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.