Many family caregivers step into the world of caregiving after a crisis. It wasn’t until the Milwaukee County on Aging case worker called me that I realized my father’s forgetfulness and disorientation were more serious.
But what can I do? I’m in California. Besides, what is dementia, really?
The first tip for caregivers: learn as much as you can about your loved one’s disease or illness, so you know what to expect.
Being curious, a trait I inherited from my father, I asked questions, lots of them.
Piece by piece I built the layers of my caregiving cake of knowledge.
I felt fortunate to find professionals who were eager to help with answers and resources. In fact, much of what they explained went over my head… some things didn’t even register!
I believe overwhelmed caregivers, only understand 10% of what is shared. Over time, we gather enough of these crumbs to build a layer of our caregiver cake of knowledge.
Gathering more crumbs, we build upon the foundation of what we know until we have to add another layer. We end up with a multi-layer cake that is held together with frosting.
When we learn enough, we often share a slice of our cake of knowledge, which bonds us together with icing.
To become a better caregiver, learn as much as you can about your loved one’s disease or illness, so you know what to expect and then share your caregiver cake of knowledge.
A special Thank You to Mary Hanna, who baked this cake for her husband, Leon, and then took the mouth-watering picture above for use in this article.