Olympia Dukakis
is an
Academy-Award-winning
actress, a trained
physical therapist
and a very caring
soul, who has been a
caregiver for her
husband and her
close friend,
Jessica, a formerly
vibrant dancer and
actress who suffered
from excruciating
bone pain caused by
cancer. She is also
a tireless caregiver
advocate.
Editor-In-Chief Gary
Barg sat down with
this truly fearless
caregiver who is
working to make a
difference for those
in pain.
Gary Barg:
As someone whose
father experienced
excruciating bone
pain while living
with multiple
myeloma, I am really
grateful for your
work with bone pain
awareness. I
think it’s hard for
family members to
truly understand
that level of pain.
Olympia
Dukakis:
Right. You don’t
have to live with
it. You can reach
out and find other
solutions. Maybe
there is some pain,
but there are also
solutions. I
think that today,
without being too
critical of the
hospitals, you
really have to take
your health into
your own hands. Get
as much information
as you can. People
do make mistakes and
are overworked;
there are a lot of
things that can
happen when you
don’t have access.
I think this is an
opportunity to get
access to improve
the quality of life.
GB:
We always say that
the caregiver should
become a member of
the loved one’s care
team. Caregivers
must be able to
provide information
to other members of
the team and be
heard and be
respected for it.
OD:
I always say that
whenever a person
gets sick, they need
advocates. It’s very
hard when you are
dealing with the
fear and the pain,
and all the options
and all the side
effects. So you
really need one or
even two advocates.
My husband had been
very ill and I felt
frequently that I
had to be his
advocate,
challenging this
doctor and that
medicine. I felt it
was really important
because he was
overcome and he was
frightened. He had a
brain aneurism. The
person who is ill
often can’t think.
He or she can’t even
figure out what’s
the next thing to do
for themselves. So
somebody has to be
around, and I think
that caregivers are
the ones who can do
that. They are
probably the ones
that will have to
make the call.
