The working caregiver

The Working Caregiver: Balancing a Full Plate During Times of Life Changes

by Connie DeKrey, LSW, CT, bereavement specialist I recall a number of years ago driving down the Interstate on my day off work, en route to the community where my mother lived, to accompany her to the clinic for her PET scan appointment. Half way there, my cell phone rang. It was our school calling to tell me my nine-year-old...

Going the Distance: Caring for Loved Ones From Afar

by Wendy Tabor-Buth “Bump, set, spike,” I shout in support to the girls at volleyball practice. It’s a weekday evening, and I have the privilege of assistant coaching my daughter’s volleyball team. As the girls work together as team, I try to stay focused. But my thoughts are consumed by the phone call I just received from my dad, Wally, on...

Adjusting to Life After Caring for a Loved One With a Serious Illness

By Sharon Dardis, guest blogger “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” – Louise L'Amour I have never been a fan of endings. I have trouble with goodbyes. With the ending of something as intense as caregiving—in all its forms—there is certainly reason to wonder how to go about adjusting now that...

5 activities to do with a terminally ill loved one

5 Activities to Do With a Terminally Ill Loved One

When someone you care about or love has been told they only have a few days, weeks or months to live, it can be difficult to deal with that reality. It’s in our nature to always want to ‘fix’ things, so when we are unable to ‘fix’ the dying person, we sometimes find it difficult to deal with this....

Are You Traveling Without a Road Map? Advance Care Planning Essentials

Advance care planning is like planning a road trip to an unfamiliar destination. People approach mapping their route in different ways, but your trip can be made more comfortable by planning ahead. An advance directive is a map detailing where you want your health care “to go,” in the event you are unable to voice your own wishes. Do you...

How to Know if You’re a Caregiver: Signs to Recognize in Yourself and Others

By Sharon Dardis If you're a Scrabble player, perhaps you already know there are 144 possible word combinations contained in the word "caregiver." Likewise, there are probably as many situations in which someone might be involved in a setting that would consider them a "caregiver." How do you know if you're one of them? The Accidental Caregiver My mother could have been...

Caregiving 101

by Sharon Dardis Editor’s note: Hospice of the Red River Valley is fortunate to have wonderful guest bloggers contribute to our blog. This blog is written by Sharon Dardis, former Hospice of the Red River Valley employee, and republishing or reprinting any part of this article, The Caregiver Bill of Rights or Top 10 List is prohibited without prior written...

How to Say Goodbye to a Loved One

By Rev. Lauryl Ivers I can just hear the child in me saying, “But I don’t want to say goodbye!” We simply just don’t want to say goodbye to the people we love, or the pets we love, or the things we love. So, what is best? Sneak out the back door, or face endings as best I can and...

Coping with Guilt as a Caregiver

Coping With Guilt as a Caregiver

By Janna Kontz, chaplain Webster’s New World Dictionary defines guilt as “a painful feeling of self-reproach resulting from a belief that one has done something wrong or immoral.” Those are strong words, especially when used to describe someone who cares for a family member or friend in the last season of life. Guilt is an ugly emotion that, unless resolved, rarely...

Coping With Another Person’s Suffering

There is nothing more difficult for a caregiver than to sit at the bedside of a loved one who is dying and watch them suffer. We have an innate sense to help, and in these situations, most of us just want to do something—anything—to make them feel better. At the end of life, your loved one may experience pain, shortness...