Caregivers at risk?

Brenda_D · 10-08-2007, 11:36 AM

I read this in the latest AARP magazine, and was quite surprised, but intrigued.

It's in an article about Caregivers, and says that caregivers have greatly elevated levels of a chemical that's linked to chronic inflammation, and puts them at risk for heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, CANCER, and other diseases.

It's interesting to me because I was a caregiver to my Mom last year, and it was extremely stressful.
I was dx'ed with IDC just a couple months after Mom passed, and my sister believes that the stress of taking care of Mom caused me to have BC.
I know it probably contributed to my health decline, but wasn't seriously considering that to be "a cause" of my BC.
Now I'm wondering.
Not that I'd change that. Mom needed me and I'd do it 100 times over, no matter what the cost to me.

This just has me curious and wondering what that "chemical" is.

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/family/c...caregiver.html

RhondaH · 10-08-2007, 12:02 PM

my father went into the hospital for the last time 10/04 (I was having panic attacks and "literally" was on my way for a counseling appointment when I got the call that he was back in the hospital)...I was his caregiver and he lived 100 miles away (ALSO, single mother to then 3 yo son and full time employee). The day after I put my dad in the nursing home, 1/05, (his doctors wouldn't let me take him home) I had my mammogram and my fun began. I think it has a "part" in the whole process and I see MANY caregivers getting cancer.

Rhonda

lkc Gumby · 10-08-2007, 12:21 PM

Brenda,
I was a caregiver for my mom when she recurred after 20 yrs,
Very very stressful time, since she lived in Fla, and I was in The Bahamas, and the rest of my family did not help much at all.
Anyway, I was dxed w/ Stage III, 18 mos after she died.
I stongly beleive that strss has alot to do with it. It may not cause BC, but I think it moves things along.

Andrea Barnett Budin · 10-08-2007, 02:21 PM

The mindbody link is undeniable. Stress and anxiety compromise the immune system, lowering T cell count, disturbing sleep, lowering our Spirits... And that takes its toll on our bodies. Psychology is reflected in our physiology!

I too went through similar problems with my Mom and her *dying brain cells* causing her to have Alzheimer-like symptoms, become paralyzed, not know her name or mine, unable to care for herself ('89-'92). I arranged for round the clock nurses (like a little mini hospital administrator), plus visiting and stocking the house w/food and medical supplies of a large variety, arranging for ambulette to take her to doc appts as getting her in to the car was too much for me and a nurse. The wheelchair could go up and down the ambulette's ramp. Then, I found a nursing home for her (after scoping out all possibilities) and packed up her apartment, closed it down (as if she were dead) and moved her in to the geriatric center. Saddest day... Pathetic to see the shell of what used to be my Mother, unable to speak, communicate, feed herself... The works.

Mom was in that home from '92 - '01 when she died. I was dx in '95 and recurred in '98. Stressed out is an understatement. Broken-hearted. Grieving for her for so many yrs. That's when UNHEALED old traumas and old anguish come to the surface. We must learn to go deep within ourselves and do some self-investigation to bring resolution and transformation, to be the strongest, healthiest person we can become. Deep reflection can be transforming. NOW I know this. And I try to share my discovery with others, for their own good and wellness. We must all become aware of the impact of our stored up resentments and sorrows to best serve ourselves.

Thank you all for sharing this information. It is extremely helpful in learning to make the connection...
Ever pensive, Andi

Ceesun · 10-08-2007, 02:32 PM

Interesting, my dad died 10 months before I was diagnosed. I often wondered if his illness and my grief in mourning helped along my own diagnosis. Cathy aka Ceesun

PinkGirl · 10-09-2007, 08:44 AM

...never thought about it before now. My dad died in 1999 and my mom took a steady decline from then on. She stayed in her own home but needed lots and lots of help from her 3 kids. It was very stressful for all of us. She couldn't remember anything, very confused all the time, but wouldn't move out of her house. We looked after her that way until 2005 when she fell and broke her hip. She had two surgeries and dx with dementia/Alzheimer's. She was in a chronic ward of a hospital for 2 months pending placement in a nursing home (there's only one home in our little town, it has 20 beds). We moved her into the nursing home on July 17/05 and I was diagnosed on Aug.5/05.

My dad had been "not well" for a number of years but nothing ever showed up on tests. He was eventually dx. with lung cancer and died 18 days later.

Andrea Barnett Budin · 10-11-2007, 12:20 PM

The pain of helping to care for a seriously ill loved one, while getting on with your daily responsibilities and your life, working and nurturing your family -- is beyond stressful. It takes its toll on you physically, psychologically and emotionally.

I think it is both important and helpful to us all to share your experience surrounding your bc diagnosis. Let us all ponder, and begin to correlate, the impact of EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL and its' *PHYSICAL* repercussions. Actually seeing the link between mind and body.

Only then can we begin to empower our Spirit to guide us through the chaos and traumas of our lives.

Many of us still need to heal old wounds and childhood anger, resentments and blame -- that we unwittingly feel WE'RE OVER, yet carry around with us each day. Suppressed feelings are not resolved and continue to beg for attention. The Id remembers everything -- as if it happened yesterday!

We must be introspective and alert to the existence of such rage and deal with these potentially harmful issues seriously. Often this involves a complicated struggle but in the end, the suffering and the reality check serve to improve our joy factor tenfold and FREE us from our *cage* of painful memories that stalk us, even when we are unaware.

As we become emotionally healed, our mind and body and Spirit become balanced, and we can come to avoid bodily dysfunction. I learned this after my bc diagnoses -- the hard way. So I send out a wake up call to every one I love to learn from my experience and SURVIVE and THRIVE...
Andi

Please share your experience... for us all to benefit from.

BonnieR · 10-11-2007, 12:38 PM

I have been contemplating the effect of stress in general. For the 18 months prior to my diagnosis I was extremely stressed due to a house remodel from hell. Everything was going wrong. We were living out off boxes in a rental. I had anxiety, anger and insomnia. I remember thinking, at the time of diagnosis, "if stress contributes to cancer, it is no wonder I got it".

Andrea Barnett Budin · 10-11-2007, 04:47 PM

Hi Bonnie,

I think stress (like typing this out and then losing it! Damnit!!!!) is the root of all illness.

Whatever your weakest genetic point is -- that's where it strikes.

So in the midst of a trauma or with unhealed issues of yesterdays if we are aware of its potential to harm us, we can arm ourselves.

When my husband was sick this past June/July/August -- w/multiple trips to the emergency room, passing out (knees buckling, staggering and crashing into unconsciousness) and Is he having a stroke, What's happening, and then inability to urinate (needing 2 catheters) and Is he in renal failure???????? -- I was STRESSED OUT.

I prayed for him. And I meditated. Right there in the hospital. PLEASE GOD LET PAUL BE ALL RIGHT. PLEASE STAY CLOSE. And, telling my body -- DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO MAKE ME SICK. NO MORE CANCER. I NEED TO BE WELL AND HEALTHY. I think that if we see how stress and unresolved issues can poison us and make us sick, we can become EMPOWERED to learn to stop that from happening. This is a great teaching we can benefit from immeasurably! Since my bc dx I have become more enlightened and feel compelled to share what I've found w/every one.

It's something worth pondering for sure...
Andi

PinkGirl · 12-20-2007, 03:43 PM

I am bringing this old thread forward,
in case anyone missed it way back then.

This seems to be the things we have
been discussing on the "just caregivers"
thread.

caya · 12-20-2007, 04:57 PM

Thanks for bringing this forward Pinky.
I definitely subscribe to this theory. My DH had his brain aneurysm in Jan. 2006 - I had to look after him, take total control of our family business (doing his job and mine), keep our two daughters calm, etc. Yup, I'd say stress was my middle name.
9 months later, after a clean mammo and ultrasound in June 2006, my BC was discovered by my PS who was doing a breast reduction on me...
My GP also firmly believes stress can bring on cancer, says she has seen it in her practice too many times.

all the best
caya