Caregiving and brain injury: Looking at the bright side of winter

The thing about caring for someone with a severe brain injury is that it becomes a chronic health problem, and in Bill's case new problems added all the time. 

Yesterday we went to the throat specialist and will be having more tests and having to make some adjustments to our schedule and life.  I am in danger of allowing that life to take over me and my separate self. 

That is one reason I have begun bringing my camera everywhere I go, and have renewed an old love, photography.  Instead of sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called, I happened to see the sun glistening through the shades.  I saw a snow covered tree, and decided to play with the camera and see what magic it could perform in the few minutes we waited.
It had been a bumper to bumper drive into the hospital during rush hour traffic, and I was a little anxious about the visit.

Ice on the frozen tree above

Bill has a vocal cord that is paralyzed, probably from placing his VNS stimulator next to it, twice.  The first one failed and had to be redone.  It is causing him problems swallowing and may cause him to aspirate, a problem that put him in the hospital for three weeks last Fall.  Funny, it seems like yesterday!  After he was taken off the respirator he could not swallow, and went into a series of seizures. 

Caring for the seizures and getting him able to eat again was the primary goal.  He is getting tired of all of this, and it has not helped his depression.  But he continues to do what he can to improve. He tires more easily since the pneumonia, and our schedule has slowed down. 



Backing out of my parking spot, the shadows and clean snow pulled me back to stop the car and take this picture.



So finding the beauty in nature as we face challenges that throw us for a curve regularly, is a caregiving skill I am trying to master.  Sort of like the Tai Chi class.  Whatever you can do, caregivers, try not to lose yourself.  You matter to more people than you know. And to more than just the person you are caring for.