Dear one,
I, too, was a caregiver for eight years until my significant other died. The man I took care of was charming, manipulative, extremely ill needing a liver transplant, and regularly devalued me only to try to make it up later. I loved him dearly but his cyclical poor treatment of me was terrifying at times and other times just degrading while it was I who worked days and cared for him at night. Please, please find the Well Spouse website for caregivers WHO ARE SPOUSES, because it is much harder to care for one's spouse or significant other for a whole lot of reasons. Take a good, long look at the rights for caregivers, and look at them OFTEN. Those people who would criticize you for standing up for yourself no doubt could not do what you are doing every day. They need to shut their mouth or start doing the heavy lifting. You have EVERY RIGHT for respite care, even if (and especially if!) he tries to ruin or derail it. Caregivers' lives matter too.
Comment Reply
Dear one,
April 14, 2017 - 8:45pmI, too, was a caregiver for eight years until my significant other died. The man I took care of was charming, manipulative, extremely ill needing a liver transplant, and regularly devalued me only to try to make it up later. I loved him dearly but his cyclical poor treatment of me was terrifying at times and other times just degrading while it was I who worked days and cared for him at night. Please, please find the Well Spouse website for caregivers WHO ARE SPOUSES, because it is much harder to care for one's spouse or significant other for a whole lot of reasons. Take a good, long look at the rights for caregivers, and look at them OFTEN. Those people who would criticize you for standing up for yourself no doubt could not do what you are doing every day. They need to shut their mouth or start doing the heavy lifting. You have EVERY RIGHT for respite care, even if (and especially if!) he tries to ruin or derail it. Caregivers' lives matter too.
This Comment
Reply