When you read the word "serial", do you conjure up a negative response? After all, serial criminals are usually dangerous. Serial liars can be counted on to bend the truth. So, what is a serial caregiver? And are you one?
I came up with the term to describe a lot of caregivers caring for people with manageable diseases like cancer. Unless your loved one is getting progressively worse, his or her cancer is likely to be treated more than once over time. That means that you're likely to resume most, if not all, of your normal activities when your loved one's cancer is under control, and you'll have your life turned upside down during those times when it returns. You'll give care during chemotherapy and take a step back when the nasty side effects fade away. The more often your loved one needs treatment, the more often your life is disrupted. Both you and your loved one will ride this roller coaster together, finding your hopes and dreams tossed over the side of the car as you go flying around the curves that cancer throws at you.
In some ways, being a serial caregiver is harder than being any other kind of caregiver, because it's often a shock to find that the cancer has reoccurred or popped up in a new location in your loved one's body. You have to stop what you're doing in your own life and become a family caregiver again. Not only do you have to deal with your loved one's disappointment, you have to deal with your own.
Serial caregivers have to deal with more than just physical issues, because with every new discovery of cancer in loved ones, there is the attached terror. Is the cancer spreading? Can it be controlled? Managed? Stopped? Cured?
It's important for cancer caregivers to understand serial caregiving. The better you appreciate the issues you are likely to face, the better you will be able to meet your loved one's ever-changing needs for care. Cancer disrupts life. Minimize the trauma by being prepared.
If you would like more information on issues that often arise in cancer caregiving, check out The Practical Caregiver Guides:
www.practicalcaregiverguides.com
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