Pushing back against the isolation Due to Covid-19, the world discovered what caregivers already knew: isolation fosters dark thoughts that easily take us down—often quickly.  Pushing back on isolation as a caregiver, however, often requires creativity. Sometimes it...

When judging yourself as a caregiver harshly, be fair and use this criteria as well. As a caregiver, think about all the tasks and challenges you face. How would you treat someone who does what you do and bears what you bear? Most likely, you would be gracious and...

My father was an abusive alcoholic for years. Now, he’s had a stroke and requires extensive care. Sadly, he still drinks. I’m 52 with a wife and kids, but every time I’m around him I feel like I’m a 9-year-old terrified kid again. How do I deal with this?  Bill in Indiana

Are you a caregiver who lives in the “…wreckage of your future?” Over the course of my wife’s nearly thirty years as an amputee, we’ve learned amazing things about the human body, including phantom-limb pain. Amputees can often feel the pain of a limb long since...

While one of ten commandments is to indeed honor your father and mother, it does mean that we must honor alcoholism, addiction, or any other type of mental impairment that leads to inappropriate acts. Sometimes honoring them means not engaging with their destructive behavior.

As caregivers, we struggle enough with reality, so living in the hypothetical is never recommended.  That said, I love the way I play the piano now, I love the way I write, and I am grateful for the ways I’m able to speak to fellow caregivers …

Mania stems from a variety of sources.  Some psychological some physiological.  Step one is to make sure your loved one’s physician is aware of this behavior and ask for an action plan. 

Doctors, and their offices, usually bustle and are often tied to a timer.  As caregivers, our hearts and bodies are weary, and it adds greater frustration when we feel overlooked or dismissed. Particularly if we busted our rears to take off time from work and struggle to get our loved one there on time

Sometimes anger is warranted.  If your anger is directed at an impaired loved one’s behavior, however, your anger can be futile.  How do you get angry with a disease?  In cases where your loved one is behaving poorly and even inappropriately

Dear Peter:  How do you get the doctor (s) to really listen to my concerns?  Sherri who feels dismissed. Dear Sherri: Given that changing doctors often makes more challenges, it’s usually best to try and hammer out a good working relationship with the one you have...

Your calling implies an authority outside yourself that speaks to your purpose.  I can’t answer whether or not God has called you to this, but you are in it, and I am convinced that you can function in this role and that God can and will continue to equip you to travel this journey.