When a family health crisis hits, the focus shifts to that particular person. Daily trips to the hospital or detailed medical care becomes the priority. Kay Marshall Strom has written A CAREGIVER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE, HOW TO STAY HEALTH WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS SICK (InterVarsity Press).
Kay knows first hand the struggles of such a situation. Over a period of ten years, her husband, Larry, went from a business manager at a major corporation to severe dementia and the progressive loss of the use of his arms and legs. For the last four years of his life, he was in a nursing home because he was too dangerous for Kay to care for at home.
In a crisis, the caregiver is rarely addressed and this book meets a special need. As Kay says, "Struggling blindly wears out the human spirit. Knowing what to expect, and when and where to go for help, makes the journey bearable. Accepting God as the first and primary "resource" brings blessing out of disaster."
This book helps caregivers cope with the emotional roller coaster, fitting into their new role, discovering the balance between personal care and care for the loved one, handling life with limited resources and letting go. The appendices for the book include a nursing home checklist and additional resources. As Joni Eareckson Tada writes in the foreword for the book, "Kay has experienced a lifetime of lessons and has catalogued invaluable insights to pass along to other caregivers."
The book is a careful mixture of personal-been-there experience, practical checklist type advice as well as a dependence on God to meet our needs.
