caring for aging parents

The Goyers: Opting for Multigenerational Living

Posted on 07/18/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsI’ve had a strange obsession with watching The Waltons the past few months. I find myself DVRing every episode on three different channels. I watch 4 episodes a day. For some reason, I’ve been oddly attracted to their TV-land multigenerational family living and the connection to my childhood (when The Waltons was in its prime.) Now I know why. In the beginning of September my parents and I will be moving in together, forming our own version of 21st century …

Heat in Triple Digits? Keep Caregiver Cool

Posted on 06/28/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Personal HealthAs I write this post, the thermometer on our back porch here in Phoenix hits a sizzling 110 degrees. But it’s a dry heat, you say?! Indeed. Nevertheless, I just fried my toes walking to the mailbox and I think the cactus in my yard is about to pull up roots and head for a dunk in the pool! I shudder to think what it’s like in humid areas of the country as temps rise. No doubt about it: it’s oppressive. …

Caregiver Respite: 5 Ways to Make It Last

Posted on 05/1/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Relationships | Your LifeThe magic number for the trip was “5.” Five days of the sound of ocean. Five days of reading magazines. Five days of eating scrumptious seafood in lovely beachside restaurants. Five days of chatting non-stop with my dear friend of 45 years, Laurette. It took me five days of this nirvana to finally wake up in the morning without a panicky feeling, “What didn’t I do? What do I need to get done today? What have I forgotten? What ends …

A Caregiver’s Hospital Survival Kit: 20 Must-Have Items

Posted on 04/17/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Personal HealthIn the past year, I’ve spent close to 40 overnights in the hospital with my parents, plus roughly 10 emergency room visits with them. I dislike going to hospitals … a lot. I think I’ve developed some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder around hospital visits. I find that I am great in the moment and deal with crises easily, but afterwards I am exhausted and when the time comes to venture off to the hospital again I tense up, feel a sense of …

A Caregiver ‘Can Do’ Attitude

Posted on 04/10/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsDressed in his pajamas and clean white T-shirt, he walks into the room, intensely focused and looking around for something. I’m lying on the sofa-bed in his study/guest room, reading a book before going to sleep. I’m not sure if he sees me, his vision so compromised by Glaucoma, or if he is just so focused on the object he is in search of that he doesn’t zero in on me. “What are you looking for, Daddy?” I ask. A …

4 Tough Decisions I’ve Made as a Caregiver

Posted on 03/27/2012 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | RelationshipsAs a caregiver, I make a hundred decisions on my parents’ behalf every week. Whenever possible, I make decisions with my parents – but many times I am forced to make decisions for them. Some are easier than others. Sometimes I take it in stride…other days the stress piles up and an implosion is inevitable. Some decisions are made quickly in the spur of the moment – like deciding whether to take time to stop and take a walk with Dad and Jackson, …