[Al's Wife]

Oh, Kathy, I so hear your pain. I'm sure all of us caregivers do. It is so difficult to watch our loved ones suffer this awful disease and become less and less able to have quality of life or a "normal" life. And then the guilt that maybe we aren't doing enough or, God forbid, we've taken time out for ourselves.
We are managing this new "norm" but it is definitely a rollercoaster ride. We have gone through so many ups and downs and each morning we just get up and thank God for another day.
My husband and I have been almost "glued" together since he got the awful news last August that he had progressed to AML and had "weeks not months." But he is just finishing cycle 10 of Dacogen and is having transfusions about once a month, for which we feel blessed. And I have finally started to leave his side for a quick trip to the store and to watch my grandchildren play ball. Sometimes he feels like going and sometimes he doesn't.
I certainly have a new respect for all caregivers. This is not a road any of us would have ever chosen for ourselves or our loved ones.
Just hang in there and remember you are just one person and you can't do it all. It's hard for me to ask for help, but I've had to learn to do it, and thakfully, I do have great family and friends that I can call on in a pinch.
God bless you, Kathy, and hang in there. That's all any of us can do.