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2023 year in review: caregiver stories
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jennifer and don hutton kept their promise to each other to move to nova scotia, and have since fallen in love with hiking throughout the province.
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it’s very easy for the voice of the caregiver to get lost among the hustle of the healthcare journey, but it’s important to remember the courageous people who take on the responsibility of caring for their loved ones each and every day.
here are some of the memorable caregiver stories in 2023.
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how i care for pancreatic cancer: ‘we cherished the time we were given’
in the fall of 2021, my mom started experiencing stomach issues. her family doctor ordered a ct scan, and after a couple of days, when those results came in, the family doctor called and told my mom to go to the er right away. on our way to the hospital, we read the electronic copy of the ct report, began googling, and very quickly, we knew that this was serious. at the hospital, my mom was diagnosed with stage iv pancreatic cancer. this is pretty typical for pancreatic cancer. there are no signs or symptoms until it’s quite advanced, and in fact, it’s often referred to as “the silent killer.” my mom’s prognosis was grim — she was given three months to live. we met with an oncologist who offered her palliative chemotherapy with the goal of relieving some of the symptoms and extending her life.
“my mom was a single mom, and she did everything for me and my sister,” kim (left) says about her mother (right).
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how i care for dementia: ‘i don’t ever want to be looked at by john as a caregiver, i want him to see me as his partner’
cindy mccaffery provides support to her husband john who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia more than a decade ago, at age 48. over the years, she has come to understand the importance of active living, and its apparent role in slowing down brain disease inspired her to start youquest — a not-for-profit organization that provides a day program to people under the age of 65 who are affected by dementia. in an interview with healthing, mccaffery revealed her biggest challenges, the financial impact of caregiving, and how brain disease has changed her relationship with her husband.
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cindy mccaffery, who cares for her husband john, offers this advice to other caregivers: “don’t be embarrassed to talk about brain health, and to not hide the disease. keep growing, be honest and advocate for your loved one.” getty
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how i care for mef2c: rare genetic disorder means ‘elsie can never be left alone’
julia irwin’s youngest daughter lives with mef2c. in an interview with healthing, she shared how her family navigates life with a rare disease, the biggest challenges they face, and how she and her husband, both of whom have busy careers, are able to balance the needs of their older daughter, ayla. irwin also opened up about why she gets up at 4:45 a.m., who she leans on for support and the strategies she uses when those comparison thoughts begin to creep in.
julia irwin and her daughter elsie, who lives with mef2c. supplied
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how i care for als: ‘we have learned to be better at accepting help from others’
one day in 2021, mary jo struggled to get out of her kayak. then she noticed her foot wasn’t strong enough to press the pedal on a garbage bin to open the lid. later that summer, while at a country market, she slowly collapsed to the floor. “people helped me pick her up and she was fine, but it was not a regular fall; it just looked different to me,” says michael. when other different things kept happening, they decided to see a doctor. multiple tests later, in january 2022, just weeks after her 65th birthday, they received the diagnosis: mary jo had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or als.
michael fairweather says his wife mary jo, who lives with als, keeps her spirits up by watching funny videos or comedy shows.
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how i care for als: a lonely journey through anticipatory grief
dating back to as early as 2011, don had been dealing with sensations in his legs. it started with random bouts of what jennifer describes as a charlie horse. from yearly, to weekly, to daily, the issue became more frequent. by 2012, the symptoms evolved into a consistent tingling in his right leg that eventually moved into more of his body. their first reaction was to look online, which introduced a terrifying possibility – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as als.
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jennifer and don hutton kept their promise to each other to move to nova scotia, and have since fallen in love with hiking throughout the province.
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