My maternal grandma is 103 years old. In spite of her age, she has always been highly independent and mobile. Able to walk, feed herself and bathe herself etc.
About a week plus ago, she had a fall. She did not want to go to the hospital and the family felt that there was nothing much the doctors could do for her legs. So instead, we took care of her and did energy healing sessions for her.
The pain went away quite quickly and she is up and about. However, the fall took away her mobility ability; she is unable to walk or to go to the toilet by herself. One of us will lift her from her bed to the wheelchair so that she can watch TV in the living room, enjoy her meals, chat with us, or go to the toilet. We also bought a portable loo for the times when she isn't able to 'control' for the distance to the toilet.
We know that it isn't easy for my grandma to lose this independence (she was cooking delicious food up to the age of 80+). Who would?
One afternoon, after I have cleaned her after she has used the portable loo, she told me in dialect: "I am so sorry that you have to do all these for me when you visit me."
My heart broke when I heard that. But I smiled and reassured her that I am happy to be able to help her. She has done so much for us and it is just a small thing.
Dignity. Love. Care.
We ease her feeling of lost dignity with our reassurances of love and care. We also ensure that we give her opportunities to do certain things by herself for example, when we bathe her, we will let her wash her face by herself. We attend to her with appreciation, love and respect in our heart. And I trust that she will feel our heart energy and that it soothe her.
Kudos to my mummy, daddy, uncle and sis who are my grandma's primary caregivers. It isn't easy being a caregiver and they inspire me with their patience and love.
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