It’s National Family Caregivers Month!

THE CAREGIVER—the best care for mucositis

I’m a caregiver. There’s no doubt about that. Lisa is sick. I don’t have much medical language, though I do get the word “cancer” is bad. Everything is different. Lisa seems so tired. She’s in bed most of the day, and when she moves out of the bedroom, she’s typically on all fours. I can identify. I sleep 20 hours a day and move around on all fours too. Her movement seems to be to the kitchen freezer… it looks like Ice chips. She endlessly eats ice chips. She doesn’t talk, though I can feel the love coming from her expression and her touch towards me. I can also see the pained grimace on her face as she attempts to swallow. I can see her inflamed mouth. I had the same thing when I got into that pesky porcupine.

Lisa’s daughter comes over. There’s quite the big ta-do about getting some food into Lisa. She seems completely uninterested. Uninterested in food—that part I don’t quite understand. It looks like what they do is squeeze some soup from a dropper down Lisa’s throat. I remember getting some meds this way. Wow—it takes a long time. There’s a lot of hesitation I see coming from Lisa. And she seems in a lot of pain.

This is where I can help. I curl up on Lisa’s lap. I lay my head in her arms. I feel her chest heaving up and down so strained, and I go with the flow. No judgement, no commentary, no words. Just comfort.

I’m Snickers, a Jack Russel, and I’m a caregiver.