{"id":1397,"date":"2017-10-05T16:27:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T20:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2017-10-05T16:27:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T20:27:50","slug":"when-a-doctor-becomes-a-caregiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/when-a-doctor-becomes-a-caregiver\/","title":{"rendered":"When a Doctor Becomes a Caregiver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Quratulain Syed, MD<\/span>
\nAssistant Professor of Medicine<\/span>
\nDivision of General Medicine and Geriatrics<\/span>
\nEmory University School of Medicine<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Late last year, I encountered the realities of caregiving personally. Although my father had officially retired, he was still working as a professional banker at the time he was diagnosed with an advanced cancer. I have over 6 years of experience practicing geriatric medicine, where I am used to giving bad news to patients and caregivers, and lecturing caregivers on caregiver stress.\u00a0 However, none of this had prepared me for the roller coaster ride awaiting me and my family during my father\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n

I was lucky to have the privilege of playing the \u201cdoctor card\u201d as a caregiver.\u00a0 I got consultative advice from colleagues and friends whenever I needed it, and had access to medical experts who were beyond supportive and courteous in providing care to my father. Despite all of this, however, my administrative assistant\u2019s comment that \u201cyou are falling apart\u201d truly expressed my state of mind. The last six months of my father\u2019s life gave me an in-depth view of the invaluable role of caregivers, who navigate a very complex health care system, often without having a medical background.<\/p>\n

In this blog, I\u2019d like to share a few tips from caregivers\u2019 literature, which I found helpful:<\/p>\n