have a child. But I went with it! Any case, though I do not like these gynecology visits, I happen to like my doctor. She is fantastic, competent, and good at what she does. I also like that she coordinates my care with the breast specialist I see yearly.
The gynecologist could not believe that I am a full time caregiver. When she asked how long I have been doing this, I could see a level of shock came over her when I said five years. As I said to her today...... you only get ONE CHANCE to do a good job at caregiving, because the one certainty is it is a finite role. As caregiving typically involves providing support to someone who is not growing, maturing, and gaining independence. Instead, caregiving for an older adult, means constant changes, constant declines, and with that it forces you to learn new physical and cognitive strategies and also face the hard emotional reality of the daily loss in front of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment