What I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Became My Mother’s Caregiver
There are moments in life that divide your story into two parts: before and after. For me, becoming my mother’s caregiver was one of those moments. No one handed me a manual. There wasn’t a class that prepared me for watching the woman who had always been so strong slowly become dependent on me. I wasn’t prepared for the doctor’s appointments, the medications, the paperwork, the difficult decisions, or the emotional roller coaster that came with loving someone through illness. When my mother was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in 2022, I did what so many daughters do—I stepped in because I loved her. I told myself, “I can handle this.” And for a while, I did. But caregiving has a way of quietly becoming your entire life. One doctor’s appointment turned into many. One overnight stay turned into weeks of sleepless nights. One responsibility became dozens. Before I knew it, I wasn’t just my mother’s daughter anymore. I had become her nurse. Her advocate. Her appointment sc...