Went to my first caregiver support group mtng

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Backstory: I went to a biz networking luncheon today at my cousin's assisted living ctr. Their first one. They expected 20 people and had 55! Of course, I was the only artist. Most of the people were caregivers, hospice workers, Realtors, and investment counselors. The company I use for P's caregiver has a once-a-mo support group and it was tonight. Nothing like short notice.
It's very close to home so I figured, why not? The networking mtng was pretty good (and I hate things like that. Crowds, strangers. I even told P's caregiving mgr that I thought I'd died and gone to hell. She burst out laughing. She is an extrovert and LOVES networking), so maybe the support group would be good.
And it was. I think I liked it better than the Al-Anon mtngs I've been to, because it's specific to caregiving. I introduced myself and told them about P, about my dad in another state, and my son. And then I mentioned that my son is adopted and they all applauded. That was a surprise. Heck, adopting him was purely selfish on my part. Go figure.
The others had some good, workable ideas about teenagers, respite, self-care, etc.
The topic was mostly about anger, which was fine by me.
I won't go into details, since you've all been in the same boat, but suffice to say, that I can easily do this once a month.
Yay!
:likeit:
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Good for you Terry. New outlets and sources of support are always a good thing. YYYIIIPPPEEE!
 

Mom2oddson

Active Member
I'm so gald you found a place to go! I wish I could get my Mom to go to a caregiver's support group. She refuses. She refuses to admit that caring for Grandma is hard. It's like she would be betraying her Mom if she admitted that it was hard work.

Hope the group is able to give you a lot of support. And congratulations on surviving the crowds. From one introvert to the next, crowds are not easy!
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Thank you!
P cancelled her massage appointment 1 hr b4 on Friday, and I not only didn't want her to be charged as a no-show, I felt badly for the therapist (I hate no-shows) ... so I took her place. Lying on the table, enjoying trained fingertips working my tight neck muscles, I remembered what the facilitator at the support group asked me: "What are you doing for yourself?"
Heh. :)
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Good for you. That sounds AWESOME! Did it work? Did it take the stress away? Even temporarily?
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Temporarily.
The problem is, you have to get up off the table, get dressed, pay the bill ... and go back to real life.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Im glad they had this available. When I was taking care of my mom I tried to find an Alzheimers family support group and was thrilled when I found one that was meeting at a local nursing home. I showed up at the appointed time only to find out it was me and the social worker...lol. I went twice more and it was still just the two of us...sigh. She cancelled the group.
 

keista

New Member
Part of the problem with such groups is that it's hard enough to find respite care to make time for yourself. 'Wasting' respite care time to potentially listen to other ppl complain about their problems is not very appealing.
 
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