Caregiver.
After finishing 5 years of medical school and becoming a paramedic in 2005, my career took a turn and I began working as a caregiver for less fortunate, disabled young adults.
To care is in my blood. Little did I know, my caring nature was going to be put to the biggest test of all – my wife became chronically ill.
Endometriosis and fibromyalgia brought to M’s life misery filled with daily chronic pain, and despite her unbreakable spirit, my lack of knowledge on how to support her has almost cost us marriage.
I was always supportive of my wife but being uninformed by doctors and uneducated about the subject, left me unable to understand how she felt.
A decade later, through various ups and downs, our marriage blossomed allowing me to gain a heck of a lot of experience and knowledge.
During that time, I went through countless physical, emotional, mental, and financial challenges. Today, I can openly say, I’m glad for never giving up on my wife…
I’m proof of the fact that despite your partner’s illness, it is possible to live a fairly normal, happy, fulfilling life.
Caring for a loved one can be emotionally draining, especially caring for someone who suffers from multiple chronic illnesses, and additionally – anxiety, panic disorder, OCD, and depression…
Many times I caught myself feeling guilty for emotions such as anger and impatience, despite the fact that they were completely normal.
I always gave 100% of my attention to my wife and throughout the years I stayed by her side through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
We all go through this process reaching the point where some caregivers give up, but others – like yourself, keep fighting for the loved one.
I was uninformed and clueless about how to help her. And that is one of the most daunting things about this disease!
I had to put all the dots together. Because my wife was in too much pain, fatigued, or too stressed to explain to me what to do best to help her.
I made many mistakes trying to help her, and this is what I want you to avoid!
All nice and dandy, but no one ever asks one important question…
Who is taking care of the caregiver?
Who's taking care of caregiver?
Caring for a chronically ill and suffering person, regardless of doing it full time or partially, adds new responsibilities, creating a strain for caregivers often affecting our working schedule.
From time to time I had to, still do, and I will take time off work whenever my wife needs me, in order to take care of her better during the worst of endometriosis and fibromyalgia flare-ups.
The silent stress no one talks about is every caregiver’s burden. We keep every emotion to ourselves thinking it would upset our partner.
But that’s just a fraction of the impact chronic illness may have on a caregiver. There is so much to caregiver struggles…
Caregiver burnout
The caregiver burnout part of the blog gives you all the knowledge that I gathered as a caregiver to my chronically ill wife.
You will find here the symptoms, struggles, and accomplishments of caregivers… [read more]
Caregiver tips
Caregiving tips are really useful in managing one or more chronic illnesses of your partner.
Caring for a loved one can make your life anything but easy, and being involved in the coordination of a loved one’s needs is an exhausting and at times… [read more]
Self-care
Health problems touch every one of us differently. Worry Head may be based on just one couple’s story, but there are many more stories out there of couples struggling to cope with chronic illness.
Not being taken seriously when our partner is chronically ill can be very demoralizing for them… [read more]
