{"id":884,"date":"2018-02-07T15:20:42","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T20:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/?p=884"},"modified":"2018-02-07T15:21:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T20:21:46","slug":"thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer’s caregiver. I was wrong."},"content":{"rendered":"

I always tell caregivers they need to carve out respite time for themselves. Do I listen to my own advice? Not always.<\/p>\n

These days, I\u2019m more of a care manager than a caregiver. My wife Elaine has lived in a memory care setting for 2\u00bd years. I visit her every day that I\u2019m in town and can see she receives excellent care. Knowing that the staff handles Elaine\u2019s personal needs in such a skillful and patient way, you\u2019d think my mind would be relaxed.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, I landed in the hospital with intense intestinal pain. Don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m OK now. Doctors made sure of that, ordering a full battery of tests and having me monitored around the clock. For four days, I was tethered to tubes that made leaving the hospital out of the question. So, I wasn\u2019t able to visit Elaine. Out of necessity, I was completely hands-off in terms of her care. On the work front, my office staff handled countless details for me. They definitely had my back.<\/p>\n

Well-rested. In a hospital. Go figure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most interesting thing happened while I was in the hospital. I slept more \u2013 and better — than I had in many nights. Therapists forced me to get out of bed and move; the layout of the hospital allowed me to walk a lot. By the third day, dragging my IV pole, I was able to walk a mile at one time. I hadn\u2019t walked that far in a long time. My meals were nutritious and brought to me on a regular schedule. It was almost like a spa vacation. Got to admit, when I\u2019m home on my own or traveling around for presentations, I rarely exercise and I don\u2019t always eat healthy.<\/p>\n

Anxiety returns<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once the doctor told me I was cleared to go home, my thinking shifted quickly to Elaine and how wonderful it would be to see her again. After all, this was the longest I\u2019d gone without seeing her since she moved to assisted living. The day after I was discharged, I eagerly drove to the memory care facility. But something unexpected happened when I walked into the building. Almost instantly, I felt \u2026 different. That well-rested, well-fed fellow couldn\u2019t walk 30 yards down the hall before feeling tired and sad.<\/p>\n

Later that day, I called my nurse and described what had happened. Her theory matched my own fear: my body\u2019s response was rooted in anxiety. Ugly, unwelcome anxiety.<\/p>\n

I long ago accepted the fact that Alzheimer\u2019s is slowly killing my wife. I thought I was doing a decent job managing my health, but obviously that wasn\u2019t the case. Meeting with fellow caregivers energizes me, but that\u2019s not enough. I\u2019ve got to build some respite time into my calendar. I\u2019ve got to do better. With the help of my Alzheimer\u2019s Association<\/a> counselor and the health experts, I\u2019ll get there.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always tell caregivers they need to carve out respite time for themselves. Do I listen to my own advice? Not always. These days, I\u2019m more of a care manager than a caregiver. My wife Elaine has lived in a memory care setting for 2\u00bd years. I visit her every day that I\u2019m in town […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11,8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-alzheimers","category-alzheimers-association","category-alzheimers-disease","category-caregiver","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nI thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I always tell caregivers they need to carve out respite time for themselves. Do I listen to my own advice? Not always. These days, I\u2019m more of a care manager than a caregiver. My wife Elaine has lived in a memory care setting for 2\u00bd years. I visit her every day that I\u2019m in town […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marilyn Krause\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marilyn Krause\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marilyn Krause\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1\"},\"headline\":\"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer’s caregiver. I was wrong.\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":512,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alzheimer's\",\"Alzheimer's Association\",\"Alzheimer's disease\",\"caregiver\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/\",\"name\":\"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/GPVPDZIWHW.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/GPVPDZIWHW.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Man sits on bench\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/07\\\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer’s caregiver. I was wrong.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher\",\"description\":\"Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1\",\"name\":\"Marilyn Krause\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marilyn Krause\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mytwoelaines.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/m5na2ea88\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","og_description":"I always tell caregivers they need to carve out respite time for themselves. Do I listen to my own advice? Not always. These days, I\u2019m more of a care manager than a caregiver. My wife Elaine has lived in a memory care setting for 2\u00bd years. I visit her every day that I\u2019m in town […]","og_url":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/","og_site_name":"My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","article_published_time":"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Marilyn Krause","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marilyn Krause","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/"},"author":{"name":"Marilyn Krause","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1"},"headline":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer’s caregiver. I was wrong.","datePublished":"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/"},"wordCount":512,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg","articleSection":["Alzheimer's","Alzheimer's Association","Alzheimer's disease","caregiver"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/","url":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/","name":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer's caregiver. I was wrong. - My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-07T20:20:42+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-07T20:21:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GPVPDZIWHW.jpg","width":960,"height":640,"caption":"Man sits on bench"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/07\/thought-healthy-alzheimers-caregiver-wrong\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I thought I was a healthy Alzheimer’s caregiver. I was wrong."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/","name":"My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer's Caregiver \u00a0   Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","description":"Gov. Martin J. Schreiber with Cathy Breitenbucher","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00778d990d342f82ad7ead62deb747e1","name":"Marilyn Krause","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/692acee9aec77cb6d876e4add39599b8235422f649f9be7f2bea6dad49ff5246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marilyn Krause"},"url":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/author\/m5na2ea88\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mytwoelaines.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}