Someone in our local support group recently told me about the website “The Unprepared Caregiver: when care meets love” (unpreparedcaregiver.com). The blogger is communications professor Zachary White, PhD. He cared for his mother with a terminal cancer diagnosis. He started blogging about being “totally unprepared for the experience of caring when the best trained specialists and doctors said there was nothing more they could do for his mother.” He doesn’t post frequently.
In a post from December 2016, Dr. White writes about caregivers not having an enjoyable “bucket list” to talk about during their gatherings over the holidays. He says:
“Here’s why our experiences as caregivers push us to our limits but probably won’t receive much attention around the holiday table this season:
* There is no training manual for our care.
* There is no safety net.
* Our experiences are beyond pictures.
* It changes you.
* It’s not on anyone’s bucket list.”
Here’s a link to the full blog post:
www.unpreparedcaregiver.com/2016/12/beyond-the-bucket-list/
Beyond the Bucket List
by Dr. Zachary White
The Unprepared Caregiver
2016 December 7
Robin