TheGrandChick

Member since April 11, 2008.
1 Comments, 1 Hugs & Prayers Received, 2 Hugs & Prayers Sent, 1 Discussions Started, 28 Replies

Bio

Hi. Okay, bio...ugh, I hate these things. Um, I'm 25, live in New York City, and I usually spend anywhere from 1-12 hours a day caring or helping care for my grandma, who has non-Alzheimer's dementia. I'm also a part-time college student (not BECAUSE I'm a caregiver, but I will say that going part-time leaves me more time to help my grandma).

In terms of caregiving, for the most part, my job in the family is to back up my mom: two the of us live together, and my grandma lives (technically alone, but she now has 24-hour aides) in an apartment about a mile away. So, on any given day, I might be paying bills, calling Medicare, taking my grandma to a movie, double-teaming with my mom in a "No, you have to take those meds!" argument, or just being a sounding board for my mom so that she doesn't kill either my grandmother or herself!

My family is also in a slightly unusual position: on the one hand, as an adult, I am able to assist--and sometimes take over for--my mom as my grandma's primary caregiver, but on the other hand, because of multiple disabilities, I'm not actually independent yet, and require large amounts of my mother's time and support, making her sort of a de facto member of the Sandwich Generation.

And that's about me--caregiving-wise, anyway--in a (very large!) nutshell. :-)

Recently TheGrandChick…