Jennifer C.
When Jennifer’s mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Jennifer immediately recognized that she would take on the caregiving role. Caring for her mother felt like a natural extension of the care her parents had given her throughout her life. Because of the...Basiliso
Basiliso has been a caregiver since his parents began to age. In 2019, his mother broke her ankle and was placed in a care home, where her health continued to decline. Basiliso brought her into his home so he could provide the care she needed until she passed away in...Abby
Abby, a social worker from Maryland, began her caregiving journey at the age of nine when her grandmother suffered a brain aneurysm. By the time Abby turned 11, she became her grandma’s primary caregiver.
Yang | Pleasanton, California
Caring for her son who had a heart transplant
Abena | Washington, DC
Providing care for husband with brain cancer
Yang
Yang has been caring for her son who was diagnosed with chronic heart failure at a young age. After several surgeries as a child, her son received a heart transplant in 2018 at the age of 15. Yang believes that caring for his chronic heart condition prepared her...
Omar
Omar has been through a rough experience caring for his wife, who received a heart and kidney transplant. He has supported her through everything and helps her with whatever she needs. This has been especially challenging because Omar worked in Georgia during the...
Nancy
Nancy began caring for her husband about eight years ago when a routine blood test diagnosed him with early-stage blood cancer. The doctor informed Nancy’s husband that his best hope for longevity was a stem cell transplant, so he went on the waitlist. There was a lot...
Lorraine
Lorraine became the caregiver for her adult niece when she was diagnosed with liver cancer and then hepatic encephalopathy. Her niece’s daughter and ex-husband lived in different states, but Lorraine was only a few hundred miles away, so she traveled to be with her...
Jesus
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
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...
Ira
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...
Hailey
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...
Georgette
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,...
Allen
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...
Claire
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...