I am not a professional caregiver, just a daughter who helped her parents as they began to slow down and kept helping through strokes, cancer, surgeries, a brain tumor, in home hospice and finally holding their hand as they died.

Caregiving is not for the faint of heart, it is hard and heart breaking, but there is laughter and joy and a sense of doing something profound for someone you love. It is all that and also very isolating. Over the years I searched for a blog written by someone who was going through or had gone through the same things as me, but all I found was companies selling home care or medical sites. I wanted someone who shared that original embarrassment when buying adult diapers, trying to hide them in the cart, to boldly tossing them in the cart like a badass, daring anyone to smirk.

I spent much of my professional life solving problems, using a process called Six Sigma Lean. Basically it is solving problems using statistical analysis, process analysis and logic. When I took over my parents care, I applied those problem solving skills to their care. I’ve been sharing best practices when someone asks me, but why keep the tips and tricks to that small circle who know me or are a few degrees removed. Hence, the idea of my own blog was born.

I want to help where I can, I think some form of helping and caregiving will always be a part of me, but I also need your help. Grieving my Dad, who died in 2018, has hit me harder then I ever imagined. After over ten years of being his full time caregiver, I thought I’d be sad and miss him, but also free to rebuild my life. What I found was that I was paralyzed with grief, my once fearless self was now scared of almost everything. I had my very first panic attack when I signed the paperwork for hospice, anxiety attacks began after he died. I am now strong enough to start my own business, start cleaning out my parents home, write this blog, travel and share with you the ups and downs of this past year and the challenges ahead. I need your help, to hold me accountable to the big and little projects and goals. Help me stay on a solid path as I make this journey back to a life worth living.

Denise