Practical guides for the parts of caregiving nobody hands you a manual for. The money, the paperwork, the hospital, and the equipment.
Every one of these came out of doing it badly first. They are written to be read at eleven at night by someone who is tired, so they are short on inspiration and long on what to actually do next.
Can You Be Paid as a Family Caregiver?
Yes, sometimes, and almost nobody looks into it. Medicaid self-direction, three separate VA programs, long term care policies, and why a written care agreement matters even inside a family. Starts with one phone call.
What Caregiving Actually Costs, and How to Track It
Roughly seven thousand dollars a year of your own money, and most of it never gets written down. Where it goes, the cost that never appears on a receipt, and a tracking method that takes twelve seconds at a time.
Why Medical Equipment Claims Get Denied
Walkers, wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen. Most denials are about paperwork rather than whether the item was needed, which means most of them can be fixed. The five real reasons, the appeal deadlines, and three questions to ask before you leave the doctor’s office.
The Hospital Go Bag
Two lists, one for the patient and one for you. The second is the one people forget, and it is the reason caregivers end up sitting for fourteen hours in the clothes they answered the door in.
The stories behind them
If you would rather read something than do something tonight, these are the longer pieces.