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In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to share some stories of Fearless Caregiving about, well, my mom.

The idea behind being a Fearless Caregiver rests upon seeing yourself as an equal member of your loved one’s care team, no less important than any other members of the team; and that the team should seek your insights into the health and well-being of their client – your loved one.

The first Fearless Caregiving story I can remember has to do with my mom’s awareness that there was indeed something different about the way I was walking when I was in my early teens. The variation was imperceptible to anyone else, even my doctors, but Mom knew.  It took one minute in a University of Miami’s neurologist’s office and within weeks, Mom, Dad and I were on the plane to Duke University to see the specialist.  Of course, Mom was right and the original doctors, not so much.   

The next episode I remember is after the surgery at Duke, I was in no mood to eat, but must have mentioned wanting a malted milk. The story, as I heard it, was that Mom planted herself in front of the door of the local ice cream shop as the owner was leaving and gently (I’ll take her word for it) persuaded him to make the shake that I craved.  Funny thing is that by the time she got back to my room, I was so nauseous that I couldn’t even look at it, which she took in stride. I lived in Durham many years after that episode and yet still always hesitated before entering any ice cream shop—just in case that owner was still around and had a really good memory.

When my dad took ill, it was Mom that first noticed he had a spot on the back of his head and suggested that Dad’s doctor take another look after recently giving him a clean bill of health.

 

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