Caregiver Questions 4) Knowing another

If you have any free time in the next day or two send me your stories as answers to any of these 4 questions already posted on this blog. I want to be productive at jury duty this week. Thanks for your stories and your love. I already have a pile of responses....email me at sotmary@gmail.com

How well do you know your loved one? Could you do this for someone you didn't know so well? What about nurses and aides, do you think it is better for them when they know more about their patients? How so?
How does knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your loved one allow you to do a better job? Describe how this might play out.
Give an example of how you know your loved one intuitively without words? How are they different from you?
How have you brought your strengths and weaknesses into your Caring? What are you good at? What has been hard for you?

Time sensitive request. Keep hope alive!

Please go to this website: Westchester Alliance
Your company or program will be Hudson Valley Hospital Foundation for
the survey. The rest of the information is your own.
Have a quick look around and then fill in the 2 minute survey that is
first on the list about the Westchester Alliance. The first 100 people
from a program that fill in the survey get a matching grant. Again our
program is collecting funding for Hudson Valley Hospital Foundation.
We want to keep our Social Worker, Paula,for the Kids Care 2 Program
we started so please HELP!

Let me know that you did the survey by sending me an email sotmary@gmail.com so I
know how many more people we need. And sorry if you get more than one
notice from me.
Lots of love,
Christine

Caregiver Questions #3) Devotion

Do you ever feel that you are holding yourself back or ambivalent about your role as a Caregiver?
Would you describe your personality as flexible or driven? Give an example.
How do you feel about not knowing where all this will take you? Are you committed to the long haul even though you don't know what your future holds?
Do you feel sometimes that the stress you are experiencing demonstrates to others that you are committed to this Caring?

For all my writer friends feel free to submit your stories via email or comments below. For all you talkers, I can interview you as soon as you see 3 or 4 areas that inspire your Caregiving stories. There are 33 areas to choose from for my new book.

Caregiver Questions #2) Separate and together

Have you ever felt that you were losing yourself inside your Caregiving relationship? Why did this happen do you think? Are you able to maintain separate identities?
What do you learn about yourself by attending to your loved one's need to grow and have respect?
Are you able to adjust when things need to change?

I would like all of you Caregivers out there to pick 3 or 4 of the 33 topics that you can relate to and tell us a story about your Caregiving experience. I'm writing a second book and would love to include your wisdom, humor, joy and even your upset, so that other Caregivers can learn from us. You can either post it in comments below or email me at sotmary@gmail.com. I will also be looking to do more extensive interviews either over the phone or in person, so contact me if you are interested in sharing in that too.

Caregiver Questions #1) What is Caring?

I'll be sending out 33 topics, like this one, over the next few months with related questions. I would like all of you Caregivers out there to pick 3 or 4 topics that you can relate to and tell us a story about your Caregiving experience. I'm writing a second book and would love to include your wisdom, humor, joy and even your upset, so that other Caregivers can learn from us. You can either post it in comments below or email me at sotmary@gmail.com. I will also be looking to do more extensive interviews either over the phone or in person, so contact me if you are interested in sharing in that too.

1) What is Caring?
How do you handle issues of control or who has more power in your Caregiver role?
How do you nurture your loved one's growth? Do they seem to trust you? Who sets the agenda? How do you encourage them to care for themselves? How do you help them to get excited about life? What happens when things get routine?

No wonder they are confused! Sham acupuncture doesn't exist!

This NY Times article shows how hard it is to study an ancient healing modality with modern testing protocols. We all want to know why acupuncture works. Time to think "outside the box" when comes to doing these studies.

Big Ideas for Caregivers

In a perfect world there would be someone......let's say they are called Professional Caregiver Advocates........and all they do all day is create fun stuff for Caregivers to do. Finding places where Caregivers can get together to share support and ideas, finding little elves to help with shopping or laundry, being someone to listen, someone who understands, someone who can help in lots of little ways, a shoulder to lean on, a "big sister or brother", hugs when you need them, quiet when that's what is needed.
Well we are working on getting Professional Caregiver Advocates out to every community. It'll take some time but keep checking in for progress reports.
If you would like to be on our dream team email me. sotmary@gmail.com

Bones......is thicker better? Me thinks not.......

I knew about this and yet I didn't know the extent of things. A quick article on the problems with osteoporosis medications.

I tell you....those early 70's were the good ol' days!

I just spent a home bound weekend due to our ferocious Nor'easter. It gave me a chance to get into some deep closets and I found this gem of a book. On Caring by Milton Mayeroff It's a quick read and articulates ideas about Caring that have been banging around in my brain without the words to express them. Thank you Milton.

Pain hurts more than we think!

What a list!! Ouch!!
Remember Acupuncture can help break the pain cycle. See list below.*

from Handbook for Mortals : Controlling Pain : The effects of pain

Pain is more than "just" hurting. Pain decreases your physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well being in a variety of ways. It affects you physically, mentally, and emotionally. With pain, you may:

Be less able to function
Feel tired and lethargic
Lose your appetite or have nausea
Not be able to sleep, or have your sleep interrupted by pain
Experience less enjoyment and more anxiety
Become depressed, anxious, or unable to concentrate on anything except pain
Feel a loss of control
Have less interaction with friends
Be less able to enjoy sex or affection
Have a change in appearance
Feel that you are more of a burden on family or other caregivers
Suffer more

Adapted from "Management of Cancer Pain" by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

*Claims of Acupuncture for Chronic Pain

Acupuncture has been claimed as an effective treatment for certain chronic pain. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference Statement stated in November 1997 that that there is "clear evidence for acupuncture's efficacy for treating postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting, the nausea of pregnancy, and postoperative dental pain." The NIH panel concludes that acupuncture may be an effective adjunctive therapy for many pain conditions. Acupuncture has been claimed effective for various pain conditions including migraines, back pain, tennis elbow menstrual cramps, fibromyalgia, and carpal tunnel syndrome.