Stories from Caregivers: Monica from NEVADA
NV
Monica
FROM NEVADA
On the morning of March 6, 2014, while I was making coffee, I turned to witness my 82 year old mom fall down the stairs. My dad rushed to her side but panicked. Luckily, my first aide training helped me, even though it was frightening to see blood coming from the back of her head. My mom was in rehab for a month, and during this period, I had to take over the family finances, which included my mom's business. I now recognize the importance of sharing this information. It was challenging to figure out the status of everything. Things took a sudden turn for the worse when my dad started to have flu like symptoms a few months later. He was unwilling to go to the doctor until he saw blood in his urine. By then it was too late. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Now, I had to handle his care and his fear. I decided that as an only child it was my duty to help my parents with this scary transition and made being a caregiver my full time job. It was extremely risky for me financially, but I felt comfortable with my decision. During this time, I dealt with my frustration in two ways. I first took notes on how to improve the handling of elderly patients and their family members and asked to be on the patient advisory committee. Then, I finally decided that time was not on my side, and I had to do something I always wanted to do. As a distraction to my mom's worries about my dad, I asked her if I could tape our conversations about her life. I ended up self publishing her story called "Storms in the Clouds Conversations with my Mom." Going through all of this has not been easy at all. In fact, it's been downright heartbreaking on so many levels. My dad passed ten months after his diagnosis, and my mom, after close to 58 years of marriage, is struggling with the grieving process. So, I think that as a growing number of seniors live longer lives, providing caregivers with tools, resources and support will become mission critical. I applaud AARP's desire to be at the forefront of this urgent issue and have made it my mission to help in any way I can.
