Caregiving: economic problems = bad news for pets

“People will come overnight or during closed hours and tie them (pets) up outside in hopes we'll find them the next day or they'll abandoned them on a nearby road." 

 

The East Shore Humane Society of Harrisburg, PA is seeing first hand the trickle down impact of the healthcare crises and mortgage meltdown. No government economists, politicians, or talking heads are needed to translate.

 

“Bankruptcy to unexpected medical issues, force families to make that tough decision,” claims Kelly Hitz.

 

During my spouse caregiver time with Patti last night we watched CBS 21 WHP evening news and learned that with 200 dogs and 200 cats, the East Shore Humane Society is operating at full capacity. Many of the animals are there by owner surrender.

 

A Google search revealed this is not an isolated problem to Harrisburg.

 

As families are fighting to stay ahead of the healthcare crises and mortgage meltdown, family pets are at risk of loosing ‘their homes’.

 

Dr. Shawn Crawford, a veterinarian in Camp Hill raised concerns over owners skipping vaccinations and other preventative care when money is tight. -- especially when it comes to once rampant diseases like parvo and lime disease.

 

Sometimes looking at what may seem abstract problems to many such as a healthcare crises or a mortgage crises from a different or unique perspective can help to understand the need for urgency in caregiving as a society before it is people skipping vaccines and people being abandoned.

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer 

website: www.CaregivinglyYours.com

videos: http://www.youtube.com/daddyleer

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: spouse caregiver, caregiving, East Shore Humane Society, CBS 21 WHP, mortgage meltdown, healthcare crises, abandoned pets

Caregiving: Health Care Proposals Presidential Candidates

Pennsylvania is a “purple state” claims the television talking head. This he explains is in contrast to the traditional and dependable red and blue states on the political map. All I can envision are Barney herds frolicking across the State.

 

Pennsylvania has been invaded by politicians, media, pollsters, pundits and a cast of thousands. 

 

While the Democratic Party appears to be racing toward a political reenactment of Gettysburg, I wonder about healthcare reform.

 

Yes, as a spouse caregiver and parent my priorities are possibily different. Affordable health care? Long term care? Chronic Disease Management (Multiple Sclerosis)? Caregiving? What about healthcare reform? 

Over the last week I have spent too much time trying to actually read candidate positions on healthcare. In my opinion the candidates with the best proposals AND most experience with both success and failure trying to implement change in health care actually have left the field: Tommy Thompson (Republican), US Secretary of Health and Human Services & Wisconsin Governor; and Tom Vilsack (Democrat), Iowa Governor.

 

Googling around I found the most interesting and convenient tool. Created by the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation, health08.org easily allows you to sit, click and compare the remaining candidates’ health care positions and proposals, without having to sift through all the mudslinging.

 

Just click on the picture below to launch  health08.org.

                           

Will I endorse a candidate? With one Republican, one Independent, and one Democrat in this household we believe strongly in “choice”! <grin>

 

I would encourage everyone to actually read this easy to use overview of your remaining choices for healthcare reform. Discover who is actually talking about what makes sense to you and yours.

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

website: www.CaregivinglyYours.com

videos: http://www.youtube.com/daddyleer

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: spouse caregiver, Multiple Sclerosis, long term care, caregiving, Pennsylvania Primary, health08.org, Caregivingly Yours, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama

Spouse Caregiver: Is it 'The Vow' or 'To Care'?

 

Washington Post writer Liza Mundy’s 7,500 word feature (novella?)

                       “The Vow”

(In 35 words or less <grin>) The story of Dave Kendall a spouse caregiver of 7 years and Diane diagnosed with Huntington’s disease is blended with caregiving information from the Well Spouse Association, a medical ethicist, and even a disability attorney.

 

I empathize and thank the Kendall’s for sharing their story.

 

Some points I want to asterisk … Why? Because “everyone will one day know or love someone who can no longer take care of themselves,”  Maggie Strong. And it is important to remember there are no cookie cutter answers for caregiving, each story will be different.

 

Marital Vows ***

 

“When Dave Kendall promised to love Diana 'in sickness and in health,' he meant it …”

 

*   When Patti and I were married 22 years ago, promises of ‘in sickness and in health’ WERE NOT part of our wedding vows.

 

*   Yet here I am a spouse caregiver 18 years after Multiple Sclerosis left Patti dependent.

 

I sometimes wonder if “marital vows” could become a rhetorical ‘straw man’. Shouldn’t the focus be CARE not promises?

 

Every family situation is unique ***

 

*   The Kendall’s were married for 20 healthy years and raised their child to adulthood before Huntington's disease changed their world.

 

*   Patti and I were married only 4 years before Multiple Sclerosis left Patti dependent and me to juggle both life as a spouse caregiver and single parent to our then 18 month daughter. We have known a caregiving relationship almost 5X longer than as a well couple.

 

*   What about parent caregivers of special needs children? Here is caring that will not only change families every day for the rest of their lives but transcend life times.

 

I have found that spouse caregiving is about a stoic indifference to your own existence. Not about what ‘you’ had in mind for ‘your’ life.

 

Health is not guaranteed. Yet how many families live on the fragile assumption of health?

 

Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood

Teach us to care and not to care

Ash Wednesday, T. S. Eliot

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

website: www.CaregivinglyYours.com

videos: http://www.youtube.com/daddyleer

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: spouse caregiver, caregiving, The Vow, Liza Mundy, Washington Post, Dave Kendall, Diana Kendall, Huntington's disease, Well Spouse Association, Multiple Sclerosis

Caregiving: A DAY IN THE LIFE / MS Awareness Spouse Caregiver

A DAY IN THE LIFE - March is MS Awareness Month

 

50+ degrees and sunny is one thing when you are a walking person. It is quite another when Multiple Sclerosis has left you unable to walk. 

 

Fortunately there is Home Depot!!! Scootering through a store the size of a city block with both indoor and an outdoor garden section is ideal. With aisles big enough for their fork lifts, they are perfect for Patti’s visual impairment. Plus Home Depot has cool scooters with beeping sounds in reverse and happening orange lights. <grin>

 

In another part of town, MS Awareness ‘must’ be working …

 

Mechanicsburg woman stole multiple sclerosis money, police say

 

“A video camera caught a Mechanicsburg woman stealing money intended for charity last week, according to Silver Spring Township police.

 

The money was part of a fund raiser Giant Foods was conducting for multiple sclerosis”

 

After dinner I was reading Patti stories from the local paper and then a headline from the “MS Connection” entitled “What Will You Do? Join the movement during MS Awareness Week” … Patti interrupted, “Who the hell cares, I don’t even like ABC!” “I just want to go to bed.”

 

Personally I do not have the foggiest idea how ABC is associated with the headline but with fatigue Patti’s Multiple Sclerosis symptoms of cognitive impairment accelerate.

 

A little creative use of available resources can empower though transferring does take brute strength. ... Theft of charity may be a better indicator of economic times than government economists. ... Time whether preparing and serving a meal or just reading to someone who cannot is caring. ... Fatigue is the trump card.

 

All in all a couple hours in a day in the life of MS Awareness and spouse caregiving.

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, MS Awareness, caregiving, spouse caregiver, carer, Home Depot

(the new) New York Governor David Paterson

From today’s press conference in response to a reporter’s question on becoming the state’s first black governor and its first legally blind one: 

 

“In some ways I feel that I’m sitting on a sand castle that other people built … if it in any way allows for African-Americans or those who are disabled – 71 percent of the blind are unemployed, 90 percent of deaf people in this country are unemployed. Maybe one of them could figure out a cure for cancer, but we can’t get them into the workplace. The educational proficiency of the disabled surpasses the national education average, and yet we have these horrible unemployment rates in those communities. So to whatever extent my presence impresses upon employers, or impresses upon younger people who are like me in either way … – then I would feel very privileged, very proud and very flattered to be in this position.”

 

(the new) New York Governor David Paterson

 

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: Governor David Paterson, legally blind, disability

Caregiving: ENERGY VAMPIRES

Just when I thought I had completely inventoried my closet of anxieties, I discover … ENERGY VAMPIRES! 

 

Unlike their blood sucking cousins with bad Romanian accents, these ‘energy vampires’ feed on CARE. They are not exclusive to spouse caregivers or caregiving, BEWARE!       

 

“Energy Vampires are not to be confused with the vast majority of people who simply need help, support, direction and care...

 

No, the people I'm talking about here are relentless in their negativity and their 'woe-is-me'ness”

 

It's great to be a giver, a carer and a feeler (sometimes), but now and then we need to take a stand with certain people.. because if we don't, we begin to suffer and then nobody wins.”

DEALING WITH ENERGY VAMPIRES by Craig Harper

 

“Some people bring unexpected lightness and comfort to your life. They crackle with energy, practically electrify you with their presence. And then there are those who leave you feeling stressed out. Or guilty. Or exhausted down to your very last molecule.

 

I call them energy vampires …”

WATCH OUT FOR ENERGY VAMPIRES By Dr. Judith Orloff

 

While certainly the above writers are insightful, I am not so sure about psychobabble as a vampire deterrent. “Gee, Count Dracula you sound conflicted.” ??

 

The ‘old ways’ have a certain appeal to me. If pulling out garlic, holy water, and a cross has not given the annoying, energy-sucking, woe-is-me person a hint, I suspect the wooden “woe-is-you” stake should do the trick. <grin>

 

Or … discussing the topic with Patti last night (well actually twice since Multiple Sclerosis short term memory problems necessitated a replay <grin>), Patti proposed ...

“just tell them to get the f*ck over it!” 

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: energy vampires, spouse caregiver, caregiving, Multiple Sclerosis, Craig Harper, Dr. Judith Orloff

Multiple Sclerosis in FILMS / MS Awareness Month

MS & FILMS -- March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month 

ICH KLAGE AN (1941) A doctor's wife with Multiple Sclerosis urges her husband to kill her rather than let her suffer. At his trial he accuses the state of not helping the disabled die. This film was released in the final year of Hitler’s Aktion T4  which killed a quarter million children and adults with mental or physical disabilities.

DUET FOR ONE (1986) “Stephanie Anderson, a famous and talented violinist, finds her whole world turned upside down when she learns she has Multiple Sclerosis. With her career at an end, and her frightened husband ready to take flight, Stephanie struggles to find a way to accept her fate and find some happiness in what remains of her life.” Rotten Tomatoes

GO NOW (1995) “Move over, disease-of-the-weak pics, here comes "Go Now," a genre-busting an-them to life, love and friendship … A big-hearted, lively dramedy centered on an average guy's struggle to cope with the onset of Multiple Sclerosis … pic completely redefines the parameters of stories centered on a debilitating disease. “ Variety

EDEN (1997) "Helen, has Multiple Sclerosis …The year is 1965 … astral projections are contrasted to her daily experiences living with the uncertainties of MS. This film is an interesting treatment of disability, body image, and spirit. Eden is a film where MS is used to help us explore mind, body, spirit, and who we are.”  Gary Kiger, Utah State University, Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 16 No. 3

HILARY AND JACKIE (1998) “Much of the film "Hilary and Jackie" explores the authenticity of the MS experience and of identity. The life of Jacqueline du Pré had many tragic elements - the degeneration of her body confronted her continually with the loss of the powerful person she saw herself as being. … She was not a victim - but a pro-active agent battling her impairments.” Helen Meekosha, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Australia

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, MS Awareness, caregiving, spouse caregiver, carer, Ich Klage an, Aktion T4, Duet For One, Go Now, Eden, Hilary and Jackie

Caregiving: MS BLOGGERS / MS Awareness Month

MS BLOGGERS --- March is MS Awareness Month

 

Lisa, of Blogger journal Brass and Ivory, has assembled an extraordinary project --

MS Awareness, Blogging Friends, and a Little Link of Love

 

A listing of “at least 137 MS Bloggers out there actively discussing whatever suits their fancy.”

 

She has even taken the extraordinary effort to break them down by how prolifically they post. Thank God, “Caregivingly Yours” ranks ‘moderately’. Personally I always fret over screen time. <grin>

 

 redefines awareness.

 

Since Thanksgiving Morning 1989 when MS abruptly left Patti dependent on others, I have learned as a spouse caregiver that Multiple Sclerosis awareness is as much personal story telling as it is facts.

 

'Cause love's such an old fashioned word

And love dares you to care for

The people on the edge of the night

 And love dares you to change our way of

Caring about ourselves

This is ourselves … Under pressure

(Freddie Mercury and David Bowie)

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, MS Awareness, caregiving, spouse caregiver, carer, Brass and Ivory, Caregivngly Yours, Carnival of MS Bloggers

Caregiving: MS: A SHORT HISTORY / MS Awareness Month

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month --- MS: A SHORT HISTORY

 

Allow me to introduce the "the Napoleon of the neuroses," Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–93), the first person to recognize and label sclerose en plaques as a distinct, separate disease. 

 

In 1878, Charcot identified MS as dysarthria (problems with speech), ataxia (problems with coordination), and tremor. Charcot also observed cognition changes in MS since he described his patients as having a "marked enfeeblement of the memory" and "with conceptions that formed slowly".

 

His pupil, Dr. Sigmund Freud would detour Multiple Sclerosis treatment (called “creeping paralysis” in those days) as a mental condition caused by “female hysteria.” … Ahhhh! Sigmund you were such a bubba! …  

 

Historical records and ‘journals’ provide even earlier accounts of people who probably had MS, Saint Lidwina (1380–1433) and Augustus Frederick d'Este (1794–1848), a grandson of King George III of Great Britain.

 

Back to the 20th Century … in spite of growing medical knowledge, little or no coordinated research was conducted into the mysteries of MS until relatively recent times.

 

The catalyst was an ordinary citizen who single-handedly launched an international war on MS.

Sylvia Lawry (1915–2001), whose brother Bernard was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, placed a classified advertisement in The New York Times in 1945,

"Multiple Sclerosis: Will anyone recovered from it please communicate with patient."

50 replies reported no recoveries only others seeking hope themselves.

 

Within a year, she had managed to enroll more than 20 scientists to found the world’s first ever MS organization, the Association for Advancement of Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

 

MS eventually claimed her brother’s life, yet Sylvia Lawry never slowed her war. Approximately 75 National MS Societies worldwide and the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) would evolve from Sylvia Lawry’s original organization.

 

With increasing MS awareness and fundraising the late 20th Century exploded with research and hope.

 

1993 hailed the first MS medication, Betaseron®, to reduce the severity and frequency of attacks for specific types and levels of Multiple Sclerosis.

 

MS Awareness is people; patients, friends, family, spouse caregivers, and caregivers … ordinary people driven by caring to attempt the extraordinary.

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

 

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, MS Awareness, caregiving, spouse caregiving, Jean-Martin Charcot, sclerose en plaques, Sylvia Lawry, MSIF, Betaseron

Caregiving: MS ARTISTS / MS Awareness Month

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month --- MS ARTISTS

 

Through my 19 years as a spouse caregiver I find myself humbled by the soul of those living with disability. A gifted wordsmith once labled it a unicorn in a cage.

 

Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) recently conducted its first-ever art contest to find paintings and drawings from artists who live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

 

One artist featured in their Winter 2008 MSAA “The Motivator” magazine is Sister Kathy Cairone.

 

                        

 

With a little help from family and friends, dreams can be enabled.

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

 

Tags: spouse caregiver, Multiple Sclerosis, MS, MSAA, MS Art Contest, Sister Kathy Cairone, MS Awareness Month, caregiving, carer

Caregiving: in search of plastic dashboard Jesus

One of my warm and fuzzy memories of childhood is riding in our family car with plastic Jesus on the dashboard.

 

In 1955, Father Gregory Bezy, founded the Sacred Heart Auto League after he lost his niece and nephew in a car accident. His intention was to encourage Catholics to drive mindfully and prayerfully

 

A small statue of Jesus was designed with a magnet in the base since vehicle dashboards at that time were made of metal. The statues were mailed to millions of people in an effort to get them to join the “apostolate of prayerful, careful, and reparative driving”. Excess contributions were used to support Sacred Heart missions in Mississippi.

 

Plastic dashboard Jesus rode on auto dashboards across the U.S. through the 50’s and 60’s. In 1967, Paul Newman sang a variant of the folk song “Plastic Jesus” in the movie ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and enshrined plastic dashboard Jesus in pop culture.

 

“I don't care if it rains or freezes

Long as I got my Plastic Jesus

Riding on the dashboard of my car.”

 

In the late 60’s the Auto League’s symbol was changed to a Sacred Heart Dashboard Medal.

 

Now in the 21st Century perhaps motivated by nostalgia or perhaps by caring, I wanted one! As a spouse caregiver and a parent of a soon to be 20 year old, “driving” is a major part of any day. Encouragement to drive “mindfully, carefully and prayerfully” cannot hurt.

 

Google searching quickly found two modern alternatives …

 

“Dashboard Jesus” $4.50 (+3.92 shipping) plastic Jesus figure sits atop a metal spring with an adhesive base.

 

“Buddy Christ” Dashboard Statue $14.95 (+7.45 shipping). Fans of Kevin Smith movies will recognize “Buddy Christ” from his movie ‘Dogma’.

 

NOT so easy to find …  however, my quest was finally successful!!!

 

  Sacred Heart Auto League Commemorative Statue of the original 4.5” plastic dashboard Jesus (from the 1950's- 60's) for a suggested donation of $10. (NO shipping charges) Revenue supports the Sacred Heart Southern Missions.

 

“Despite technological advances, there is still significant loss of life from car accidents: About 40,000 people die every year in the United States.  …  The death toll is expected to nearly double by 2020. A much higher number of accidents result in injury or permanent disability.” Wikipedia

 

“Despite technological advances …”??? Well, then maybe a reminder to pray when turning that ignition key is not such a nostalgic idea? <grin>

 

 

Caregivingly Yours, J Patrick Leer

www.CaregivinglyYours.com

non-caregiver musings:  www.lairofcachalot.blogspot.com

Tags: caregiving, spouse caregiver, carer, disability, Catholic, plastic Jesus, plastic dashboard Jesus, Father Gregory Bezy, Sacred Heart Auto League, Cool Hand Luke, dashboard Jesus, buddy Jesus, Sacred Heart Auto League Commemorative Statue