{"id":3457,"date":"2015-11-30T16:21:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T23:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darngoodlemonade.com\/?p=3457"},"modified":"2015-12-06T14:41:21","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T21:41:21","slug":"mike-responds-for-national-caregivers-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.darngoodlemonade.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/30\/mike-responds-for-national-caregivers-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Responds for National Caregivers Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read a lovely post that Ann had her husband write<\/a>\u00a0for National Caregivers Month (November) and thought I would have Mike do a written interview to close out the month (since he is my day to day caregiver). I have family and friends who bust their chops to all help Mike, which is awesome. So you all should have celebrated the entire month of November, sorry I am forgetting to tell you until the last day. <3<\/em><\/p>\n

I sent Mike the interview questions, act like I am a totally pro interviewer and have a degree in journalism, obviously I don’t, marketing and business things… so bear with me. \ud83d\ude00<\/em><\/p>\n

Question 1 –\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Hi, you appear to be married to Mandi, what is it like to be married to such an amazing woman?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pretty much the best thing ever. She keeps me motivated and continues to be my source of inspiration in just about everything I do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question 2 –\u00a0<\/strong>What is one of your favorite memories together?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a hard one, I have so many favorite memories with Mandi, it’s impossible to decide. But if I have to pick, then it has to be the day we got married, her vows just about brought me to tears. I knew at that very moment, she was the one for me, and I was incredibly lucky to find her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"weddingvows\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 3 –\u00a0<\/strong>What was it like to find out Mandi had cancer (the first and second time)?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The first time I didn’t know what to think. I was scared, but at that time my understanding of breast cancer was pretty minimal. I just took it one day at time. The second time she was diagnosed I felt like someone put my heart through a blender. It feels like a big part of me is being taken away, and I can do nothing about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question 4 – What is being a caregiver like? What does being a caregiver mean to you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is very difficult. I never know what is the right thing to say, and if I am coming off insensitive or too sensitive over simple issues. I constantly keep my emotions in check to appear stronger than I am, then when she is not looking, I go cry in a corner. Being a caregiver means you need to put the person you love and are caring for first above anything else in your life. Being a caregiver is more about being a good listener, than having the right answer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0261\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 5 – What advice would you give to the husband of someone recently diagnosed with breast cancer?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen, don’t talk. Never say, “Everything is going to be ok!”. You are not a doctor nor can you see the future, so don’t set yourself up for disappointment. Be realistic without being painfully realistic. Being a caregiver does not mean you are supposed to have all the answers. Being a caregiver means you are there to do whatever you can possibly do to make that person’s life more comfortable and loving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question 6 – What do you do to make sure you take care of yourself in the middle of your wife\u2019s treatment?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This part I am not so good at. I should be talking to someone about my troubles and stop having so much pride about my emotions. I don’t care how tough you are, when you are losing the most important thing in your life, it’s going to sting a bit. Talk to people, don’t bottle it up or it just gets worse. This is something I really need to work on.<\/span><\/p>\n

(This was a trick question! Ha! I was reminding Mike he needs to take care of himself in disguise of questions about caregiving)<\/em><\/p>\n

Question 7 – If caregivers had a theme song, what would that theme song be?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With a little help from my friends – The Beatles (Or Joe Cocker?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Question 8 – How do you manage to stay so darn handsome?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well besides my wife and my mom telling me this. I honestly didn’t know I was that handsome of a fellow. I am a bit of a computer nerd, so one theory is the glow coming from my monitor acts as some mystical beautification device? I do exercise regularly. And by exercise I mean play video games. That has to be it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Question 9 – Anything else you would like to add?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are a caregiver, you are doing something amazing. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, you are escentially a caregiver for two people, your spouse and yourself. Don’t give up!<\/span><\/p>\n

Caregivers are the best, they have a tough job. I am not sure how I would handle wearing Mike’s shoes, but they are a pair of shoes I love and adore (luckily he does not have stinky feet).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read a lovely post that Ann had her husband write\u00a0for National Caregivers Month (November) and thought I would have Mike do a written interview to close out the month (since he is my day to day caregiver). I have family and friends who bust their chops to all help Mike, which is awesome. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice","category-life"],"yoast_head":"\r\nMike Responds for National Caregivers Month<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"November is National Caregivers Month, and Mike responded to my super professional interview questions about what it is like to be a caregiver.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darngoodlemonade.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/30\/mike-responds-for-national-caregivers-month\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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