Hello --

I have been working with Parkinson's patient with his daily living for about 3 yrs now. I work with him anywhere from 6 hrs/day to full-time. He has had PD for 13 years or so. I manage his medications for him (ordering, refilling pill boxes, reminding him when to take them, etc.), take him to doctor appointments, research alternative therapies and treatments coming down the pipeline, and manage his calendar. Among other things, I convinced him to take Tai Chi a couple of years ago to help with his balance, stability & muscle strength.

I am not related to him though I care for him as deeply as if we were and I live probably 30 minutes away. There are two elements to my exhaustion:

1) I worry about him when I am not there. One reason is because he gets "ambitious" to do things, forgets to use his walker & ends up falling. His wife is rather "absent" from the situation which leaves me to take him to physical therapies to recover from injuries sustained from falling. (thankfully nothing has broken yet!)

2) Though I have implemented for him (and for myself) multiple reminders for daily tasks (ie: when he takes his meds, what he takes at those times, when to reorder his meds, when to refill his pill boxes, when he has appts, etc.) I find that my mind is always fretting that I've forgotten something -- and I fear that will lead to something disasterous.

Even when I am not there physically with him, my mind is still occupied with how to help him & worry for his personal safety. I do get exhausted -- and I dread the day I receive a phone call that he is in the hospital.

How can I mentally settle this down so that I can rest?

I can't give you any advice I'm afraid, but I saw this was your first post and I wanted to welcome you to NeuroTalk.

Incase you haven't found the Parkinson's Forum yet, here's the direct link. http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum34.html

Please drop by and introduce yourself. I'm sure you'll find some sympathetic ears over there.

Thanks... I will try to chat w/some folks over there.

I think that I probably just needed to vent a bit...

welcome LG to NeuroTalk ... there are lots of supportive and helpful people here at NT ... i am a caregiver also ... my husband has MS ... just because we caregivers don't have the illness doesn't mean it doesn't affect us ... we are very much affected and venting is sometimes needed just to stay on task ... talk with some at parkinson forum and also check out the other forums and jump in where you feel comfortable ... again ...

Have you tried taking some drawing or painting classes? Even though you feel you have zero talent, you will benefit because your brain will concentrate on something so different, on different problems that will take you to a different world. I have heard students say that their art class is their yoga for their brain and they feel exhausted at the end of the class and at the same time a joy that is difficult to describe. Their drawing/painting class is the highlight of their week.