Helping caretakers

 

Some days, this is me. 

It can be hard taking care of kids who have a chronic illness. And asthma is one of those-some days are better than others.

When I hear one of my kids coughing, and I think "here we go again." And it's not just winter time. My son has been in the hospitalized in July!

If you are a parent of a child with a chronic condition (asthma, diabetes, seizure disorder, etc), you need to take care of yourself. You won't be any good to your kids if you are stressed out and worn out.

I usually get sick when my kids are in the hospital. Since I also have asthma, usually when they get bronchitis or pneumonia, I get sick too. I remember during one of the 12 hospitalizations for my kids, I was so weak, I could hardly drive back and forth to the hospital.

I have learned to take small breaks for myself (not easy when you work full time) but I sneak things in here and there. It's Monday morning, and I started the week with a massage. 

It was for "medical purposes" though *wink *wink* since I hurt my neck and shoulder painting my house. The massage was a nice break and it felt wonderful!

Make sure you take time for yourself. If you don't have a few reserves stored up, you won't be able to have the patience and strength to take care of sick kids with asthma. And you have to be sharp to remember what time they got their steroids, what time they had their last treatment, are they getting worse, do we need to head to the ER now, etc etc.

Do whatever works for you-yoga, meditation, massages, watching funny movies. Take care of yourself, take a deep breath and remember, "I can do this!"