P is for purpose. “Food and shelter can be withheld, but meaning is something others cannot deny us. Regardless of our life situations, as humans we are always seeking meaning.” 1 Without purpose, life is flat. It’s a series of obligations, where we trudge through each cold, grey day. Nothing matters. Purpose brings colour and […]

O is for overwhelmed. What does overwhelmed look like for the care partner? It’s the daughter dealing with her mother’s anxiety disorder who can receive twenty calls a day. Fifteen of them are overnight. Nothing she does or says calms her mother down. She hears the same questions and the same worries over and over

Before I got off the subway, I knew it was raining.  As I stepped off the train onto the platform, the scent of a fresh, spring rain wafted by.  I took a deep breath. Ahhhhh. I had glanced out the window several times that day and wondered if the promised storm was coming after all.

N is for normal. What is normal? In 1998, Patsy Clairmont first told us Normal is Just a Setting on Your Dryer. What a relief it was to learn that it’s okay to not fit into society’s little box. It was freeing at the time, yet we still seek “normal” in our lives. Normal changes. When

M is for memory. And memories. Alzheimer’s and dementia is all about memory. Lack of memory, how to stimulate memory, retrieve lost memories and work with the memory that is left. In the context of the disease, memory (and the lack of it) is the enemy. There are huge amounts of fear associated with memory

L is for loss. My car is eight years old, and last year for the first time, I had to pour $5,000. into it over a six month period. Battery, tires, breaks and a few other things I don’t know the name of. It hurt, but as it had never had any major repairs, I

K is for knowledge. Knowledge is essential. When you first start on the care partner journey, you realise how little you know about so many things. If there is a disease involved (such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s) you want to find out as much as you can about it. Causes, treatments (medical and non-medical) progression

J is for judgement. Your loved one’s judgement is impaired. You need to use yours. My mother always told me to “use my judgement.” The problem was, my judgement wasn’t the same as hers. My judgement said ice cream was a good dinner, staying up until midnight was a good plan and never using an

I is for…wait a minute. There’s no “I.” Every care partner knows it’s a selfless role.  Physically, it can mean sleepless nights and long days. It might mean turning, lifting and caring for another person. Even if the person is cared for by others, there’s still making time to visit regularly. Emotionally, you can feel

H is for hospital. Don’t go there. There are times when it is necessary for the elderly person to go to hospital, but this is a discussion and decision you need to make before the occasion arises. Here are some not-nice facts that make it imperative to decide early. Most hospitals are experts in acute