My personal experience as a caregiver includes my wife Helen, who broke her ankle in 2015 and was in a wheelchair until August 2016. On top of that, she than developed breast cancer and is still recovering. I was her only caregiver with the exception of her mother’s visits. I did all of the cooking and cleaning along with running my business of which she was the office manager.
The hardest part of caregiving is when a loved one is hurt and you feel their pain and do everything in your power to make their life easier with loving care. Your lifestyle changes to a point of almost nonexistent. You will be required to take numerous trips to different doctors or therapists, many times during working hours. The biggest lesson learned is how inconsequential your ego becomes. And even though my business definitely suffered, too bad. My job was to make my wife comfortable and be loved, along with spending as much quality time possible.
This experience along with my interest in aging in place, my home contracting company Inprosfl.Inc. is dedicated to helping families have the best environment to live as they age. My first experience to help stranded families was repairing 62 homes after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992. In the area of aging adults who want to stay in their home, I went through the vigorous training program to be part of the National Association of Homebuilders Certified Aging-in-Place (CAPS) designation.
Brock
Florida