“I used to travel a lot with my job and for pleasure, but when my father had a stroke four years ago, all that changed. I’m an only child, so after he got out of the hospital and rehab facility, all the responsibility of caring for him fell on me. The stroke affected his speech and paralyzed one side of his body. He can’t walk or do the outdoor things he used to enjoy, and he can’t be left alone for very long. I was working full-time, trying to take care of him, and getting so stressed out that I ended up in the ER more than once myself. People don’t talk a lot about how difficult a caregiver’s job is, but it takes a mental, emotional, and physical toll. I had to move into a job that was more flexible and figure out ways to get organized and make life manageable again. I’m an avid researcher, so I dove in and found a lot of resources that I began sharing with other caregivers. I hadn’t realized before how many friends and colleagues had been caring for their elderly parents for years; people just seemed to come out of the woodwork. I started a Facebook page (The Caregiver Project) for information sharing and as a place to tell our stories. Caregivers need support; people need to know what these families are going through. The more research I did and the more families I talked to, the more I wanted to make a documentary about what life is like day to day when you’re the caregiver for an elderly parent. The film features five households, including mine, and is being reviewed for broadcast now. I used to wonder about my purpose in life, but it seems that my education, training, and experiences are all coming together to help people---our family included---navigate this difficult journey so many of us find ourselves on.”
Click HERE or on the image below to see the trailer for the documentary I Am a Caregiver:
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