Hope for the Caregiver

From - A MINUTE FOR CAREGIVERS - When Every Day Feels Like Monday. How many caregivers put themselves through unnecessary stress trying to re-create Christmas traditions? While a tree, decorations, meals, and gifts remain important, too many allow trappings to eclipse the season's meaning. Sometimes, the fear that this may be our loved one's last Christmas pushes us to ensure everything is perfect...

I recently did an interview with Seth and Deb Quad Cities radio (Moody). In this interview I provided the background of how Gracie got to where she is and what sustains us through this.

From "A Minute for Caregivers - When Every Day Feels Like Monday." The Comfort of Gratitude Resentment can lead even the best of hearts into poor judgment, wrath, and even self-destruction. For caregivers, the fight against bitterness remains perpetual. Maybe family and friends left us out to dry, a bad medical call, an employer fired us in a vulnerable moment, or a drunk driver who caused incalcu...

Forty years is a long time. It's even longer when every day is filled with pain, disability, and struggles. Today, November 18, is the fortieth anniversary of the devastating car accident that changed Gracie's life.  Listen to her recount that day - in her own words. There's a special bonus following Gracie reading the prologue from her book.    's

Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio.   This is Peter Rosenberger.   This is the program for you as a family caregiver.   How you doing?   How you holding up?   What's going on with you?   Those and more are the type of questions that we ask ourselves as family caregivers that I ask you.   I want you to ask me, how are we doing?   How are we holding up?   And you can see...

  Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio.   This is Peter Rosenberger.   This is the program for you as a family caregiver, healthy caregivers, make better caregivers.   How are you doing today?   What's going on with you?   If you're not a caregiver, you're going to get something out of the program, but I'm not here for you.   I'm here for those who are willingly without ...

As a Caregiver, do you often feel lost in someone else's story?  It happens.  Recovering your identity is the first step towards becoming a healthier caregiver. In this episode, we'll talk about "losing the melody" and how our vocabulary gives us away when we have lost our identity.  www.hopeforthecaregiver.com    

"Fearless Even When Vulnerable" is one of the things Business Nitrogen CEO, David Asarnow, looks for in his clients - because he understands that concept better than most.  His passion, faith, and fearlessness have prompted him to stand up and make his voice heard in the aftermath of the terrorists attacks by Hamas against Israel.  David and I have been friends for many years, and I saw my friend'...

Admittedly, it's hard for many to know what to say to a struggling caregiver. Yet, in the absence of not knowing what to say, people often say things that are unhelpful - or even more burdensome.  Here are three things to avoid telling caregivers - and suggestions for what to say instead.

Guideposts' Editor-in-Chief shares his deeply personal - and hopeful - journey of faith through his mother's Alzheimer's and his own fear of getting the disease.  

From "A MINUTE FOR CAREGIVERS - When Every Day Feels Like Monday. Several pilots I know express a standard command often given to less experienced pilots. "Work the problem and fly the plane." The context involves pilots who fixate on a problem like a storm, console light, or other issues. Riveting one's eyes on a single point to the exclusion of the bigger picture can quickly result in disastrous...

What is something that YOU like?  It's been my experience that many caregivers struggle to express a heart's desire. Do you?  If so, listen to this opening monologue from my radio program that aired on 10/7/2023 www.hopeforthecaregiver.com  

A caller named Bill once shared on our caregiver program that his father was an abusive alcoholic for years. His father has now suffered a stroke and requires extensive care—but sadly still drinks. Even though Bill is over fifty with a wife and kids, he shared that he still feels like a terrified nine-year-old when he's around his father.  Bill's dad made his own decisions—ones that evidently did...

From Sept 30's broadcast.  We covered quite a bit of ground in this episode.  Caregivers and Control (or the lack thereof) Caregivers and Content (what do we feel our minds with?) Caregiver and Comportment (would you trust your loved one to a physician who comported themselves like some of our elected officials have recently? 

From "A MINUTE FOR CAREGIVERS- When Every Day Feels Like Monday." Playing for Chickens There's an old story of a farmer who struggled to find ways to help his chickens lay more eggs. After trying numerous techniques, he heard of the beneficial effects of music and tried playing the flute for his chickens to help them lay more eggs. Sitting beside the coop, he diligently spent hours at a time perfo...

After teaching special education for 42 years, Debbra Laneville drew upon her vast experience to write what she learned in the classroom and in life from her students. Her new book is titled, You Can't Make This Up - Life Lessons from Special Kids. www.speciallessons.com   

"We've done everything possible to save this leg; all that's left is amputation—when you're ready, we'll have that conversation." Those words came from Gracie's surgeon, following numerous operations to save her right leg that was crushed and disfigured in her 1983 car accident. Everyone in Gracie's life, including me, had an opinion about this—and Gracie understandably struggled mightily during t...

In a recent report from the American Medical Association (AMA) a list of the highest burnout rates among physicians are:  Emergency medicine: 62%. Hospital medicine: 59%. Family medicine: 58%. Pediatrics: 55%. Obstetrics and gynecology: 54%. Internal medicine: 52%. In this episode, I discuss our response as caregivers to this alarming report.

From "A MINUTE FOR CAREGIVERS - When Every Day Feels Like Monday." As caregivers, we regularly feel intense pressure to fix or achieve. Yet, despite our best efforts, many of the circumstances we face seem unyielding. Our self-judgment over things beyond our control often leads to an incorrect verdict of failure.  Taking a step away from the caregiving realm, consider the "Slap heard around the wo...

Robert Burns penned the line "...the best-laid schemes of mice and men can go awry" more than 225 years ago in his poem "To A Mouse." The phrase seems appropriate for the constant changes to the best of plans. John Steinbeck turned the term for his classic, "Of Mice and Men," and the phrase in various forms permanently resides in our cultural lexicon.  This is the phrase that came to mind over the...

Drive By Diagnosis The term "Drive-By Diagnoses" accurately captures the shared experiences of countless caregivers. It's as though passersby morph into experts, leaning out the window to offer advice on caring for loved ones, irrespective of their connection or expertise. Comments like "Have you considered a new drug?" or "I know someone who swears by this" often emerge. One might even stumble up...

The "silver tsunami" of aging Americans is here. Are the health needs of seniors different from those younger?  Do medications have a different effect? " I have seen it all. I have seen the business executive swindled by the neighbor, the loving wife who now chases her husband out of the house every night thinking he is an intruder, the woman who was treated with 40 medications… but still had pain...

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." - Robert Burns You would think after nearly 40 years of caregiving, I'd get the travel thing down cold. But a recent trip to Denver for a medical consult turned into a challenging event. I learned that, even after all these years, I need to go back to the fundamentals.   

A Path Through the Storm   When storms loom, media outlets often show footage of people placing plywood on homes and businesses and hunkering down. Caregiving is its own storm. Although sometimes receiving advance notice, caregiving can often descend like a tornado—and last a lifetime. If cameras followed caregivers, many daily activities might resemble the frantic bustle of those boarding homes a...

Genevieve Collins, State Director (Texas) of  Americans for Prosperity, joined the program to discuss how AFP advocates for citizens crushed by health care debt. Americans for Prosperity is the premier grassroots advocacy organization transforming policy around the country.  A major part of how they do that is to hear from individuals and families and allow them to share their stories - all the wa...