Hello, everyone!
It's so good to find this community of caregivers. My 71 year old husband survived a brain infection and ischemic stroke 3.5 years ago. He came home to me (55 years old) and our daughter (16 years old) after nearly 6 months in the hospital and rehab with severely limited mobility, unclear speech, and a modest amount of cognitive impairment.
Since his return home, we've been lucky enough to put an accessible first floor bedroom/bath suite addition onto the house which has made some of life's logistics easier. However, managing his complex medical care while also raising our teenager as virtually a single parent has taken its toll on me. Thankfully, I have an outstanding circle of parent friends, so that aspect of life is more manageable, even if it's sad that he can't be an engaged parent. But, as a "young" spouse to a disabled partner, I find there are few who relate to our circumstances. When he was hospitalized and in rehab, friends were phenomenal. They visited him regularly, dropped of meals for me and our daughter, and helped me out with home maintenance. But, once he was home, they ghosted us. To be fair, he came home literally just weeks before COVID changed everything for everyone, but even now with the pandemic more or less under control, his/our friends are MIA. And, while I recognize that everyone's got something going on in their lives, it's still hard and hurtful to feel forgotten or actively avoided.
Anyway, I'm glad and relieved to have connected with this group of caregivers. I look forward to learning lots from you all, and I hope to contribute to the community learning and support, too.
