| Comment about: The Costs for Family Caregivers Continues to Rise |
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| February 28, 2008 | | When the Bottom Drops Out | | A year and a half ago my employer (he is as well one of my closest friends) had an accident in the ocean and suffered a severe spinal cord injury. He is a quadriplegic. Before his accident he was very successful in business and was also the kind of guy who excelled at everything and never really needed anyone's help. After his devastating accident, no one else was willing or able to take charge of his life. And I could not imagine ever abandoning him during this tragic turn of events. So the person who took charge was me. I sorta stopped my life completely to take care of him and this overwhelming situation. Fortunately, he has enough saved to pay for the caregivers he needs 24/7 but I am the one who is daily struggling with all the challenges that goes with helping someone who is paralyzed. And that includes the constant search for new caregivers. It has been my experience that most caregivers can't handle working with spinal cord injury and leave within hours or a few days of taking on the assignment. It's been 19 months of waiting for the shoe to drop - and it always does. We have a chronic "caregiver crisis" that no agency, no individual, no family member, no friend, no contact, no referral, no advertisement has ever been able to totally resolve. I have grown a lot in the last year and a half and for that I am grateful. I appreciate each minute of each day that I have on this planet now, even when things seem very dark. | |
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