I know personally three families whose spouses are the caregivers, two of the family have done just fine over the last 12-13 years, the other family almost split up and things got much better when the spouse was no longer the caregiver. In my case it was my daughter who was my primary caregiver while she was still quite young, and it did affect our relationship and we both agreed to use somebody from the outside. Now, 18 years later she has been my primary caregiver for 4 ½ years and it has worked out beautifully. I feel that there are special risks in using a family member. It still takes a lot of respect for each other and especially for me as her mother letting her be the one to make certain decisions about my care (especially wound care) and having faith in that person. Dont know if that helped. Thanks Joan
From: Don Price [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 1:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [QUAD-L] Spouse as Caregiver? I'm sure this topic has been discussed before, but: Those of you who are married or in a serious relationship: do you choose to have your husband/wife as your primary caregiver or have an outside caregiver? I've heard and read that it is best not to have your spouse as your primary caregiver because it changes the dynamic of the relationship (assuming you were together before your injury), but I'm not sure if that's true. Your thoughts and experiences in this matter will be very helpful. Thank you, Don.
