Anita Ojeda 
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The best gifts for cancer caregivers (or any caregiver) aren’t what you think. They don’t involve extravagant gestures or lots of money.
Who Knew Babysitting Could be One of the Best Gifts for Cancer Caregivers?
The best gift my parents gave me during our cancer year went above and beyond babysitting. My parents went on standby mode when Pedro relapsed after three weeks of remission. Within hours of his life flight to San Francisco from Montana, they packed up their belongings in Washington and started driving. They moved into our house and took over caring for our children for weeks at a time when Pedro needed me in San Francisco. My parents, both former teachers, stepped in as substitutes for Pedro and me at our teaching jobs.
Surrogate parents, substitutes in the classroom, and preparers of healthy meals; my parents are rock stars. I can never thank them enough for all they did during that challenging year.
Not everyone can help a cancer caregiver out in such a big way. But little ways matter, too. If you know someone going through cancer, take a moment to consider one of these best gifts for cancer caregivers. In fact, you can help any caregiver at Christmas with one of these gifts of time and service.
Show Notes
If you’re a caregiver, listen to this episode to find out why you need to take care of yourself.
Tips for Self-Care for Caregivers from the Happy, Healthy Caregiver.
Hope for Caregivers from Psalm 91.
Six Self-Care Hacks for Caregivers.
How to Identify and Cope with Caregiver Fatigue.
Eight Self-Care Hacks for Handling Caregiver Burnout
Check out my blog’s Health(er) Eating section for tasty, healthy recipes! If you love all things pumpkin, you might enjoy this recipe for pumpkin scones or this one for pumpkin waffles.
Tips for preparing meals for someone with low white blood cell counts (neutropenic diet).
Come Back Next Week
Join me next week when I interview William Daniel about his recently published joke book.
Do you know a caregiver? Check this out to find ways you can help a caregiver at Christmas! #caregiver #giftideas #selfcarehackspodcast Click To Tweet- Welcome to the Inspire Me Monday Community! The link-up opens Sundays at 4 pm, Arizona time.
- Link up your family-friendly inspirational posts (no more than two, please).
- Visit the person who links up BOTH before you and after you and leave a comment. This helps keep our community vibrant!
These are great suggestions Anita!
The greatest blessing I had when I was going through caregiving for my late hubby with brain cancer was a friend came & did my washing & ironing for me when I was with Ed at the hospital.
And her husband & another friend chopped & stacked wood for my wood heater so I had a good supply of wood to keep me warm at night when I came back from the hospital.
These were absolutely invaluable & precious gifts at the time.
Blessings, Jennifer
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What wonderful friends! I had someone offer to do my laundry, but I wasn’t comfortable with that person doing something so personal for me. But I certainly appreciated the sentiment!
Anita Ojeda recently posted…Two Perfect Inspirational Fiction Gift Ideas for Christmas
Anita,
These are such wonderful ideas. My dad and step-mom both received a cancer diagnosis this year. Living far from home has been so frustrating but I was able to use Spoonful of Comfort to deliver a tasty meal when neither of them had energy or time.
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Anita, reading about how your parents stepped in to cover for you at work and at home touched me. They are rock stars.
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They are, indeed! I want to be like them when I grow up!
Anita Ojeda recently posted…You Won’t Want to Miss the Best Inspiring Fiction Books of 2022!
This was wonderful. Many helpful tips we can all use at Christmas and all year long to bless a caregiver. Anita, you have much wisdom and insight and I appreciate that you share it!
Aww, thank you, Joanne!
Anita Ojeda recently posted…Two Perfect Inspirational Fiction Gift Ideas for Christmas
You have great caregiver ideas, Anita! I think a combination of giving and asking the caregiver what they need are important. Say I would like to do this, but is there something specific that would be a blessing?
When my dad was dying at Christmas time (many years ago), people were so generous to bring food. The challenge was everyone brought meat. We were so happy when somebody asked us what food they could bring and we said vegetables, please bring several vegetables to go with the meat we received. Another person brought banana pudding.
We were so thankful that we didn’t have to cook at such a stressful time where most of our day was spent in the hospital. Blessing caregivers with a meal is a huge blessing!
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Asking is sooo important, isn’t it?! We’re vegetarian, so meat dishes would have stressed me out ;). Other people gave beautiful things like a certificate for a one-hour massage, or offered to drive us to and from the airport (Pedro received treatment over a thousand miles away).
Anita Ojeda recently posted…You Won’t Want to Miss the Best Inspiring Fiction Books of 2022!
What a blessing to have such parents who were willing and able to come to your aid.
P.S. Are you and Pedro the only two teachers in your little school?
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