By Faith Unger, M.Ed.
CaregiverU Program Director
What happens to the caregiver role when the care recipient has a serious illness? Well, for starters there are a myriad of decisions to make, starting with the decision to take the person to an emergency room at the medical center, and that’s quickly followed up by making the decision on which medical center. Should proximity be the deciding factor or should it be familiarity? Familiarity usually also means where there is an established patient record. These decisions need to be made quickly under great stress. Then once the person is at a medical facility, there are many testing options and care options. All will be up to you, the caregiver.
When the care receiver is admitted to the hospital, the caregiver becomes communicator and advocate in chief. The caregiver is the person who knows the care receiver best—the strengths, the weaknesses, and what works best. I recently experienced this situation, and one of my weaknesses was that I did not know much about the medical community and the processes and procedures therein. I learned much from my experience and now want to help you learn those things so that perhaps you will have a smaller learning curve when you have the same situation. Continue reading