Where are you located?
Currently Saint Petersburg, Florida but headed to Portland, Maine
Where did your veteran receive the majority of their medical treatment?
Togus VA, Augusta Maine and Bay Pines VA Saint Petersburg, Fl
Which branch of service is your family affiliated with?
My husband was a sergeant in the Army and I am an officer in the Air Force reserves
Please share how you came to be a caregiver
My husband was injured in Iraq in 2004, he sustained a TBI with epilepsy while patrolling with his unit. His convoy was hit with a grenade and IED. I have been a nurse and continue to work as one along with working as an RN and officer in the Air Force Reserves.
How has caregiving impacted your day to day routine and your personal life?
Being a caregiver has changed how we navigate things. My husband’s memory is really bad. We work with a system to help us daily so he is able to complete tasks, such as a large task board and Google calendars. This allows us to live a little more normally and allows me to still continue to work, although I do work from home.
Besides caring for your veteran, what other interests/jobs/passions do you pursue now? What are your personal interests?
I love to run and read.
How has QoLF helped you to renew your passion in your interests or to change something to improve your quality of life?
With Quality of Life we are able to move back home and closer to family. With a little girl and another on the way having all the help we can get is such a blessing. They have been absolutely amazing in making this happen.
Do you have a favorite inspirational or motivational quote?
“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
What advice would you give a new caregiver?
To ask for help and to seek and keep asking if you cannot find what you are looking for. Navigating the VA and other military services can be very challenging and when you do not know where to start it can be even more frustrating. Asking questions and never giving up is what we found worked for us.
What would you like to tell the average American?
That although we live life in a lot of ways differently then many other people we are still very much the same. I have friends that tell me there is no way they could do it all but you do, you just adapt and work through it.