Rich had just completed one of his last check ups with the oncology department.
Let's jump forward to present date.
12/17/17.
On May 6th Rich had a stroke.
I wrote about it afterwards on May 12th.
I kept up with updating things and how I resigned from work 3 days after the stroke to stay home and assist with my husband's recovery.
He is an amazing man.
Cancer was big and scary. And it still hangs over our heads like the Sword of Damocles. Will it come back? Can it come back? Will we fight with it? Well, the answer to the last question is no. The other answers are unknown. Who knows what is in the future for us right?
I am now an unemployed caregiver. That is fine, everyone says how nice it is to be 'retired'. I'm not sure retired is the proper term at all.
Caregiver: A family member or paid help that looks after a sick or disabled child or elderly person.
Retired: Ceasing work. Having finished one's active working life.
I think unemployed caregiver is the proper term. Let's add. Farm help, chore person, house keeper, chief cook, and bottle washer. Appointment maker and so on.
Actually the whole process has been fairly good. Financially things are a bit tight, but all of our years of being frugal has paid off. We owe nothing on our vehicles and the only item left is the remodel loan.
I had felt that I'd be able to return to some sort of work by now. But that isn't happening.
Rich's COPD is not getting better. I don't know if it is related to the stroke or just the insidious disease marching down its timeline of destruction.
I know that sounds gloomy, but I am being pragmatic. It has always been the 'elephant' in the room. There is no cure and the end result is death.
So what is our next Long Road?
Our next long journey will be dealing with the after effects of the stroke, the continuing task of living with COPD and how we end up dealing with our lives until the end.
One thing we are not afraid of to discuss in our little house is death. It is there and it will be the end game for all of us.
So I will continue to write things here regarding how we deal with health issues and the end of life.
Something you should look into....I believe that Medicare/VA benefits will cover the expense of hiring a caregiver and Rich is allowed to hire whoever he wants for that role, which means he can hire you and Medicare should cover it. I am hazy on the details so you should find a Medicare/VA benefit expert to talk with, but it would be worth looking into.
ReplyDeleteI am actually going to go that direction. I'll be contacting ADRC in my area and they will do a lot of the foot work to see what we do or don't qualify for. The VA social worker flat out said no, but I think she was slightly incorrect. Thanks so much.
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