The Practical Caregiver's Guide to Rock Star Caregiving: How to Help Someone Who Is Seriously Ill: The Practical Caregiver, #3

By Sara M. Barton

What do rock stars and seriously ill people have in common? They need good managers to help them cope with the challenges of their often chaotic and stressful lives.

How do you become a rock star caregiver? You provide comfort, compassion, and companionship to someone whose life is fraught with overwhelming physical obstacles and challenges. As more and more patients live with illnesses that were once considered terminal and seek to find the "new normal", it's important to understand the impact of being seriously ill on the psyche. This short guide by the author of "The Practical Caregiver's Essential Guide" and "The Practical Caregiver's Guide to Home Hospice Care" can help you insure quality of life in practical ways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Barton
• Release date: Mar 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386710769

Sara M. Barton

Sara M. Barton is the author of several popular cozy mystery series that often feature humor, romance, and pets, but no ghosts, witches, or psychics (It’s not that she thinks these are bad books; it’s that she’s more of a traditionalist when it comes to cozies.) She’s the author of a new historical mystery called The Pantomime Double-Cross, with a heroine who has lived a secret life for forty-five years, unbeknownst to family and friends. Under the pen name of S. M. Barton, she’s written several espionage thrillers, including The Mirrors: A Moscow Joe Cyberspy Thriller. Once she wraps up the final chapter of her old life, Sara’s slated to begin her new life and tackle her overdue bucket list. When she’s not writing, she loves to get outside and enjoy nature, especially after hip replacement: “If my new hip were a man, I would marry him in a heartbeat for all the right reasons. He’s good to me, takes me wherever I want to go, and he’s fun to be around. Perfect qualities in a mate.” Happy Reading! The Practical Caregiver Guides website: https://practicalcaregiverguides.org Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sarabartonmysteries/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bartonmysteries Cozy Mystery Series: The Scarlet Wilson Mysteries revolve around innkeeper Scarlet Wilson and her knack for stumbling into murder most foul. The eight-book series is laced with humor and romance. The Cornwall & Company Mysteries chronicle “Marigold Flowers” and her life on the run as she escapes from ruthless contract killers with the help of Jefferson Cornwall.

Book preview

The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Rock Star Caregiving: How to Help Someone Who Is Seriously Ill

By Sara M. Barton

Book Information

Draft 2 Digital Edition

Copyright 2018 Sara M. Barton

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever, without the express written permission of the publisher, Sara M. Barton, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Introduction: The Rock Star Caregiver Experience

What do rock stars and seriously ill people have in common? They need good managers to help them survive their sometimes chaotic lives.

To be a rock star, you have to know something about music. To be a caregiver, you have to know something about care. To be a rock star caregiver, you have to go deep into the soul and bring out the music there, by making life as copacetic as possible for someone with serious health needs.

Every rock star has to do two things on a regular basis. You have to practice your music and you have to perform it. The more you practice, the better you perform. The more you perform, the better the music sounds.

Every rock star caregiver goes above and beyond all that. You have to practice your caregiving skills and you have to improve on them, especially as your loved one struggles with escalating challenges. The more you practice, the better your care. The more you care, the better the care you provide.

If you’re caring for someone debilitated by a serious illness, you understand how complicated it is for your loved one to keep going on a daily basis. The challenges are often enormous and difficult; they use up a lot of precious energy. Your loved one probably goes back and forth to doctor’s offices, treatments, and even to the ER when unexpected problems crop up.

No doubt your loved one has an entourage, just like a real rock star. There are peeps to do this and peeps to do that. But you, as the main caregiver, are the go-to person. The days of going solo are over for someone who is seriously ill. Without you, there is no music. You may not be the star of the show, friend, but you are an important part of keeping the music alive.

Chapter One—Why Join the Band?

Sure, you’ve got a stellar career (or retirement) of your own. You have an active schedule. You’re achieving your goals. Life is good. Why would you change any of that to take care of a loved one with a serious illness?

Why not just hire someone to do it? That way, you don’t have to worry about a thing. Just farm the job out and get on with your own life. But is that the best option?

Consider this. You’re talking about someone who’s also had an impressive life, wonderful achievements, stellar talents, and amazing skills. And then suddenly all of that is upended in an ugly heap. Maybe it’s your spouse who has cancer. Maybe it’s your parent with heart disease. Maybe it’s your best friend with Parkinson’s...or your cousin with MS...or your sibling with any of a number of diseases or illnesses. Why, oh why, would you voluntarily sacrifice your own life to take care of someone you love?

There’s the key word—love. Love makes the world go round. It makes us do things we never thought possible, good and bad. It drives us to new heights and sinks us to new lows. Above all, it motivates us to do for others. If we’re smart, we understand what our lives would be like without it.

When rock stars show up on stage and perform flawlessly, it’s easy to think that talent is the only requirement that makes the magic. But behind every rock star, there are a number of