Cancer never strikes at a good time, but for Seth Goldsmith and his wife, the diagnosis occurred at a particularly poignant moment — their twentieth wedding anniversary.
For the next five and a half years, Seth and Sandra struggled with hope, disappointment, fifty hospital admissions, two other major surgeries, countless minor procedures, and two changes of physicians. And throughout those years until her death, they had to function as a family; work, pay bills, go to school, be effective parents to two teenage son, assist aging parents and a disabled sibling—in other words, live life. For significant periods during those years, Seth became Sandra’s primary caregiver.
In an article published in Today’s Caregiver, he shares observations on effective caregiving for a loved one.