Yesterday morning, Grandma headed home. It was great having her here to help. She drove me to my appointments, and in between appointments she took the kids overnight to Legoland, so Tad & I got to have the house to ourselves for a night. And of course the kids love having her here, whatever the reason. Grandma used to teach middle school math, so for a week we had an expert in the house when it came to helping out with pre-algebra homework.

It’s always nice to have your mom around when you are not feeling well, and having a grandma to occupy the kids is appreciated, but having Grandma here also gave Tad a nice break. I know from reading various blogs and forums – and just from common sense – that caring for someone going through what I’m going through can be pretty hard on the caregivers. Caregiver stress is a real thing; a quick Google search results in dozens of websites dedicated specifically to supporting caregivers; helping them deal with stress, and keeping the needs of their “patient” organized.

Tad has been handling all this pretty well, but it’s not an easy job. I am used to being very self-sufficient, and when I have to depend so much on someone for day-to-day things, I know that I can get pretty high-maintenance. Remember that time he picked me up an hour late from a hydration appointment? Yeah, it was a while before he heard the end of that (and here I am talking about it again!).

And then there is the annoyance factor. As many of my friends know, I think out loud. When I’m feeling shitty, there is a chorus going through my head that funnels directly to my mouth: “This sucks. I don’t want to do this anymore. That tastes like nothing. Ugh I’m too tired to do anything. I wish I could poop. This sucks. I don’t want to do this anymore…” Over, and over, and over. And yeah, Tad gets to listen to that.  He has not once said, “Oh my god, will you shut up,” for which I am very grateful. Although he did say he’s looking forward to not getting my daily poop updates.

I am so lucky to have such great support as I go through this, from Tad and Grandma, and from all the rest of my family and friends – you guys all rock.