The astronauts orbit the earth in diapers, or as in the case of one astronaut, drive 1,000 miles in one. Caregivers of quadriplegics or paraplegics know the frailties of store-bought diapers, sometimes failing from one room to another. After eight years of care-giving under these circumstances it gets stressful. Maybe I am ignorant of something better on the market. If so please tell me. If not, please someone in the sciences invent an astronaut diaper for civilians. ...more

February 13, 2008

For the first time, health officials report that the AIDS virus can be spread by a mother pre-chewing her infant's food, a practice mainly seen in poor, developing countries. ...more

February 7, 2008

Dear Abby: A friend was diagnosed with cancer. A single woman living alone, she rallied a group of co-workers, friends and neighbors to donate their time to help her with a variety of tasks. These included driving her back and forth to chemo and doctor appointments, fixing meals, cleaning her house (she has OCD and was superpicky about every detail, including cleaning the cat box), sleeping over to make sure she was OK (we had only a lumpy couch because she refused to set up a bed in one of her two vacant bedrooms!) and handling a variety of other tasks. ...more

January 27, 2008

A recent article in The Hunstville Times told of the death of two women who lived together. They were mother and daughter. One was age 63. She was the caregiver for her 89-year-old mother who had Alzheimer's disease. The daughter apparently died from a heart attack in their home - unbeknown to neighbors or friends. Subsequently, her mother starved to death. Like us, you're probably asking, " How could that have happened? Didn't anyone ever check on them?" But think about it. How easily could that happen in your neighborhood? Might we sometimes be confused between what is interfering and what is caring? Either way, interfering or caring could have saved one or perhaps two lives. If the caregiver had had a buddy who called every morning and evening, things may have ended differently. Our mom and a friend had a daily phone system worked out between them. Their agreement and friendship greatly eased our concerns – especially when we were traveling and couldn't always check on her ourselves. ...more

January 25, 2008

I would like to commend Bill and Lyn Roche. They head up the Alzheimer's support group that meets at Crown Point Assisting Living Facility on Thursdays at 1 p.m. I was the speaker at the meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6. As a podiatrist I spoke about foot care, but I was very impressed by the way the Roches take "care" of these "caregivers" and the patience they have with the attendees who have Alzheimer's. ...more

December 21, 2007

Two people claiming to be an 88-year-old woman's caregivers are accused of cheating their charge out of $24,000 over the course of three months. ...more

December 18, 2007

Watching the children skip across the church parking lot, singing "Jesus loves me, this I know," it's easy to forget where they come from, said Brandon resident Jo Powell. ...more

December 12, 2007

Watching the children skip across the church parking lot, singing "Jesus loves me, this I know," it's easy to forget where they come from, said Brandon resident Jo Powell. ...more

December 10, 2007

Lyn's new column, The Caregiver's Caregiver, first appeared last July in 4You, Tampa Tribune's magazine for health, fitness, nutrition and appearance. Kim Franke-Folstad, editor of 4You, recognized the need for caregivers to take as good care of themselves as they do the loved ones in their care. The subject is one Lyn has been involved in since the 1980s when she began helping care for both her father and her grandmother. Her father suffered with Alzheimer's disease for 13 years. Her grandmother did not have dementia, but she grew increasingly frail and unable to care for herself. She lived to be 95. Lyn's many magazine articles on caring for caregivers and her book filled with practical caregiving tips earned her the nickname "the caregiver's caregiver." Therefore, naming the new column was easy. ...more

December 7, 2007

Dear Lyn: I'm a caregiver and I'm writing a journal. It's helping me in ways I can't explain, but I wanted to suggest journaling to fellow caregivers and ask you to address the advantages of keeping a journal. — Maggie ...more

October 26, 2007