Last weekend, I had a painful wake-up call. I fell headfirst in a parking lot. While I was able to walk away under my own power, I could have been paralyzed instead. It didn’t dawn on me until several hours later, that I had never addressed contingency planning for being unable to serve as a primary caregiver, either temporarily or permanently.
As a health professional, most of my focus has been on making sure my loved ones have everything in order (e.g., advance directives, will, durable power of attorney, etc.). Even though I make an effort to practice good self-care to remain healthy, I guess I never expected the unexpected to happen to me. Maybe it’s just the circumstances or my mindset. If I were a parent of minor children, I would naturally have included planning for guardianship, should I die or become incompacitated.
Still, it’s not easy as a caregiver, to have this kind of discussion. In my opinion, the biggest hurdle is the issue of nursing home placement. We can’t truly promise that will never be needed…as long as unexpected injury or illness is possible.
Perhaps my experience will help other caregivers be proactive about contingency planning. May you be safe and enjoy good health.
