My wife works full-time. We have caregivers to provide activities of daily living, and since she has good insurance through the state of Maryland, I've been able to see a variety of doctors and nurses and so forth. But she has been taking care of me at the expense of taking care of herself. And she spends time nearly every day fighting with insurance companies and various service providers while at work. The daily battles are taking their toll.
It seems to me that being a family caregiver can be very socially isolating. Someone on this forum said, the majority of people they are friends with now are people they met after the accident. The two of us can't go to many social events (e.g. a 30th wedding anniversary party for good friends) because most homes are not wheelchair accessible. Most social events have to be here, and that needs cleaning up before, cooking, shopping, hosting, and cleaning up afterwards. Regarding maid service, I think that could be very helpful, especially around the holidays. From: wheelch...@aol.com [mailto:wheelch...@aol.com] Sent: Friday, May 19, 2017 9:18 AM To: davekrehb...@earthlink.net; quad-list@eskimo.com Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Who cares for the family caregivers? Dave, your wife is an angel. Have you checked out your local Independent Living Center (ILC) Do you qualify for home health or maid service in your area? Best Wishes In a message dated 5/19/2017 7:51:26 A.M. Central Daylight Time, davekrehb...@earthlink.net writes: I have been a quadriplegic for nearly 10 years now, and as a consequence, my wife has taken on the role of being a family caregiver for almost 10 years. She needs help. I have some ideas about setting up an organization to help support family caregivers, and right now I am doing some research. Are you aware of any helpful programs or resources or information or organization supporting family caregivers? Thanks so much, and take care, Dave Krehbiel Olney, MD <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai gn=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaig n=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon Virus-free. <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai gn=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=link> www.avast.com --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
