Being Lost and Found: How Being a Caregiver Shaped Me

As a palliative care physician, I often spend time with patients and families talking about their hopes, worries, and sources of strength. Part of this work involves helping people confront uncertainty in what lies ahead and be able to hold opposing truths as they face serious illness. You can feel the best you’ve felt in months and still be dying of cancer. You may not be able to get out of bed and be completely dependent on others, and still find joy in every day moments with your loved ones. I think of caregiving in the same way. It is a hard, humbling, isolating adventure that veers your life in a direction you didn’t plan for. It can exhaustively consume your entire world and leave you depleted, wondering if you can face tomorrow. At the same time, it can be one of the greatest gifts we can give someone, fulfill us to our core, and enrich our lives in ways that would otherwise have been impossible. My memories of caregiving as I navigated my undergraduate and then medical school studies are a compilation of life events and the day-to-day tasks that became routine. On weekends, my sisters and I would race home from college to relieve my parents who dedicated their lives to caring for my Nana. The five of us were a core unit of distinct parts moving in synchrony as we learned how to give bed baths and lift her wheelchair up the stairs. I remember with great clarity the look on Nana’s face and the tears in her eyes when she saw my older sister in her wedding dress...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Guest Perspective caregiver care caregivers physician-patient relationship Source Type: blogs