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Evans Food Sensitivity Assessment for Adults
For Caregivers
What Do Want? What Do You Need?
Being a care partner for a loved one with MS can result in a roller coaster of emotions and an ever-changing workload. Well-meaning family and friends are often anxious to provide support along with encouragement for you to take care of yourself. While the research shows that the incidence of illness in care partners is over 50% higher than the average, much of the advice offered by others falls on […]
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Past Successes, Future Hope
PAST SUCCESSES, FUTURE HOPE Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” Mary Anne Radmacher Hope is more than a positive mental attitude. It is based on a belief that, even in the midst of your challenges, there is something brighter or easier ahead. It might be the welcome relief of a holiday, the change in the symptoms of […]
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Caregiving – Reclaiming a Balanced Life
Caregiving - Reclaiming a Balanced Life What Lies Behind Us and What Lies Before Us Are Tiny Matters Compared to What Lies Within Us Oliver Wendell Holmes No one can expend all their energy, strength, and time giving to someone else, especially in the demanding role of caregiver, without replenishing their own reserves. But how do you figure out what you need to do? How do you […]
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Maintaining Intimacy in a Chronic Illness
MAINTAINING INTIMACY IN THE FACE OF CHRONIC ILLNESS When any chronic disease creeps slowly into your marriage, it often robs you of the feeling of being connected to the person you love. There is so much variability from day to day in energy level, emotional stability and ability to be mobile, planning opportunities to connect as a couple is challenging. How do you prevent your relationship from becoming one of caregiver […]
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Compassion Fatigue – Finding Rest From Emotional Exhaustion
FINDING REST FROM EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION COMPASSION FATIGUE is the name given to a collection of behaviours and symptoms that appear when we offer empathy and caring to someone we love for a prolonged period of time without adequate support. Our normal sense of kindness and compassion begins to fade and resentment and overwhelming fatigue begin to grow. Where we would normally step up to support the needs of our care […]
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I Love My Husband But I’m Exhausted
I LOVE MY HUSBAND BUT I’M EXHAUSTED! Are you feeling burned out and exhausted? Do you love many parts of your life yet long for a little time to yourself? Do you love your husband but sometimes feel resentful of the changes his Parkinson’s disease has imposed on your life? Feeling overwhelmed as the caregiver of someone with Parkinson’s disease is common! The diagnosis has altered your plans for […]
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Help! I’m Exhausted!
Help! I’m Exhausted! Are you feeling burned out and exhausted? Do you love many parts of your life yet long for a little time to yourself? Do you love your family member or friend that is ill but sometimes feel resentful of the changes their disease has imposed on your life? Feeling overwhelmed as the caregiver of someone with a serious or chronic illness is common! The diagnosis has altered your […]
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Bad Hair Days! The Healing Power of Laughter
BAD HAIR DAYS! The healing power of laughter Ever had one of those days? The kind of day when your hair isn’t quite right no matter how much gel you use and the shirt you really wanted to wear has a huge stain from breakfast. We all have days like this. Things don’t seem to work out as well as we had planned and it feels as though life is conspiring […]
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Transitions – From Letting Go to New Beginnings
TRANSITIONS – FROM LETTING GO TO NEW BEGINNINGS Being a caregiver of someone with any chronic illness requires resilience and an ability to adjust to ongoing changes. The changes may be large and planned on the long term or they may be adjustments and adaptations to daily situations. William Bridges in his book entitled “Managing Transitions” makes an interesting distinction between a change and a transition. Change is doing something in […]
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Nurturing Buoyancy as a Caregiver
NURTURING BUOYANCY AS A CAREGIVER There are many images and metaphors that could be used to describe the experience of being a caregiver. I love images that that speak to the resilience that I have witnessed in the many caregivers that I know. Buoyancy reminds me of a lovely, multicoloured beach ball that, while it can be pushed under the water temporarily, it actively resists staying there. The following […]
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