A caregiver planner designed for caregivers like me!
A month or so ago, I sat in an ER trying to remember my father-in-law’s health history and struggling to understand what he was trying to tell me so I could relay that information to the nurse. As I sat right beside the “No Cell Phone Use” sign, I texted and called my husband for help repeatedly because I simply didn’t know all the answers.
Being unprepared only added to the stress I was feeling as I sat there wondering what they were going to ask me next.
A week or two later the exact same scenario played out with my mother-in-law.
You would think I had learned my lesson by then.
Usually my husband takes his parents to and from doctor visits or accompanies them to the ER when necessary, but lately, his schedule requires me to do so much more often. In fact, I’ve stepped down from teaching and am homeschooling our younger kids so I am able to be on call at all times.
I just need to be prepared for it.
It’s not easy to remember birthdays, insurance information, medication, past illnesses, surgeries and more when you are in a hurry or stressed or just anything like me on any given day.
Occasionally, I have to think hard about the birthdays of my children. And, two of them have the same one, y’all.
So, remembering the somewhat lengthy list of medical concerns of my in-laws is unlikely at the best of times and impossible at the worst.
To help myself keep things straight, I created a planner in which I could store all the information I need at my fingertips when we visit doctors or talk with home health or go to the pharmacy or…well, the list goes on endlessly.
My husband suggested some of you might be able to use it, too.
I hope that’s true. The planner contains daily, weekly and monthly planner pages with your choice of single or double-page spreads. There are two different templates for the daily and weekly pages as well. In addition, you’ll find pages for personal information and insurance, medical history, medical provider information, medication, and more. In fact, the planner contains more than 50 pages, including journal pages that I created based on my experiences in the past year or so.
For instance, sometimes I find myself laughing at situations or conversations and want to remember those things because, honestly, if we can’t laugh some days, we’ll just cry. I also want to remember stories my in-laws tell so that my kids will remember them one day, too. There are also sweet memories that I don’t want to lose in the midst of the difficult day-to-day so I created a page for those, too.
There’s a daily health and habit tracker, which helps when the doctor asks, “How’s his appetite been?” and allows you to keep track of various vitals.
If you’re like me, in addition to the people you’re caring for, you’re also raising kids of your own. With that in mind, there’s a weekly meal planning page and a shopping list, which comes in handy even if you don’t have kids, because when you’re the caregiver, breakfast, lunch and dinner come around all too quickly sometimes.
The planner comes in 3 different printable PDF sizes, as well as 2 versions of a digital planner complete with links so you can use it in apps like Good Notes.
You can purchase it in my Etsy shop for $14.99, but MississippiMom.com subscribers received a coupon code via email. If you’d like to receive the code so you can buy the planner for only $7.99, simply subscribe below.
Being prepared can help lessen the stress and anxiety we face as caregivers. Here are a few other ways to deal with it!