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GIGO
No, this is not the name of a Ben
Affleck movie best left unremembered. GIGO is
something that a caregiver said in my session at the
Scleroderma Foundation’s annual conference held in
California this past weekend. I am honored to
serve as a member of the board of the South Florida
chapter of the foundation and spoke on caregiving at
last year’s event in Philadelphia, as well.
This year the event was held in Los Angeles,
two days before the ground rumbled. I’ve been watching the
news coverage and am glad to see that there are no major
injuries connected to the quake. In fact, people seemed calm,
cool and collected during their interviews right afterwards.
Having never been through an earthquake, I think I may have been
less collected. Much, much less collected.
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a
chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of
the autoimmune rheumatic diseases. The word “scleroderma” comes
from two Greek words: “sclero” meaning hard, and “derma” meaning
skin. Hardening of the skin is one of the most visible
manifestations of the disease. (For more information,
please visit the Scleroderma Foundation's website:
www.scleroderma.org).
The sense of community and support shared by the scleroderma
caregivers that I have met at these events is phenomenal.
As I started my talk to the packed room, the
session immediately became a highly interactive exchange of
valuable information from caregivers of all ages. The
youngest caregiver in the room was just 16 years old and the
oldest was in her eighties.
When the conversation came around to the fact
that we caregivers need supportive friends to talk with, a lady
in the front row volunteered GIGO. She said that when the
stress would become too much to bear and she needed to “unload,”
she’d call her friend who lives two states away asking her
to offer no advice or support, just be a willing ear to listen
as she “rants”. This is what she refers to as GIGO:
Garbage in --- Garbage Out.
Sometimes silence is the best advice anyone can
offer a family caregiver.
Take care
Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com
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Let's
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Feature
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Adaptive Equipment – A Driving Force |
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By Frances Maguire Paist |
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To those for whom mobility is limited, the
ability to move around freely is a gift whose benefit
can only be truly understood once it has been taken
away. ...Continued
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Keeping Track of Medications Safely |
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By:
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The over 65 population in America purchases
and consumes more medications than any other
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Caregiver Story |
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Tears In My Coffee
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By Micki O
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We reside in a small town in southern Minnesota. My
husband and I have been married 31 years.. ...Continued
(Do you have a story?
Tell us.) |
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Caretips |
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Caring For The Caregiver |
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Being a caregiver is a stressful and
demanding job. There is usually very little, if any
opportunity to prepare for a new caregiving situation...Continued |
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Carenotes |
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Well I'm new on the site but
am older and am experiencing my first caregiving
experience. My husband has had a stroke and that is
that, and I am left to pick up the pieces. Everyone
else has fled and left the premises. Yes they have
been ever so thoughtful with the flowers and cards.
The only thing I can think of is how incredibly rude
I have been through out the years, how many times
all I did was send a card or do nothing after the
initial (stroke, heart attack, MS, Alzheimer's,
dementia, cancer, serious accident, so many things).
I think it would be really good to list the things
that would really matter. I think it was at the 4-6
month mark that things really changed. All of a
sudden I realized that there were no people around
and I was very much alone.
So I would like to make a
list of things that I would have liked to have done
at that point. Maybe it would help someone else know
what to do. I’ve lost what I thought were very good
friends and actually might still be, but they may
not know what to do and have been regulated to the "I
hate them" land. So I’m hoping that with help, we
could come up with a list of true things that
someone could do to help, not just blah blah
support, how about some concrete actions. I know
that I would have appreciated such a list, I often
felt... WHAT CAN I DO?
For instance:
bring a dinner over once a week and eat it with
them
go to the grocery store and buy a week's worth
of lunches
walk their dogs
take their kids
for a day or longer
clean gutters
mow their
lawn
clean their bathroom
etc. etc. etc.
Suggestions would be great!!!!!!!!!
Thanks
Answer This Week's CareNote:
carenotes/2008/index.htm
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