Hello, I’m Lorna and I’ve been a live-in carer for the past 12 years. I’ve worked for quite a few Dementia clients who had very supportive families. I’ve had a few hard to handle, some very rude, some very sweet, and a couple of fabulous clients with fabulous families which definitely helped to make it all worthwhile.
We also have our good days and bad days, lonely and feeling isolated days, times when we wonder what the hell we’re doing here!
There’s so many of us doing live-in care work and we need to support each other, boost each other up, give advice where we can and best of all use meet-ups whenever and where ever possible because we also need a break and to remember that we are human and also have needs.
Joining the group ‘Carers from any country working in UK for support and companionship’ was a life changer for me. I had been a pretty lonely carer for 7 years before I was introduced to this site ….. there were other people like me, trying to survive, make a living, travelling this lonely road, and all of a sudden I was being asked to meet-up, to have coffee with other like-minded people, it was amazing. We supported each other, gave and received advice about ourselves and our clients …. what’s more, we LAUGHED!
When a carer has been down and out we’ve rallied together and helped towards financial difficulties, we’ve visited fellow carers when they’ve been admitted to hospital, it’s fabulous knowing that there is someone in a similar situation who also cares about you!
i want to discuss every aspect of a carer’s experiences, and that covers an awful lot of subjects. So, if there’s anything that you would like to be discussed on this forum, please put it out there and hopefully one of us can help in some way.
I’ll be talking about hobbies because there are quite a few that can slot into the carer’s day, from various forms of exercise to making bonnets for babies in need.
Diet and keeping healthy are so important because we can’t pour from an empty cup. This job is draining and we need to make sure that we come out of it alive and kicking! When in a demanding booking, a lot of us turn to comfort eating which is great at first until we jump on the scales and find that we’ve gained a few pounds, not so noticeable in winter but quite shocking when we pull out the summer clothes ready for our long awaited holiday.
That’s where pampering ourselves comes into the equation. You may feel it so worthwhile getting up half an hour earlier to take advantage of a 10-minute soak in the bath with Epsom salts and whatever oils you fancy followed by a moisturiser. Great to start the day feeling good. Some prefer to do that at night because it’s relaxing and will help them get off to sleep easier.
i will be posting some relatively easy recipes to make for your client’s lunch or supper. Again, if you have a favourite that you like making and your client loves eating, please share it.