The Care of Giving

The Care of Giving (Family In-Home Caregiving) is about in-home caregiving from beginning to end, and was inspired by actual experiences. It expresses how the authoress felt, what she went through, how she survived it, and some tools she learned along the way when she was an health advocate, intensive, progressive and proactive caregiver, 24-7 to her husband for many years, a diabetic with complications, including glaucoma, plus he was among the very few men to have a lump removed from his breast to prevent breast cancer. He is a heart attack and stroke survivor; he was on dialysis, wheelchair bound, bedridden and dementia. Ms. Porter became a certified peritoneal dialysis technician so that her husband could do dialysis at home. "The Care of Giving" is for everyone because life can change in an instant and the face of caregiving has changed considerably over the years. Unfortunately, there are just as many young people as elderly people, disabled and needing assisted living or constant care. Trying to care for a loved one at home who is disabled, chronically or terminally ill is not easy and it is normal for every caregiver to become discouraged and feel overwhelmed at some point. In addition, it has become more difficult and demanding to care for a loved one because nowadays you almost have to be a nurse since the hospital stays are shorter due to costs, insurance (uninsured and underinsured), and budget cuts. Unfortunately, caregivers do not have the training, skills, tools, incentives, days off, or pay that nurses have, so they are already at a great disadvantage. Caregiving is very difficult and caregivers seldom get to enjoy the fruits of their labors therefore Ms. Porter hopes to bring awareness to caregivers' increasing demand as well as the training, tools and support needed to provide the best, affordable, safest, and joyful family in-home caregiving and home healthcare experience possible for the caregiver and their loved one. It takes everything you got to be a caregiver including even temperament, endurance, prayers, patience, survival skills, tenacity, toughness, guts, fearlessness, self-control, boldness, advocacy, kindness, pure heartedness, joy, peace, gentleness, open-mindedness, contentment, honesty, inspiration, love, warm-heartedness, graciousness, and most of all, the love of God. She is also hopeful that "The Care of Giving" will provide the guidance, education, skills, tools and awareness to the labor of caregivers or at least lead them to the resources they need.