I help her with the laundry, housework, dishes, and stuff like that.
building railing and puting the stairways for her because her balance is not good. She needs safe places to walk.
I follow her medical condition closely. That means keeping track of symptoms (e.g., headaches, agina attacks).
we got a one acre place and i take care of the place
remind about the dosage of his insulin shots
i watch auto racing on tv with her somethng she is fond of we read and discuss the newspaper together
I handle all of the transportation--she doesn't drive.
well, i try to take care of myself, i'm diabetic ande my feet are in pretty bad shape, i struggle along
we go for little walks now and then; He's legally blind and I have to help him to see.
We take her out may be for a ride, to see my brother in Seattle.
signing forms at the hospital and acting in an advisory capacity
we take himm to as long as hismind can adjust we've always been a sport family we take hime to all the duck games. we take him to the lady ducks,footaball, and trakc and field. He doesn't always know where he is but at least he's somewhere else besides wh
i had to translate for him because he has a hard time talking.
i make sure she has depends and she likes to go to church.
anything that is heavy i do for her that she can't handle. sometimes i have to bandage up her body because her skin is very thin. i cut her toenails
I keep her yard and take care of the property on which her mobile home is. I interpret what the doctor says because she's hard of hearing and suffers from dementia.
taking her doctors and making appointments. I meet with people at the extended care place where she is and makes sure everything is ok.
We have an exercise machine that we watch her while she's using it. We go visiting but that's rare and difficult.
We run a small business out of our home, and I have a position in our church that takes up a lot of time, and that's about it.
Like taking her out for walks...just getting her outside is the main thing.
I suppose, emotional support, coordination doctors appointment and oxygen deliveries, coordinating family visits, etc.
Taking her to the doctor--that kind of thing.
I work in her garden with her--kind of makes her happy. If she needs something done, I go do it.
I try to get out golfing once or twice a week.
When he's outside, we have to keep an eye on him, but we like to water plants or weed or do other things so I can keep busy.
Assist her with exercises--physical therapy.
I do all the yard maintainance and house maintainance and things for her.
I make appointments and...listen to him. That's probably it.
if she wants to go to any place i take her to any place she wants to go
I take her to doctors' apppointments, attorney's work with her.
gardening, cooking, vaccuuming [p]she has an electric scooter to run aroudn in the park, so when i go for a walk she's right along with me.
i read to her [p] i write letters for her i make phone calls for her [p] i ingenereal even though they have a cleanin gal i keep her cupboards and drawers neat and clean and straightened out [p] that's about it wait i forgot im sorry i cut her nails
companionship, lets see clarity, uou know i helph er sort things out she gets confused a lot i help her go to the dr., entertainment i buy her cable so she can have tv.
i take her to the doctor i do all of her shopping i take her to al of her dr's appts
often times we end up clipping her fingernails because she'd rather have us do it rather than have the facility do it [p] we adress christmas cards and greeting cards and write letters for her.
I have a neighbor comes in that plays cribbage with him on Tuesdays.
she was an ileostomy patient and we had that to take care of (p) no, that's it.
Looking for clothes, you become an advocate for the person.
Took her places - shopping, outings, dinner. Thats all. She wasn't able to go a lot.
I take Jack to lunch. Coordinate with his friends & haircuts. I arrange or take him to Hendricks Park.

Maybe it curtails us from doing other things, like walking a long ways or taking extensive trips. We do things we like, and if we don't want to do them we stay home, so I don't think it's affected us that way.
The negative effect is it puts a damper on my social life, and I have to plan everything around her. The positive part is I feel happy to be able to care for her without putting her in assisted living, and I'm happy about the time--let's see, how could c
Just been confining, somewhat confining. I don't do some of the things I used to do, but it's okay.
Well we just can't do what we used to do, which is vactions, travel , movies, theater, etc.
the major thing ..the task like cooking... with Diabetes I need to do...it can't wait. that is the major inconvenient.
I know with my parents are gone they will be happy what I have done. The bad things are that my husband and I try to get away for a long week but it's hard. My husband and I have grown closer together as a result of caregiving situation.
it's taken sometime but I am more than happy to give that.
It's kind of nice being able to look after your mother. It's nice to have someone to talk to and her presence.
it hasn't affected at all. I learned alot about caregiving and medical part.
My life has almost stopped of any activity. I don't hunt or fish any more. We don't go any place because of her bladder problems. I made an obligation 52 years ago and I'm going keep that commitment. But caretaking has changed my life very very much. And
Well, one, I don't travel as I would normally.
oh it doesn't bother. i don't think about it i just do it
well i'm 65 and retired, i am kind of stuck and i would like to do something in my later years
i spend more time overseeing things he does but outside of that it just takes more of my time to be with him
its just stopped my business and made me very insecure i dont know what to do anymore
not in too many ways a person feels a little bit worn at times but other than that it hasnt
it uh helps me gain a more realistic perspective on aging obviously my own it helps me understand the memory importance that is to say I recognize many of her memories when she tells stories i just dont remember them the way she does sometimes they get co
i think only that we cant travel as much
Well, I'm tied down, because I can't be left be left alone with her, but my task is simplified because my sister is here with her, but sometimes I have to act as mediator between them. I suppose that's all. It's a total daily living experience. Every d
It's slowed up some of the plans I had. It's a duty I intend to fulfill, since I love her. It's upsetting to watch her slow deterioration. She can barely walk now. I dread what's going to occur in the future, and I worry about my own age and health, a
I don't have the privacy I used to have, and there are things I can't do anymore. I'm limited.
i don't feel free to, feel like someon'es supposed to be here when i'm not, and sometimes that's kind of hard, because everybody works, do you know what i mean? (p) no, I think that's probably about it
hasn't , it's what i've been doing ,i don't know (p) no
The only thing is travelling. We used to love to travel and we can't do that any more.
I feel that I need to explain my whereabouts to her all the time. And I'm not used to that. I sometimes feel guilty if I go someplace with my husband and don't ask her. She doesn't have much of a social life outside of her retirment center.
It takes time but other than that it hasn't affected me that much.
At the time he came to live with me I just retired. I don't do the things I anticipated in retirement. I might have done some volunteer work, whcih I dont do. Don't play as much gold as I'd like to.
i temporarily injured myself trying to lift
just not being able to do the things i wanted to do when i planned to retire
its confined me to home instead of travelling
thers probably a number of things but sometimes when a person cant see very well you have to give them a little more care than other people
i dont have the freedom that i did before to go places
at this point now that we have been able to orchestrate it so its more spread out i realize that it takes so much I wonder how is it going to be when i am at that age
made me impatient and patient on the other hand [p] i;m more tolerant of other people and uh i don't know hat to say im not a very patient lady in the first place.
just tires me [p] no we kinda ehlp eachother see im 87 and hes 93 and were still here on the farm. and the neighbor has cows sometimes they get out and we have to call for help but we can usually do it ourselves getting someone to work in the yard is our
its just put adead end to all the things we used to do like travelling and all those things we worked our way up to wehre w2e could travel and we did travel all over the world. but now he doesn't know where he is and i don't go anywhere w/o him.
hmm well i feel that i can't invite my friends over like i did when i had my own home and things like that and since its not my home my friends are not comfortable
other than youre living some one elses life just kinda busy and tired.
well i am more impatient actually we can do most of things we want to do
it just really has affected to where i was able to go aqua jogging 2 or 3 days week due to my MS. i had been reading to children at the local grammar school the sharp program. it's been a very overwhelming thing.
My blood pressure went out of sight. I have lost--how would you say--I have had to come to grips that I'm not as control of my emotions as I thought. I am not as nice as I thought. I have inappropriate thoughts regarding what she does. And anger sometimes
I'm sure that it is very good for me and I enjoy being with her most of the time; but it does take more time than it should because I have an elderly husband. It helps me to do things for others instead of thinking only of myself.
It's made me much more aware of problems of old age or health problems or problems beyond our control. It's forced me to deal with crises. My Mom had surgery and was hospitalized with an infection and both were life threatening. Lack of rountine--you j
I have rearranged my time so I can spend time with Mom. I have changed from being an daughter to being an advocate for her getting good care, proper medication, proper medical and dental treatment, personal hygiene like beauty, hair care--that kind of thi
In terms of him, I don't think my life is affected.
Well, I realize it could've been either one of us. I could be the sick one and she'd take care of me. That's part of the agreement.
Well, you know, we were both widowed and so we decided to move in together. She had heart surgery and so did I and so we thought it would be good to live together. Had we not done that we thought we'd have others coming in. Sometimes I'd like to go out to
It's affected my life in terms of decision-making and trying to keep up on her status and needs--it's the hardest thing. It just takes mostly more organization on my part.
I think that it probably has made me more sympathetic to senior citizens--it's made me more sympathetic to other senior citizens in the community, like at church.
The anger and resentment covered a lot on the bad days, but on the flip side, organization is a good thing, and I know this person much better. I guess I see myself as stronger, oh, and I'm more aware of my own health than before.
THe only thing it has really affect is it has curtailed travelling and doing things we used to do. That's about all.
Actaully, I have a nicer place to live because we have pooled our resources, and she likes to do the laundry and a lot of the housework, and actually I really enjoy being with her. We've been friends for a lot of years. She had a little trouble when I f
There is added responsibility to make sure things, but they took care of us when we were young, and now it's our turn. And they're not cantankerous. I just need to be there for doctors and kind of provide a little guidance--that kind of thing.
Slowed it down some. I think the wife is improving on her health. She's getting around more and not as afraid of cancer as she used to be
I don't get to go as ofte, like, for weekends or for the week. I can't really go spontaneously.
I'm feeling stressed, overwhelmed, I feel like I'm missing out on things, and don't think I have any quality time for myself. As far as positive, what I see as a positive is I'm glad I'm able to help my mother, but I wish it didn't have such a negative i
Mostly just an added responsibility, and a need to be conscious and a need to check on what's going on. Added appointments.
THe only thing is I went up to the nursing home and physically got sick, and probably it was a bug I picked up, and it worked me over, so to speak.
I think I expressed last time that the caregiving--the way it breaks up my day...let's see if I can put it the right way. It disrupts the continuity of the work I'm doing. I'm self-employed and it's disruptive in that sense. I'm not as productive as I c
It's very difficut to have the grandchildren here. We don't have the room here we need. I don't entertain like I used to. We used to have more people over, but we don't . I find when I can get away, I don't want to come back home.
It's limited us to being here all the time. We can't travel any more or visit for any length of time. Even when we travel, we have specific times we can visit. I have to do all the physical work like mowing lawns and trimming bushes too.
well it has cut down my social life a great deal i used to golf. i tend to do things on my own less often
i dont believe it has effected any other way
Well, time. Laying out pills. Looking for his wallet, cain, shoes. He loses everything. Leaving the refrigirator door open. I find myself without anytime for myself.
i don;t i feel like im always behind on my own stuff [p]if youre realy realy tired and you sit there and do one more thing.
It does take a considerable amount of planning. I have to consider her in any of my decisions about what I am going to do with my time. I am usually relying on other family members. Because we're such a distance out of town--from other family members. Tha
It makes us appreciate what growing older is all about and had deepened my relationship with her. We've been able to teach care givers a different perspective about the dignity of risk--yeah, she's going fall down once in awhile, for example.
its been a contribution for me to hjave the privelege to be able to support my mother its prepared me for my own aging [p] its been a gift really [p] yeah
really difficult to watch somebody that has been your mentor in your life to have arole reversal she's like my mother because she helped my father raise me and its really hard when shes mean and angrey at me and thats because of her demential.
i can't go off and wander and be gone for long distances and long periods of time [p] thats the only um thing i could think of hwere the caregiving of martha has afected my day to day living b4 i became responsible for her. i'm on a short leash.
monoculated it [p] i moved from ptld sold the house camd down to cottage grove had only church i had to give up my garden i was an avid gardener. im essentially destitute now because of his illness.
actually none, the only thing we can get out and drive
The fact that I don't have the freedom of movement I've had previously. I have always enjoyed going with friends on adventure. So my life is tight circle except on the days i have for the four hours or two hours when I spend time with friends. Somehow hel
well, it made me feel helpless that i couldn't do more, to relieve her of her pain (p) i think that's probably the most important, we finally put her on morphine and that was bad.
It tied me down a little bit but it's OK. I do it for her.
I just feel like it's something you have to do. It's part of life. You take care of your parents. They took care of you.
It certainly makes you appreciate the smaller things in life and those moments of lucidity. Its a long drawn out grieving process and you learn that it is the disease and not the person. Its very hard for me to see him at this point. The traits that ma
We are lucky to have close friends. I couldn't volunteer as much. I love my husband very much & he was very easy to take care of. It was a pleasant experience we had hospice here. He couldn't talk but he could shake his head yes&no until 6 mins befor
I thought it was one of the most pleasurable things I've ever done.
Its helped us to see how fragile life is. Enjoy the time I spend with Jack. Its made me organize my time. I've learned to ask for help.

They changed doctors because they were unsatisfied with his wife's care. They are very happy with the new doctor. The answers to the medical questions refer to the new doctor rather than the old one.
no..... I have attended the class for caregiver through the Sacred Heart. That was very helpful.
No, I guess not. You know you ask about our doctors. We go to that Barger Clinic out in Eugene. And they're the best thing that happened to us. That Barger Clinic is absolutely special. Dr. Stock is wonderful and his whole team is special. I couldn't ask
i think youve pretty well covered everything
well umm lets see i feel very strongly about the importance of family care giving it is the right thing to do that does not mean it does not cost me- it does- there is nobody better prepared to care for her than her family
In October of 2001, we took her to the doctor. She was suffering from upper abdominal pain and vomiting. Now I will say at the time we took her to the doctor, there was no pain, but the doctor because of her Alzheimer's--she recommended that she take 10
"My mother will be 104 on Haloween, and I've been caring for her since the first of December. It's goes along with the questions that you've answered before, and there's a loss of privacy and individuality that goes with that, and there are members of th
nope, might be different the next time you call
No, except that we've been married for 66 years.
i dont believe so I'm investigating support groups
i only that uh i believe that there are some doctors at the florence office that are overworked and over stressed they really need some help they dont take the time that they used to
let me think a second no i dont think so you might add as far as we know we havent had any problems with the doctors at the hospital
only that since it is peacehealth that is doing the interview i have had connections with doctors who were not involved with peacehealth and i feel blessed that we are using peacehealth they seem to have a better grasp when it comes to seniors
were both just tryin to get by. i won't leave him alone and he wont leave me alone except when i go get the mail he sits in the car with the dog when i go get groceries but with this hot weather we're not going anywhere. everyone at the doctors office is
no i think youcertainly cover everything and its a good thing that you do it. I'm really very very happy with our dr. we've had him for 4 years now and he's the kindest young dr i've had the pleasure of being around.
youre not yourself any more your whole life revolves around some one else. the dr's for the seniors are doing a good job as far as trying to kee p the seniors as comfortable as possible in their later years as long as they are not emotionally out of line
i done a survey for lona contreras and i wanted to know what the situation was.
The doctors in the beginning--all of those questions I would've disagreed with but since we've changed doctors the situation is better.
Caregiving is something that takes a special person to do. As hard as I try I hope I'm doing a good job. But I'd never choose to do this. It's really a complicated thing.
My only complaint is about doctors's scheduling and emergency room situations. We go into the emergency room with one broken thumb at 9 in the evening and she didn't get treated until three and she was in pain. And at 94, I think that is a terrible sin.
My husband also has his mother in assisted living so we have two caregiving roles in our HH. In some ways, I feel like I can't be of much help to him and his mother because I'm taking care of my mother. But it certainly helps him to relate to my dilemmas
Well, I just think that anyone that's taking care of another person feels a lot of responsibility. They need help. So if anyone else is available to help, they should have a day or two off. Or even a few hours just to go and relax somewhere.
Well, in regards to the questionnaire, in the doctor's section, I would recommend qualitative questions as well as quantitative, or change the categories to degrees of satisfaction, one to ten, instead of the system you're using now.
Valley West Nursing Home did not provide proper care for her diabetes and they didn't communicate well with him about her condition.
Just that I feel like her doctor has been very supportive (Dr. Roberts) We've had him for about 9 months. Before, there was another doctor who kept saying she had congestive heart failure and we just knew that was not the case, so we had Dr. Roberts, hi
The pharmacist could do better getting her medication to her in a timely manner.
no i think the questions are ridiculous for a person of my age
No, I haven't cut back on my work schedule but did at one point and almost had to quit my job because it was impossible to work and care for him at the same time. They now let me bring him to work so I didn't have to resign.
i feel that yes i feel the questionaire that yore using shld be geared differently toward speople who have loved ones in my mothers situation a lot of them do not apply to my state right now so i feel ive colored the survey wrongly because i don't know ho
the dr that she is seeing now doesnt take into accoutn that what he talks about when i was there last week; i gave him a letter from his caregiver and he read it out loud in front of her and it was only meant for him to read; he wants to include her in al
i feel that uh lack of coordination at the drs office was related to his early death personalities i got absolutely no cooperation i was turned down for hospice i finally demanded hospice for the last 6 days when he was dying, and he had two visits his pc
Since the end of November, I'm working back into a schedule of do my normal social activities just because Lyman is in a care center, though you're not physically involved you are emotionally involved. If you're with someone for 40 years and their whole

Doesn't really consider herself a caregiver. Her spouse doesn't need a lot of help at anything.
R had mentioned that she was divorced from care- receiver, but she sd. she was not related to him.
Husband and wife claim they take care of each other equally. Laura the R's wife was on the phone the whole time.
R's care receiver currently lives in assisted living, she has alzeimers,she will be moving in with R this fall.
R disagreed that she had trust in the staff at the doctors office because of one incident in which a "girly" (i suspect a nurse) pricked Martha's finger five times to test for diabetes and after doing so the test was inconclusive so she had to have a "rea
R took care of her husband. He died on July 10 (just 12 days ago). I told her we were sorry for that and asked her if she could give an interview. She agreed to do it. She was very cooperative.
R said to feel free to call her at work anytime.