Caregiving When You Have PsA

Let's face it we are all getting older. Having psoriatic arthritis when your body is getting older is definitely not any fun. When you add on top of that having to take care of two aging mothers it makes it even harder. William and I are blessed to still have our mothers. They are 69 and 70. His mother has been blessed with good health until recently. My mother is the exact opposite. She had to have a mechanical valve put in her heart several years ago. She also has other health conditions. When all of this happened I was working. It was before psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis had started. Now my psoriatic arthritis is a major issue in my life. However, that does not stop the fact that when it comes to these two women and their care as they age, I am the one going to all these doctor's appointments with them causing psoriatic arthritis to not be my friend as if it ever was.

Providing care for my mother-in-law

My mother-in-law is the older of the two women by only a year. She has been in great health until this past year. So great of health that the only time she had been in the hospital was to have her four children. Fast forward to 2018 and that suddenly changed. Every three months she saw her primary care doctor just as a follow-up. All the checkups were fine until October. We go to see the doctor as usual. She drew blood each time as a means to check if there was anything going on that we were unaware of. This is where it all started. The next day we get a phone call saying she needs to go to the hospital immediately. The problem was her red blood cell count was almost non-existent. She would need three bags of blood and two bags of iron. That lead to four days of a hospital stay which eventually lead to surgery. I was with her the whole time.

Caregiving for my mother

As I stated my mother has had health issues for several years now. From the heart valve I mentioned to a bad fall that she took about four months ago down a flight of steps causing a bad head injury, it seems like it has been one thing after the other. Now she is facing yet another surgery. This current surgery is to repair a compression fracture in her back that apparently also happened when she took that fall. It is making it hard for her to stand and walk. I am already dreading the fact of another hospital stay. I know what the hard hospital furniture will mean when it comes to my psoriatic arthritis. Do not get me wrong. There is no way I am letting her go through this alone. It is a proven fact that people do better when a loved one stays with them because the nurses cannot be everywhere at once. Besides that, I want to make sure she is getting the best care possible.

Caregiving with psoriatic arthritis

I have had psoriatic arthritis for seven years now. It has gotten worse over the years. When you add anything stressful like having to stay in a hospital and that added stress level it is going to affect psoriatic arthritis. I already know this. I make sure when anything like this comes up I try to limit that effect. I bring my pillows from home. Extra blankets in case it is cold. The pillows I can use during the day to add support to my back. The blankets keep the cold from getting through so my body doesn't tense up. One other thing I bring with me is my mp3 player. When I know whichever one that I am helping to care for goes to sleep I put my music on and try to relax. I follow that up with a shower to truly help relax my body. I cannot let the psoriatic arthritis be a hindrance in my role as a caregiver where these two lovely ladies are concerned. Is there more I could do to make psoriatic arthritis not as bad? If you have been through similar circumstances I would love to hear your suggestions on how to cope with psoriatic arthritis.