31. The evolving carer

ONE DAY AT A TIME
Meditations for Carers
 
31. The evolving carer

Isaiah 58.11

Some professionals refer to the experience of caring as a journey – and it is; it is a journey with your loved one as their illness or disability progresses, and they need more or less care. But it is a journey in which we make progress too.

At first, we have to deal with the diagnosis and the impact it will make on our lives. I hated it when those carers farther on down the line told me confidently, ‘You’ll cope.’ I was so afraid that I wouldn’t. I knew I couldn’t cope with what they were dealing with. But now I realize I have coped – coped with much more than I could ever have imagined.

We adapt. I flailed at first – raged against the illness, how it disrupted my life. I flailed about, trying to care, not knowing how to do this thing called caring. I read every book I could lay my hands on – and despaired...


Taken from One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers by Dorothy M.Stewart