(3) Ironically when I quit my job to take care of my mom, i didn’t realize being a “caregiver” was a legit thing. I certainly wouldn’t consider what i was doing “funemployment” but it wasn’t exactly a career kickstarter either. Many people didn’t understand the decision in the first place and even more don’t understand what’s taking me so long to get back to the real world now that she’s gone. While I would joke about it often (because what else can you do?) only one person was ever ignorant enough to call me a freeloader which was pretty shitty but at the time they didn’t know a fraction of the stuff I was doing. Trust me, no twenty-something wants to not only live at home with their parents but also indefinitely post-pone their entire future. It wasn’t until a couple months before my mom passed that one of the nurses informed us that I could be getting paid for the “work” I was doing for her. We never ended up finishing the paperwork and while I certainly could have used the help, I fortunately didn’t have many bills to put me under and had a decent savings to fall back on. Thank God the crew remained healthy and, as much as I didn’t want to take advantage, I was lucky to have TBone and my parent’s support if needed. I mention this not for sympathy but because I think it is important to share: If someone you know is receiving certain home-care nursing services, their full-time caregiver may be eligible to get paid for the work they are doing. Ask around. They may have to jump through a few hoops but what else is new? The patient’s social worker, doctors or nurses should be able to point you in the right direction.
Kommentarer