[Cailin]

Caregiving in any manner is hard. I'm not a caregiver for my family; I work through an agency, so I am contracted out to help families with their loved ones.

It can be so difficult some days, especially ones with dementia/Alzheimer's. The hours are long, you don't get paid overtime, and you don't get paid time off, no medical insurance etc. (not all agencies are like that, but most) so when you do this job, you do it for the reward of caring for someone, and not much more.

Ive never known my client in any manner other than when I met him, but I know that it wears down his wife. I think in some ways it's harder for family to be the caregiver, because you remember what they were like before, and the emotional pain that comes with seeing them deteriorate before your eyes. Not to mention the stress of moving your schedule around, and for some even having to quit their jobs.


it's not any easy task, but sometimes it's good to get a paid caregiver through an agency, just so that you can get some 'away time' to feel like you're not losing your mind.