One leg of the “self-care trinity” for caregivers is healthy eating. I don’t know about you, but the combination of those two words makes me think about “sticks and berries” (in other words… food that’s not fun to eat).

I’ve got good news for you caregivers:  I’ve discovered some fun food that can help keep you at your best so you can offer your highest level of care!

Healthy Food That’s Fun To Eat:

• Fruity cocktails may actually be good for us. According to Woman’s Day magazine, research shows that alcohol can increase the level of antioxidants in certain fruits, such as strawberries.  That means one strawberry daiquiri or margarita has health benefits, along with tasting good.
•  Pizza can be healthy provided you make some changes in preparation: use a whole wheat crust and low-fat cheese (in moderation).  Skip the meats, especially the high fat ones like pepperoni and sausage, and pile on the veggies.
•  Fruit juice can be healthy as long as it’s 100% fruit juice.  Orange juice, especially, has plenty of fiber and antioxidants.  Some research has shown that daily consumption of 6 to 8 ounces can lower Alzheimer’s risk by as much as 76%… But that’s not a direct correlation.  It’s dependant on other factors as well, the most important one being age.
•  For women, red wine and dark chocolate are heart-healthy foods, provided they’re eaten in moderation.  One small chocolate (not a box of them) and a glass of red wine can actually have health benefits.  Gentlemen, it’s also been found that a wee bit o dark chocolate is good for your hearts, too.

“Moderation and Balance are Key Components of any Healthy Eating Plan” – Joanne Reynolds

And that brings me to the closing thought about healthy eating:  It’s about moderation. TOO MUCH OF ANY ONE THING, whether it’s toffee or tofu, isn’t going to be good for you.  Moderation and balance are key components of any healthy eating plan.  Remember that the goal is to fuel your body well to keep you strong for your caregiving assignment.

Blessings, Joanne

When a family member is diagnosed with mesothelioma, relatives may take on caregiver roles. Spouses are often primary caregivers, but because mesothelioma disease mostly affects seniors, adult children often take on caregiving responsibilities for their parents.

The roles that a mesothelioma caregiver must play often evolve over the course of their loved one’s disease. The cancer is highly aggressive, and the symptoms intensify rapidly after diagnosis. Chest pain, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue can become so disabling in the later stages of mesothelioma that caregivers must step in and help with daily tasks.

Common Duties of a Mesothelioma Caregiver:

• Helping the patient make and get to doctor’s appointments
• Filling and administering the patient’s prescriptions
• Guiding the patient through hygienic activities such as showering and getting dressed
• Assisting the patient with comfortably resting and moving around the house
• Completing basic household duties such as laundry and cooking

In some families, several people pitch in to provide care for the mesothelioma patient. Families also have the option of arranging inpatient health care from a senior caregiving organization if the patient’s condition gets too severe to manage at home. Thankfully, there are many treatment options to reduce or heal symptoms of mesothelioma. From minor surgeries to simple, out-patient procedures performed in a doctor’s office, there are numerous health care options for seniors with mesothelioma.

The process can be difficult – for both the patient and the caregivers – but many patients successfully receive at-home assistance from their loved ones.

How Caregivers’ Coping Mechanisms Impact their Experience

The pressure of providing care to a terminal cancer patient often leads mesothelioma caregivers to develop coping mechanisms. Many of these habits are mental – and a recent study found that certain negative coping strategies are associated with increased stress and even negative health outcomes.

According to the study, which appears in Supportive Care in Cancer, three negative expectation coping strategies are most associated with emotional and psychological distress: worrying, expecting the worst and getting nervous.

Although caregivers often unconsciously engage in these behaviors, there are easy ways to counteract the detrimental habits.

Coping Strategies for Caregivers:

Focus on the positive. Caregivers who anticipate poor outcomes are only adding to their stress. You may think that you are only being realistic – but even with mesothelioma, this is not always the case. Patients are continually sharing stories of how they beat their prognosis by months or even years – sometimes without a scientific explanation. There’s no reason that the next mesothelioma patient to defy expectations couldn’t be your loved one.

Acknowledge – then dismiss – your worries. It’s easy to panic about your loved one’s diagnosis. It’s also easy to worry that you’re not doing enough to help or that you’re abandoning your other duties. However, these worries are often unfounded. Recognize worrisome thoughts as they pop into your head, and employ healthy ways to process them.

Use healthy coping mechanisms to calm your nerves. When fear arises, look for a healthy coping mechanism to dissipate the nervousness. Different techniques may work for different people – don’t fret if one does not work for you! Yoga, meditation, massage therapy, support groups and counseling can all help calm your worries – and provide some valuable personal time in the process.

These strategies can help alleviate psychological distress in caregivers, but they may also enhance the efficacy of clinical interventions. Caregivers can yield “stronger, long-lasting benefits” by redirecting their coping mechanisms – ultimately benefiting both themselves and the patient.

The on-going story of the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has captured us all.  I am fascinated by the way in which her remarkable comeback from the bullet wound to her brain seems to be fueled in equal parts by her determination and by the family and friends who have rallied to her bedside.

It’s an important lesson for all caregivers: your presence, just being there and doing small things, is important in the healing of the patient.

Let’s be clear that healing doesn’t mean the same thing as cure.  Of course we would cure our loved ones if we could.  We would restore them to their original state of health before they were injured or became ill.  Healing is a different idea, meaning to bring about a wholeness, or a recovery of a portion of the patient’s self.

Congresswoman Giffords will probably carry the physical effects of her wound with her for the rest of her life, but she can heal from the effects of it.  That includes not just the healing of tissue affected by the wound and surgery, but an internal healing as well.  That internal healing is spiritual and emotional, and ultimately leads to acceptance of her life as it will be moving forward.

Patients need a loved one like you to support them, to cheer them on in their healing efforts, and sometimes, they need you just to simply be with them.

ABC Evening News ran a piece last year that looked at the role of loved ones in healing and recovery.  The bottom line is that your presence, love, support and being with the patient, is key to the healing and recovery process.

Bob Woodruff, an ABC correspondent who was critically injured while covering the war in Iraq said that he is sure his remarkably swift recovery was due to the presence of his wife and family at his bedside.  “I wasn’t able to respond, but I knew they were there, whispering in my ear, holding my hand, rubbing my feet,” he said.

I can see why a medical person, who must have measurable outcomes, might balk at the idea that the mere presence of a loved one by a patient’s bed would change anything.  But I’m an experienced caregiver and I know how powerful the presence of a loved one can be, just being there for the patient.

So don’t wonder whether you should take time out of your busy schedule to spend time sitting with your loved one.  Just do it!  Whispered words of affection or forgiveness, a hand held, a song shared—these all are the tools of healing, which we can all use on behalf of our loved ones.

It is becoming widely accepted that the health of the caregiver has a great deal to do with the health of the patient.  If the caregiver is suffering from psychological or physical problems, then the quality of care given declines.

Now there’s a new study that expands that idea as reported in the June 2011 issue of “Health Psychology”, the American Psychological Association’s journal.  The study looked at more than 1,700 couples ranging in age from 76 to 90.  They found a strong correlation between what they describe as depressive symptoms and functional or physical limitations within the couples.  Previous studies had found the linkage in individuals.  This is the first time that it’s been shown to affect partners.

The problem is the “chicken or the egg” issue at its core:  physical limitations such as not being able to shop for groceries and cook meals lead to depressive symptoms such as unhappiness, loneliness and restlessness.  At the same time, depressive symptoms cause individuals to limit their physical activities.  Which comes first?  The answer doesn’t really matter if you’re a caregiver.  What is important is the understanding that the physical and emotional state of one partner in a long-term relationship can affect the other partner as well.

            “When people are depressed, they tend to want to stay at home—but that causes a spouse to stay home more too,” one of the researchers said.  “That’s a problem, because when older adults stop being active—going for walks, socializing, shopping—they risk losing that functional ability.  These findings help to illuminate the often vicious cycle between depressive symptoms and our physical abilities.”

If you’re a caregiver experiencing depressive symptoms because of limitations to your physical activity, take action!  Find a way to get out for exercise and socialize on a regular basis.  In addition to being a good way to relieve the effects of stress, you can now see how doing something social or active will help relieve those unhappy feelings that come about because of physical inactivity.

If you’re caring for your parents and see the cycle at work with them, take action!  Find ways to get activity into your parents’ lives.  This may mean a move to a retirement or assisted living community where there are lots of social and physical activities, or it may mean that you’ll have to devise a plan for getting your folks out more often to shop, to exercise, to go to dinner or a movie.

In either case, the solution requires action on the part of the caregiver.  The cycle won’t break itself—it’s up to you.