Ready, Willing and Able
By Jo Cavanaugh
How many times have you relived the beginning of your caregiving? Do you think about how it started and wish that you have been more ready? Preparation helps to make tasks easier and planning smoothes the path by anticipating what can happen.
If not a concern about being ready, then were you willing? Or did you become a caregiver because you the the only one? I am a caregiver for my spouse. There is no one else. That doesn't mean that I am not willing... only that there was less of a choice.
How about feelings of ability? Do you feel able to take on the caregiving task? Do you need more information and help from experts? There are many sources to help you become more aware of the illness and treatments available.
Don't let concerns about being ready, willing, and able stop your desire to be a good caregiver. There are many ways to prepare so that you are ready. There are support groups and help so that you are willing. There are resources and education so that you are able. Just do your best and the rest will follow.
Words of Encouragement
Caregiving is rewarding and exciting. You can see the benefit of your love, concern, and care on a daily basis. Your loved one has a better quality of life because of your care and concern.
Take time to enjoy caregiving. It is a part of your life and there will always be a way to see it as a way to connect with your loved one. Know that what you do makes a difference. Carry that knowledge in your heart as you go about your daily tasks.
Book Award
Joan, a caregiver from Missouri is the winner of Eldercare for Dummies, by Rachelle Zukerman,Ph.D. Let us know how you liked the book.
Reminders
Don't forget that April is:
Cancer Control Month
American Cancer Society
1599 Clifton Road, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30329
(800)ACS?2345
(404)320-33331
http://www.cancer.org
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Awareness Month
International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD)
P.O. Box 170864
Milwaukee, WI 53217
(888)964?2001 8:30a.m.-5p.m. CST
(414)964-1799
mailto:iffgd@iffgd.org
http://www.aboutibs.org
National Humor Month
Carmel Institute of Humor
25470 Ca?? Drive
Carmel, CA 93923-8926
Phone: 831-624-3058
Fax: 831-624-4265
mailto:larrywilde@aol.com
http://www.larrywilde.com/month.htm
National Occupational Therapy Month
American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.
4720 Montgomery Lane
PO Box 31220
Bethesda, MD 20824-1220
Phone: 301-652-2682
TDD: 1-800-377-8555
Fax: 301-652-7711
mailto:praota@aota.org
http://www.aota.org/
National Donate Life Month
Division of Transplantation, OSP, HRSA
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Parklawn Building, Room 16C-17
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
(301) 443-7577
mailto:ask@hrsa.gov
http://www.organdonor.gov/
Caregiver Connection
Don't miss the April 2004 issue of Caregiver Tips with tips and information on Gathering Rose Buds.
Messages for Caregivers
What's Your Favorite Part of the Newsletter?
The best way to know if we're providing you with what you need is to ask. Please e-mail us at Speak Out and let us know how we're doing.
In particular, we'd like to know what your favorite part of the newsletter, as well as your least favorite. Also, if you have any ideas for things you would like to see in the newsletter that we don't currently offer, send them along too. Who knows? It may lead to a new feature in the newsletter.
By the way, thank you to everyone who reads the newsletter and already gives us lots of great feedback and questions on a regular basis.
So Good I Want to Share It
I have had the great pleasure reading Life in Limbo, Waiting for a Heart Transplant by Lisa Stiles Nance. Lisa writes about her experiences during the time her husband went through his diagnosis and wait for a heart transplant.
It is a genuine and loving story of how a caregiver made it through the emotions, challenges, and life changing events of having an ill spouse. Lisa shares her story and how she adapted and overcame this life altering time.
You can purchase a copy of Life in Limbo; Waiting for a Heart Transplant at Amazon.com or your local bookstore.
Lisa has generously offered a signed copy of her book, Life in Limbo; Waiting for a Heart Transplant for a reader of Caregiver Tips. Congradulations to Angela from Pennsylvania who will receive the book.
Thank you Lisa for your generosity and for sharing your uplifiting story.
Internet Sites 2Good2Miss
Ohio State University Has a Great Series of Senior Health Fact Sheets. I have included the link for the index but also want to make sure that you check out the Fact Sheet on "Caregiver Burnout".
Take a few moments to look at this resource. There are many great articles and help for caregivers.
Senior Series Fact Sheets
Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but, rather, and ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more propitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. -- Vaclav Havel
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