Working and Caregiving is hard! It's not a lifestyle one would easily choose but it is one that many of us Caregivers live because we have choosen to provide care for our loved one at home and let's face it...the bills still have to be paid.

Whether you're a full time or part time employee Caregiving is another job ALL within itself. Doctors appointments, therapy appointments, medication assistance and dispersement, managing our emotions while a loved one may be out of control of thier own emotions. Some of us Caregivers are even caring for grandchildren or children of the loved one we are a caregiver for, meaning we may get off work and rush to daycare or after school care to pick up children and then rush to the care of the loved one we are caring for.

Projects at work will not wait and employers will not always accomodate us, we must get creative in how we manage our Caregiving life, our personal life and our work life or else we are headed for a hospital bed! I didn't listen to my body, I didn't take advantage of the programs available to employees who are caring for a loved one with an onset of a long term illness...I didn't know they existed. There are programs like FMLA that provide paid time off work to allow an employee to get a loved one stabilized.

How have you managed a job and caregiving? Do you know of other programs that could help other caregivers? Please share.