The Cancer Caregiver

I know it might not feel like a time to celebrate for you. As a caregiver the beginning of the year can be annoying. Everyone talking about resolutions and how they are going to change their lives. While you’re just trying to keep up with how to get your spouse to doctors appointments during covid. But, even if for just a quick second, congratulate yourself for making it through. Take a moment to...

Hope. Sometimes it fuels you and other times it’s a four letter word.  I know how it feels to really have hope and the crushing feeling when you realize it isn’t going to happen.  Life may feel like it’s harder for us but it isn’t impossible and if we can find a way to hope we can stay connected with what fuels us and helps us to continue as caregivers in this world.  Find more caregiver resources...

Have you been able to let go of the person you were right before you became a caregiver? Of course parts of you are the same but if you look back you know you aren't the same person.  When we grieve the loss of another person were have rituals and ceremonies that we follow to help us process the loss. What have you done to process the loss of the old you and the life you lived before caregiving? L...

I love looking at pictures! I can sit and look through photo albums and photo feeds all day.  When we take pictures it's usually to record a happy moment, a beautiful landscape or something weird someone is doing. We don't usually take pictures of the dirty hair, tear streaked faces or moments filled with sadness. In episode 39 I talk about missed moments, the power of a picture and capturing the...

Holidays are hard when you aren't a caregiver! Adding on the additional stress of going through a time you feel pressure to be happy when someone you care for is seriously ill is a difficult task to take on.  The hardest part is being available to experience the moments with your loved one. Maybe things aren't extremely bad and your loved one had the energy to enjoy the season. During those happy...

When you feel sad is it also followed by shame? When being sad around someone have they told you that there is nothing to be sad about because you aren't the one who is sick? Were you the one that told yourself that? No one should tell you if you deserve to feel sad or not. Especially yourself. Feeling any emotion is valid and you have a lot of them coming through at any time, don't you? Trying to...

Listen to Kyle Woody, Executive Director of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition, and Charlotte Bayala talk about what it means to be a male caregiver on the Caregiver Connection Podcast Episode 36. Kyle explains what Jack’s Caregiver Coalition is, as well as how they help create a space for caregivers to connect. Kyle and Charlotte also talk about things that are universal to all caregivers especially how...

You're too tired to care about decorating for the holidays let alone celebrate them. So many reasons not to celebrate this year and if you are in the thick of caregiving maybe lack energy is one of them. I completely get it. But celebrating doesn't have to be big.  Find that one thing that will light up your light for at least that day. Find a way to let go and enjoy the time with your loved one....

Did you know you can have a mentor that will walk beside you on this caregiving path? Someone who has also been a cancer caregiver? Listen to Jackie Herigodt, Direction of Programs and Outreach, and Charlotte Bayala on Episode 34 of the Caregiver Connection Podcast.   Jackie and Charlotte discuss the importance of connecting with other caregivers, the importance of finding support and ways to take...

We all go through life living a story we have either created for us, by others or a combination of both. Sometimes we feel we are living in harmony with who we believe we should be and other times we are actually not following the story at all. When we don't change the script and our world has already caused us to evolve it's hard to find happiness.  Listen to Episode 33 and then head over to www....

Today’s episode is a conversation with Janet Salo, a family support specialist for Lutheran Social Service’s Kinship Family Support Service. Kinship caregivers are people who are caring for children of other family members or friends who’s parents aren’t able to care for them.  This episode is important not only for people who have stepped in to care for a child but for family members and friends...

Does Caregiving wear you out? Do you dream of naps, not having to worry or needing to cook? I’m with ya! Listen to this weeks podcast and if you have some napping tips please share on the podcast FB group page or directly with me. Find the info at www.caregiverconnectionpodcast.com

As if life weren’t difficult enough for us caregivers now we are doing it with the additional stress of living in a pandemic.     It’s as life was like - nope things aren’t difficult enough for you - let’s through another roadblock in there and see how you do!!  Your loved one has cancer and you’r already worried about them living a long life so let's throw something else at ya and see if you can...

Caring Bridge is the perfect way to let everyone know how things are going for your loved one. It helps take the burden off you, the caregiver, because the last thing you have energy for is re-telling updates all day.  But doesn’t a part of you want to make that journal update all about you? Sometimes I do and this episode is what my version of that would be.  No filters.  All Snark and Sarcasm! W...

Do you remember the moment you felt like running away? That second where you had that brief pause and it all hit you that this was it, at least for now. You know that thought that made you feel the heaviness of the situation and sucked the breath out of your lungs. And for at least a moment (if not more) you wanted to run, leave, or wave a wand and come out of the bad movie you just realized you w...

What would happen if you didn’t hold back the tears when someone asks you if you are ok?  Maybe I cry because I know how lonely it makes us feel to keep all of these things inside. I feel sad because I get the chance to say things out loud that most caregivers will never say and I know that makes you feel alone.  I'd love to hear what you feel about crying or maybe you'd like to share your caregiv...

Think back to a time when you learned something profound from and encounter from a complete stranger. Does anything come to mind?  Maybe it was something they did that made you rethink the way you do something. Or possibly it was the way they gave you a smile on a horrible day.  Throughout my life there have been people that have just appeared, for maybe just minutes, that left a lasting impressio...

It took a lot to keep this one clean. Hearing people say that Thyroid cancer is th good one makes me angry. So many people suffer from this disease. Yes some are able to live with it but living with this cancer takes it’s toll on the life of the person who has it and their families.  Listen to Episode 25 to hear more.  How do you react when people try to console you with this false statement? I’d...

On our way to meet with a surgeon something happened that made me realize that I have the ability to do something to create a bright or dark moments in someone’s day. Helping my husband through cancer sometimes makes me short sighted but I know that I love when someone unexpectedly lightens up my day and I should do my best at all times to at least be aware of the potential that I can do the same....

“When life become complicated the last thing you even think of doing is checking in with how you feel and - let’s face it. Not a lot of people will ask you that question” I feel that as a caregiver there is always the potential that big things can happen quickly. Caregiver stress can become overwhelming if you don’t understand how your body reacts to it. Listen to this week’s episode (EP 24) to he...

“You are not the person you were at the beginning of this caregiver experience and you don’t like whoever it is you are now. “   This is when you become bitter.  You look around and you don’t recognize who you are anymore. The emotions you feel are real. Your anger, frustration and sadness are valid emotions. You don’t need permission to feel them and you don’t need to explain them. It is difficul...

I find myself coming back to the caregiver vs loved one role often. How can you be a caregiver but still enjoy your loved one at the same time? How do you take on the responsibility to care for them but still find the energy to connect with them? In this episode I talk about how I sometimes fall into the trap of being 100% caregiver and how I realized that I also needed to be able to be a wife. I...

What would be the perfect setting to come home to after being in the hospital with your loved one as they recovered from surgery? Imagine the first step into the house, what do you see? Who is there?  I find that when I get back home with my husband after surgery we are both exhausted. Too tired to cook, to take showers all we want to do is collapse into bed. This episode is just what my wish list...

This week's episode is about the LID diet and Radioactive Iodine Treatment. When you have to have injest a pill that is radioactive but have to starve your body of iodine before you do it you can find yourself in a three week struggle of helping your loved one prepare and then endure the isolation of the quarantine.  If you haven’t been through this then you don’t know quarantine the way thyroid c...

My husband has his six month check up this week? How do you feel in the days leading up to these appointments? What do you do to cope? There is always so much anxiety coming into the week of an appointment. Listen to today’s episode to find out what we do to prepare for his day of thyroid cancer scans and doctors appointments at Mayo Clinic. Find more information and support at www.caregiverconnec...