5 Things Survivors of Brain Injury Should Know about Caregivers

       Being a caregiver of a brain injury survivor isn’t easy.   Each caregiver’s story is different.  Some have experienced some similar and uniquely different things as they deal with the family member who has a brain injury.
     Each caregiver’s story will depend on which family member has sustained a brain injury and, from that point on, the other family member(s) take on new positions or new roles in the family. Some of these new roles include:
    • Paying the household and survivor’s bills
    • Taxi driver 
    • Walking & talking daily planner
    • Case manager
    • Housekeeper
    • Cook
    • Role model
    • Financial provider
    
     What are 5 things that we should know about caregivers as they try to fill the above roles for us survivors?  Caregivers possibly are:
    • Striving to stay positive and proactive throughout this experience
    • Feeling a sense of isolation from not only their loved one but other ”friends”
    • Feeling like they are “walking on eggshells”
    • Wanting to grieve, even though their loved one is beside them
    • Feeling like they are flying by the seat of their pants on a regular basis.
 
     There are many “issues” that we survivors deal with everyday.  Sometimes, it takes all of our energy to focus on what we are doing and trying to remember things.  However, we should also recognize the “issues” felt by our caregivers and try to help them out whenever possible.  By doing this, it will only help us, as they try to take care of us in living our “new” life and dealing with our injury.  What other things should we survivors know about caregivers?  Please feel free to leave a comment.

* Thanks to Rosalyn Fast, caregiver of a survivor of brain injury, for the main points for this article.