Posts tagged home care agency Charlotte
Codependency & Caregiving–Home Care Charlotte
Jul 30th
Homewatch CareGivers knows that caregiving can be stressful. Terri Corcoran’s story highlights one of the pitfalls of caregiving—codependency.
Terri Corcoran has been through the three stages of what she calls “spousal caregiving” and feels that she just narrowly sidestepped becoming codependent in her relationship with her husband.
“It’s easy to get into that codependency thing in the caregiver journey,” said Mrs. Corcoran, a 60-year old editor in Falls Church, Virginia. Her husband, Vince, began showing signs of a neurodegenerative illness one month after the couple married in 1999.
“In a marriage, when you first get a diagnosis that your spouse is ill, you are in the heroic stage,” Mrs. Corcoran said. “During this stage you think, ‘We’re going to beat this thing together!’” All of the focus is on the illness, she said, and this is when a family caregiver can begin to lose themselves.
“One of the issues can be a loss of objectivity,” said Dr. Josepha Cheong, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine who specializes in geriatric psychiatry. “A family caregiver needs to be able to determine what is in the best interests of the patient.” Dr. Cheong gives the example of a loved one with dementia whom doctors recommend should More >
Caregiver Burnout: The Impact of Stress on Women’s Health – Home Care Charlotte
Jun 30th
Being the caregiver for a loved one is a full-time job, and one that isn’t easy on a woman’s health — mental or physical. There are rewards, however.
Kate Geurkink’s husband was diagnosed 6 1/2 years ago with stage-four kidney cancer. At the time of diagnosis, she was working as a woman’s health nurse practitioner and he was working full-time at the age of 70 as an ENT physician. Since the diagnosis, Kate’s husband has been in and out of remission, and Kate has been there every step of the way — not only as a wife, but also as a family care giver. The past year and a half, her husband has been home bound and is now considered “end stage” in his cancer. They keep fighting together, as he defies all odds. Homewatch CareGivers interviewed Kate to get her first-hand perspective of the stress associated with care giving, the impacts of that stress on health, and the rewards of care giving despite it all. Following is her honest, endearing account of care giving for a loved one.
HWCG: What kind of stress is associated with caring for a loved one who is ill or elderly?
KG: I’ve found that the stress More >
Diagnosis at Age 38: Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease — Home Nursing Care Charlotte
Jun 12th
Diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s disease at age 38, Ken Glowienke of Oswego, Illinois, joined the ten percent of the one million people with Parkinson’s disease under age 40. “When you hear Parkinson’s you think of an elderly person in a wheelchair, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, is that going to be me?’,” said Mr. Glowienke, now 46.
Too Young for Parkinson’s’?
After a year of tests to identify the cause of his various symptoms, Mr. Glowienke said that the diagnosis was a double-edged sword. “On the one side, I was very relieved to put a name to it,” he said. “On the other side, it was quite a shock.” During that year of testing, Mr. Glowienke said he asked one of his doctors if he could possibly have Parkinson’s disease and was told, “No, you’re way too young.” Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that affects muscle movement and it is chronic and progressive. People with any type of Parkinson’s disease may have tremors, difficulty swallowing, memory loss, and other symptoms. Young-Onset Parkinson’s disease is essentially the same as Parkinson’s disease, which typically is diagnosed around age 62. Like many Americans, Mr. Glowienke had only heard of young-onset Parkinson’s before when celebrities More >
