A – Z Blogging Challenge : Caregiving

This April I will be participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Every day (except the 2^nd -5^th Sundays) bloggers post to their blogs something that pertains to a specific theme (usually) as well as the letter of the alphabet assigned to that day. Today is the day when participants reveal their chosen theme, or if they are going to go themeless. Since I am deep in the trenches of caregiving, this year Facing Cancer with Grace’s theme is…

Caregiving

Five years ago, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. His doctors didn’t expect him to survive very long. I was a new caregiver, unsure of how to approach this new role. Since then, I’ve learned that caregiving is hard. That might seem obvious, but people who’ve never walked in the shoes of a caregiver often don’t realize that we’re on the journey, too.

How do we balance the emotional needs of the patient, other family members, kids, and perfect strangers who insert themselves into our lives?  How do we take care of our own needs when the needs of the loved one we are caring for seem so pressing?

I’ve been on this caregiving journey for over 5 years, and I’m still no expert at this. But I have learned a few things and I hope to encourage you.

A to Z in 2 Places!

I’m doing double duty this year during the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I will be doing the challenge here at Facing Cancer with Grace, and also at Heather Erickson Author/Writer/Speaker, where I will share ways to increase your creativity. I hope you’ll visit me at both sites. While you’re here, sign up for my email list.

To give you a preview of some of the posts I have (and will have) written, I am posting the schedule. These links will go live when the post is up at 7 AM CST on the following dates:

April    Title/Topic

1              A – Anger & the Grief Process

2              B – Boundaries & Caregiving

3              C – Critical Family Members

4              D – Depression in Caregivers

5              E – Exercise Lowers Stress

6              F – Funeral Home – First Visit

7              G – Guilt Caregivers Feel

8              No Post

9              H – Honesty: Your Authentic Response

10             I – Ideal You vs. Real You

11             J – Joyful Despite Cancer

12             K – How Kids Understand Death

13             L – Living With Cancer

14             M – Memories & Terminal Cancer

15             No Post

16             N – No: The Power of Saying No

17             O – Snake Oil Salesmen

18             P – Plan B: A Change in Plans

19             Q – Quality of Life

20             R – Relax: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

21             S – Sleep Problems When You’re a Caregiver

22             No Post

23             T – Time Management & Cancer

24             U – Unrealistic Expectations & Parental Guilt

25             V – Video of Tagrisso and Our Story

26             W – 6 Nuggets of Caregiving Wisdom

27             X – The Daily Examen (Not technically an X word, but close enough)

28             Y – Young Adult Caregivers Ages 18-26

29             No Post

30             Z – Zero in on Self-Care

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

I’d love to hear in the comment section, below. I appreciate my readers as well as the writing community. To show that appreciation, I use Comment Luv. Just leave a comment below and your latest post will get a link next to it. Thank you!

ABOUT HEATHER ERICKSON

In 2012 doctors diagnosed my husband, Dan, with stage IV lung cancer. Since then, our family has been learning what it means to face cancer. I’ve focused my writing and speaking on helping cancer patients and their families advocate for themselves and live life to the fullest, in spite of their illness. My goal is to help people face cancer with grace.

My book Facing Cancer as a Friend: How to Support Someone Who Has Cancer, is available on Amazon.com

Also, check out Facing Cancer as a Parent: Helping Your Children Cope with Your Cancer.

Also, put your memories into words with The Memory Maker’s Journal.

I also blog at Heather Erickson Author/Writer/Speaker