Jesus is a care partner for his younger sister, who, after visits to several doctors was diagnosed with kidney disease. She was told that she would need a kidney transplant. Jesus’ mom is older and was already dealing with some health complications of her own. That...
Jeanne has been caring for her daughter since she was very young. As a child, a viral infection attacked her daughter’s heart, causing her to need a heart transplant; in 2020 as a young adult, Jeanne’s daughter needed a kidney transplant as well. Jeanne has been her...
When Ira met his wife, Glenda, she had manageable Type 1 diabetes. Their relationship began as a care partnership, where Ira would attend his wife’s doctor’s appointments and would help her manage her chronic disease. Increasing complications with her diabetes...
When Hailey’s daughter was born, Hailey instantly became a caregiver. Upon her daughter’s birth, doctors had to remove about 98 percent of her intestines, and only gave her a few weeks to live. They did not explore any options on how to help her. Hailey and her...
A few years ago, Georgette’s sister started experiencing medical complications. While Georgette lived in New York City, her sister and her family lived in Atlanta, where her husband worked. It was decided that the medical complications were serious enough that...
Cody is a caregiver for his young daughter, who was born eight weeks early with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease. Doctors told Cody and his family that she would eventually need a liver transplant, and in the meantime performed a surgery that was able to delay...
Brian was the caregiver for his wife, who needed a kidney transplant a few years ago. While they were engaged, Brian’s wife went into septic shock due to kidney failure, and that, combined with her pre-existing Type 1 Diabetes, led to high blood pressure and...
Albert cares for his partner, who has received a kidney transplant and was undergoing dialysis when he and Albert started dating. Albert knew going into the relationship that he would be a part of his partner’s care team one day. Albert’s partner was able to remain...
Abena’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013, shortly after she became pregnant with their first child. Her husband lived with his tumor for a little over four years before passing away. Abena did almost everything for him, from managing his medication...
Maggie has been a caregiver for both her husband and her son, both of whom had blood cancer. While her husband was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014, her son was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2019 and ended up needing a bone marrow transplant....
Myra is a care partner to her husband, who was diagnosed with lung cancer about a year ago. She and her husband are a team, so Myra never questioned that she would be the one helping with his care. She’s also never considered the term “caregiver” to apply to her,...
In 2016, Allen and his wife adopted three sibling sisters from India and began the process of building a loving home. Tragedy struck in 2018 when Allen’s wife discovered that she had Stage IV cancer. Sadly, after a short but “hard shot” battle, she passed away in...
Melanie is a member of the Millie Lacs Band of Ojibwe in the Minnesota region. Previously, she cared for her mother, who had dementia and related health conditions, and her sister, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Currently, she cares for her brother, who has...
Pedro is originally from Brazil, and moved to the United States when he was 21. While he lived in Brazil, he was a caregiver from the age of 12 for his grandmother, who had pulmonary fibrosis. Pedro was one of several family members who cared for his grandmother, but...
Sanary is a Cambodian American who moved with her family to the United States at a young age as a refugee. As the daughter in a refugee family, she feels she has filled the role of caregiver all her life, starting by acting as the English translator and interpreter...
Rob was in a car accident years ago, which means Brenda normally has to take him to doctor appointments and help him with his medication. In addition to Rob’s medical condition, the couple care for their daughter and grandson, whom they often help through daily life....
Gina cares for four people in total: two of her five children and both of her parents. Gina has a 14-year-old son with undiagnosed schizophrenia and diabetes, an 11-year-old son with autism, a father with heart disease, and a mother recovering from a brain tumor....
With a background in special education, Veronica had wanted to take care of a child with special needs, and she was quickly matched with Elena, who has cerebral palsy. When Veronica married, she trained her sister Giselle to take her place as Elena’s carer, but still...
When Rey immigrated from the Philippines in 1989 as a teen, he made his home in Los Angeles, earned his MBA, and worked in biotech at a Fortune 500 company. In 2014, Rey’s father had a stroke, and Rey left LA for to St. Louis to take care of him. Rey now lives with...
Karen has the mindset that you do what you can to help family, so she began to do the shopping and other small tasks for her mother in 2010. In addition, Karen has a background in finance, so she helped her mother, aunt, and uncle with their finances. By 2016, Mimi...
Claire’s husband was diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy several years ago, leading to the eventual need for a heart transplant, which he has now received. Claire did not become his care partner immediately upon diagnosis because he was still very fit and active,...
Gwendolyn’s wife has lupus and other related diagnoses, and Gwendolyn has been caring for her for the past ten years. Neither Gwendolyn nor her wife have received many resources or much information on the disease, and Gwendolyn herself is rarely recognized as the care...
Harold was a primary caregiver for his mother, who was diagnosed with chronic adult leukemia. His mother’s care consisted of an extensive support system including Harold’s boyfriend, sister, father and a series of home health aides. Significantly, Harold had...
Hernan is a support person for a friend with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease whom he met through his job as a social worker at the Queens Center for Gay Seniors. Hernan does not consider himself a caregiver for his friend but acts more as an individual in a...
Martha is the care partner to her wife, who was diagnosed in late 2016 with stage 4 metastatic lung adenocarcinoma. At the initial diagnosis, the resources provided to Martha by the medical team as a care partner were minimal. Martha, who is a licensed clinical social...
Nia has been a caregiver for her husband since 2019. Her husband has been diagnosed with heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, kidney failure, high cholesterol, and is blind. Nia was engaged when her husband’s health began failing, so she married him with the...
Paurvi was a caregiver for both her mother and her father. While her father had Alzheimer’s, her mom had many conditions, including lung disease that turned into lung cancer, which originated from cervical cancer. Paurvi’s parents immigrated from India, and being...
Pierre is caring for his wife, who was diagnosed with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer. This diagnosis came as a shock because Pierre’s wife has no known risk factors for lung cancer. Because Pierre was a physician and had his wife’s permission to speak with...
Terrence was a co-caregiver with his sister for his mother, who had heart disease. When she ended up needing triple-bypass surgery, Terrence moved back to Omaha to help take care of her while she was out of work and needed some help. He was a younger caregiver at this...
Zuzette and TeriLynne are from the Gila River Indian Community and have cared for their aging parents, as well as their own children, two of whom have chronic conditions. Zuzette is the primary caregiver for her and TeriLynne’s mother, and supported their mother in...
