What is my why?

 

There may come a time in our lives when someone we know, someone we are close to, is diagnosed with a disease or injury that requires someone to step up and take care of them. Perhaps some people will be fortunate enough to be able to hire outside help, but others become the primary caregiver for their parent, spouse, or child when the need arises. In my lifetime, I have watched my aunt care for her son (osteosarcoma) and husband (prostate) through their successful cancer battles, my grandfather took tremendous care of my grandmother in her final years as her health declined and dementia set in, and I see my mother valiantly supporting and caring for my father through his fight with late-stage lung cancer. What may begin as one person’s health struggle becomes a team effort. While only one person may be suffering from the related physical symptoms and emotions, their caregiver often struggles with their own emotions, fatigue, and helplessness. For these reasons, I have chosen to attend a self-help, or support group, for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s.

Before I attended the caregiver support group, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought it might be somber, filled with people that are depressed about their loved one’s condition. My mother cries, frequently, especially when discussing my father’s diagnosis and prognosis. While the diseases these caregivers are dealing with are different from the cancers in my own family members or the non-Alzheimer's dementia my grandmother suffered with, the effects of caring for their loved ones would be similar. It all comes down to finding an inner strength you did not know you had until you needed it.