Lisa and Lana: Taking Care of Our Parents

Sometimes caring for our parents feels like a 100% of our time is spent focused on their needs and their journey.  But this is your life too! So let's take some time to talk about us ... the caregivers!    What are we learning about ourselves... as we care for others? How do we gain perspective when our world feels narrow and restricted? In this episode, we'll share some of the things we...

Sore knees can make life miserable. But having knee replacement surgery is a big deal.  And we're not going to lie to you, caring for your  elderly parents, post surgery, is a lot. Be prepared to be super tired for at least the first 2 weeks. In this episode, we'll share our experiences of caring for our loved ones and walk you through some helpful things to know about the realities of k...

Medication can be so confusing!   And truthfully everything just gets even more complex as your parents get older. In this super informative episode, we will share our stories about what we've learned along the way and also mistakes that we've both made. Nurse Lana has a wealth of professional and personal experience as she cares for her father-in-law with the very complex and complicate...

The Grady family finally has hospice care in the home. And now we find out what that looks like. How does hospice help? How does dad feel about this stage of his life? What does it feel like for the family? As with all of our episodes, there will be stories and  laughter and a few tears.  **************************************************** Podcast theme written and sung by Lisa Grady Theme music...

In our last episode we discussed what happened that led up to the Grady family's decision to bring in Hospice care. Now it's time to discuss this new and scary option with dad. It's never an easy conversation. And no matter how much you prepare, things change quickly. There will always be surprises. But it's always helpful to listen to other peoples stories and perhaps get a fe...

Hospice.  A word that strikes fear. The path to Hospice Care is unique for every individual and every family. In this Three Part Series we share the personal journey and experiences of the Grady family's decision to begin this important stage of caring for our parents. What is hospice? How do you approach talking about it? How do you begin? What's it like? In Part One, we talk all about...

The dreaded UTI.   When you meet another person who is also caring for their elderly parent, the UTI is the biggest ice breaker.  The topic comes up and the conversation quickly moves to swapping horror stories, commiserating, and complaining. In this episode we go over the traditional symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection and why they are often not helpful at all when determining if your parent h...

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??! Unfortunately, too often, the answer is … no.   Your parent’s hearing loss can cause a lot of conflicts, frustration, and loneliness. In today’s episode we share our experiences and the things we've learned along the way.  What causes hearing loss?  What issues does the loss cause?  How do we spot when our parents are struggling?– especially the early stages. And what a...

Pack your bags!  We're going on a guilt trip! Guilt is one of the most common feelings we caregivers experience. Unfortunately, resentment and anger usually love to tag along for the trip.  When these three emotions are fed a daily dose of - a lack of sleep, overwhelm, and not being appreciated...things can get ugly. It's important for those in the trenches to know that what you're...

You definitely need to listen to this episode!! If you're parent hasn't already been in the hospital, they most likely will at some point. Maybe it will be a planned surgery or maybe it'll be an urgent 911 call. Either way, you need to be as prepared as possible and Nurse Lana walks us through the whole dang process!    This episode is chock full of our stories and lots of helpful a...

We caregivers take on a lot of roles as we go through the various stages of caring for our parents.   Sometimes it's just too much.   Sometimes it's not sustainable for our own health.   If you're anything like us, stating your own needs, and letting go of some of these roles and responsibilities feels almost impossible.   How do we learn to ask for help? ... when we really hate  as...

We're finishing up our conversation on "Home for the Holidays" and a quick focus on the family dynamics - specifically the siblings.  You might be the sibling who lives at home and cares for your parents there.  You might be the sibling who cares about your parents from afar.  The holidays are time when everyone gets together and often these two perspectives can collide.  In today&a...

Holidays are tricky at the best of times. But as our parents get older, things get even trickier. We'll give you things to look for, to get a better idea if your parents are struggling. (they can be really good at hiding that fact) Then we'll talk about the dinners, events, parties.   Are your folks still willing or even able to host? How can we help?  And what traditions might need to c...

Welcome to our podcast!   We are two old friends, Lisa Grady and Lana Davis, and each week we share  the realities of caregiving, with some humor, storytelling, problem-solving and honest reality checks.  With our first-hand and hard-earned knowledge, we give you tangible tips, tools and take-aways, knowing full well that caring for your parents, can easily become overwhelming, frustrating, draini...