I was invited out for a bite to eat this week prior to my weekly band practice (that I never miss under any circumstances). The problem was that the social event would’ve started at exactly the time my daughter arrives to relieve me for the evening, so I could possibly make it a few minutes late, but I just kept thinking there’s just no way I can come down from my caregiver role within minutes to sit down for a relaxed snack with friends. This came up a number of weeks ago when we had visitors descend on us for a meal. The others were sitting around, acting as if life was normal and I realized I was so wound up and still running on the stress treadmill of caregiving and loss and grief that I basically wasn’t even present. It’s a filter that I look at the world through these days and I’m starting to realize that it’s on 24/7. There must be some long-term cost to having this stress energy in your body all day every day.
Yes there is ,,, my blood pressure got to a high where my vision became blurry! Didn’t realize the toll around care giving complete with dementia takes on a caregiver .
That’s a hazard… yikes. The trick to try to prevent the monster from claiming two victims. Hope you’re doing ok now.