Pudding. Dora the Explorer. Juice. Bambi. Burritos. Blankets. Chemo backpacks. The Lion King. Ice Cream. Crutches for a caregiver. Crutches I thought I would never use! But I used them for sure. I used them often. Did that make me a bad mother? I had always been a careful mother. … Read more“Crutches for a Caregiver”
Tag: #InspireMeMonday
Caregiver Loneliness Can Delay YOUR Recovery
Take a Peek at Caregiver Loneliness ICU minutes stretch like bubblegum—at some point, I know they’ll burst and slap more messiness into my life. I wait, lonely in the busiest place on the planet, for the nurses to allow me back into Pedro’s room. The tubes cascade out of his… Read more“Caregiver Loneliness Can Delay YOUR Recovery”
Join the Club – Three Easy Tips for Caregivers
It’s not an elite club. It’s not a desirable club. It comes with a very high membership fee. No one ever requests to join. But once you’ve been inducted into the club of Cancer Caregivers, you might as well participate fully. Even though it takes awhile for your head to… Read more“Join the Club – Three Easy Tips for Caregivers”
Why You Should Forget About New Year’s Resolutions
Kiss Resolutions Goodbye! For years I made New Year’s resolutions: lose weight, start an exercise program, have better health, give up chocolate, and myriad other impossible proclamations. While my husband recovered from his stem-cell transplant, I spent all of my spare time in bed. I felt grumpy and depressed and… Read more“Why You Should Forget About New Year’s Resolutions”
It’s Not About the Wise Men – It’s Just a Simple Gift
It’s not about the wise men, this Christmas. Our gift to you comes from two ladies who consider ourselves anything but wise. In fact, our story started with the words, “Don’t you wish you would have known…?” and continued with a resounding, “Oh, wow…yes! I wish someone could have prepared… Read more“It’s Not About the Wise Men – It’s Just a Simple Gift”
Celebrate Ten Years in Remission!
Celebrate! Today is big! Huge! Today we celebrate one of those milestones you never expect to even think about with your children. Once thought of, however, the prayer that you’ll ‘make it’ is a never-ending process-type prayer! That prayer for remission and the end of chemotherapy! Ten years ago, my… Read more“Celebrate Ten Years in Remission!”
The Difference Hair Can Make
A bright red ponytail and flying blond hair edged around the corner of room number 11 in the Children’s Cancer ward. Wide-eyes greeted me as my two precious little girls tip-toed over to where I perched on the parent chair/bed/sofa/storage unit. I hadn’t seen them for over a week: the… Read more“The Difference Hair Can Make”
The Blood and the PTSD
I ran frantically through the house, sweat dripping down my back and my eyes wide open with that familiar gritty I’ve-spent-all-night-awake-in-the-hospital-feeling. I grabbed things and flung them into suitcases and yelled again for my kids to get out! No one answered and I redoubled my efforts. Piles of laundry gave… Read more“The Blood and the PTSD”
A Caregiver You Know Might Need This Book
Not Knowing That I Stood in Need When my husband miraculously recovered from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with Central Nervous System involvement I knew I should feel grateful and blessed. I did, mostly. But a heavy blanket of depression crept over me and sucked the color out of my days. I felt… Read more“A Caregiver You Know Might Need This Book”
Submersion or Submission: Which would you choose?
In the fifth part of our series on how caregivers seem to experience the same reactions to circumstances that a drowning person experiences, we explore the options a drowning person has–submersion or submission. “From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with… Read more“Submersion or Submission: Which would you choose?”
