The Caregivers

Joe Tanner is a natural!  He is the middle child of 8 that together maintained a rigorous schedule of visiting their mom while she was a resident in Senior Living.  So that he could remember his mom he started doing videos with her; to encourage and support others he started a Facebook page group for Caregivers called "You'll Always Be My Mama" that gained a worldwide following.  You have to listen to the podcast to learn why I have come to think of him as the Forest Gump of Caregivers because his Caregiver Personality keeps finding him successes on many different fronts. 

Mike is a 3rd Generation Professional Caregiver who tells the story of his youth growing up and around "Caring" environments.  He shares his Entrepreneurial efforts in other industries before returning to his roots of SeniorLiving and helping other organizations operate successfully before stepping in a CEO/Co-Founder of English Meadows, a small struggling Assisted Living community only to grow it into a successful company and "family" serving more than 500 Seniors all across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Anastasia Valentino is a Millennial Caregiver/Registered Nurse and that was the topic I planned to discuss but that's not how this episode played out.  Anastasia works as an Intensive Care Unit nurse and as it turns out, she is truly a Corona Warrior as she gave me a lesson on what it is like to be on the forefront of Caring directly for people that have been affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.

James might disagree, but he is a Caregiver.  His background is too complex to summarize here but suffice it to see he has been a lifelong leaner and student, an educator, a professional stand-up comedian and now, he is an Certified Dementia Practitioner and person living with Vascular Dementia.  You may never hear a more honest, positive and eloquently expressed perspective of what it is like living with dementia... and having an imaginary Hippopotamus!

Kay is one of my favorite people and she means a lot to me, even though we have only met in person twice!  Widely known as "America's Funniest Stressbuster" Kay earned her chops from real life.  As a successful (and self absorbed) professional touring comedian she returned home for her father's funeral and saw that her mother was also failing in health.  She became her mother's Personal/Family Caregiver for 7 years and was forever changed.  Now she is a successful touring and "Funny Motivational Speaker" and she once rescued me when I felt like an impostor... and she did it again on this podcast  This was a treat and I hope you will enjoy this episode.

Val was recommended to us as a guest because of her true Caregiver Personality and sense of humor from a previous guest of the podcast.  Val is "just" a Caregiver... and that may be one of the greatest compliments I could pay a person because she offered some incredibly insightful and helpful commentary on what it is like to truly Care for others!

Pam brings over 20 years' experience in family and professional caregiver education.  Having engaged and trained thousands of care-partners and organizations, she is passionate about helping others embrace positive change. She is privileged to lead and direct a fast-growing company providing programs such as Dementia Live™ a high impact, dementia simulation experience that immerses participants into life with dementia, resulting in a deeper understanding of what it's like to live with cognitive impairment and sensory change.

Ann shares her personal journey loving her husband Bill both before and 20 years after a tragic accident left in a ventilator dependent quadriplegic with five kids and a "Domestic Engineer" wife.  Ann tells a touching story of how their love has changed and in many ways intensified and exhibits grace, and humor while also disclosing her age, height and weight.  We both enjoyed this so much that we had our first callback on the podcast!

Growing up my two sisters made up 67% of "my three mothers" as they and my mother were extraordinarily influential women in my young life in a household where I was essentially the only male.  As a child I respected my older sister Genna and competed in classic sibling rivalry fashion with my younger sister Meghan but today, I am extremely grateful to have them both in my life and proud of their volunteer work as "Cuddlers" to hospitalized infant children.

When his father, Albert Zangaro, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 14 years ago, Vince became his full-time caretaker. After an isolating first few years, he sought a way to help his family and others in the same situation and joined the Dementia Spotlight Foundation and eventually married his love for music and his passion for dementia advocacy in founding the Alzheimer's Music Festival.   

Dan Stockdale is an amazing keynote speaker with a powerful message, Dan inspires lasting change through his entertaining and unforgettable presentations. He is the only keynoter in the world to use a live tiger on stage during his presentations as he teaches audiences his leadership best-practices!   His listen and learn how his unique role as a Senior Leadership Consultant has allowed him a work-life-adventurer balance.

In this episode Lisa Westbrook tells her personal story of how she had to become AWARE of the need to overcome some past difficulties in her relationship with her mother; ACCEPT a new focus within in herself and their relationship in order to ALLOW her and her family to be her Caregiver.  This face-to-face episode really was an opportunity to genuinely explore some of the more intimate parts of the Caregiver Personality.

In this episode our founder and host discusses the role of "DOC" the "Defender Of Caregivers" in helping us remain calm and rational in the face of the emotional challenges of being a Caregiver.  He offers a strategy for overcoming the tendency to focus on what we "should" or "shouldn't" due and why these thoughts are NOT motivational because "life is already good!"

Born and raised on the east coast, Jeff was the perfect example of an all-around guy-- high school star quarterback, tennis, basketball and golf player, and All-American diver on his swim team. In his junior year, he was involved in an automobile accident in which he broke his neck. Life would now be lived from a wheelchair.... Jeff went on to become a touring professional comedian performing from a wheelchair as a “sit down comic who's always on a roll.” For over twenty years, Jeff has been entertaining groups around the country. He has performed with acts such as Kevin Nealon, Drew Carey, Tom Dreeson, Joe Rogan, Nikki Glaser, Bobby Lee, Nick Swardson, Iliza Shelsinger, The Grass Roots, Apollonia, Max Gail, Miss Universe, Dave Somerville, to name a few.  Jeff's direction in life encouraged him to move to Los Angeles to pursue his comedy and acting dreams. He has become a scriptwriter (film & sitcom) and contributing writer for “ABILITY Magazine” and has also published several humor books titled, “Medical Secrets Revealed” “Life Is A Funny Thing” and “Bygone Buffoonery.”

Tess is a "Nature" Caregiver personality that came to her Professional Caregiver role as a Registered Nurse as a second career.  This provided her with the perspective and maturity to lead and nurture (Care for!) others around throughout her academic career.  After graduating and gaining experience she chose a path, not unlike the "Virgin River" novel and Netflix series about a nurse who found a new life in a rural area where she could concentrate on serving others! 

Lori understands Caregiving from the inside out.  She lost her Father to Brain Cancer after a 4 ½ year battle.  Her Mother has struggled with Memory Loss for 30 years and is now in her end stages of Alzheimer's disease.  Lori now shares tips and techniques she learned as a Caregiver and has reached millions through website and blog "Alzheimer's Speaks" and gained the recognition of people like Oprah Winfrey; Dr. Oz; Maria Shriver and Fox News along the way.

The founder and host of the podcast shares his personal experiences and highlights of each episode of 2019 and a little bit more of the WHY behind the message and methods behind the Caregivers Podcast.

Our guest today has a PhD  in curriculum with a specialty in Oncology nursing whose love of caregiving is  expressed through emotional and psychosocial/spiritual support for patients and family Caregivers as well as influencing future Caregivers/Nurses in an academic settings utilizing a professional and personal sense of humor and a spiritual perspective on life with all of its joys and challenges.

With an unparalleled journey as his wife's sole caregiver for nearly thirty years through a medical nightmare that has mushroomed to 78 operations, the amputation of both legs, and $9 million in medical bills, Peter brings an astonishing understanding of health care issues, a deep compassion for the heartache of caregiving, and an outrageous humor to bring the fresh air of laughter into the painful places faced by America's exponentially growing number of caregivers. 

These two ordinary mothers (and sisters) share the extraordinary reality - the joys, challenges, and absurdities - of raising "imperfect" children in a world preoccupied with perfection.  After growing increasingly weary of others speaking about their "perfect" children and resisting the urge to tell them to Shut Up!, they wrote and self-published a book called "Shut Up About Your Perfect Kids" that went on to get picked up and published by Random House; to be reprinted in South Korea and help them garner more than 850,000 Facebook followers and receive invitations to speak around the world.

Our guest today is the "Defender Of Caregivers" the calm/rational "alter-ego" of our host Lon Kieffer as he shares a past version of the podcast that talks about the Caregiver Distortion known as Mental Filtering; flawed memories and how we choose our perspectives and perceptions of all of our experiences.

Our guest in this episode of the podcast is Doug Wojcieszak, a disclosure training consultant.  After losing his oldest brother to medical errors in 1998 and his family successfully sued the hospital and doctors with the case settling in 2000.  Following this experience Doug went on to become the founder of Sorry Works! and is perhaps, our nations pre-eminent expert in disclosure training.  He has trained thousands of healthcare, insurance, and legal professionals and is a sought-after speaker and trainer, and Sorry Works! content (books, booklets, on-line learning, etc) has become the “go to” references for organizations dealing with adverse medical events.

Brian, in his own words, is Living Well With Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia. As an International Dementia Advocate & Keynote Speaker, he speaks about his Alzheimer's life, hoping to create a better understanding of the disease.  Hoping that he, and others will be recognized and accepted as a person, not as a Disease!

Our guest today, Eunice L. Sykes, is an accomplished other who has written a book entitled "Mashed Potatoes in My Salad" which is a work of fiction, sort of, about a woman who found love and then lost that love to Alzheimer's disease… listen and learn of how, in writing this book, this story of fiction also became a true parallel to the author's life who's husband was diagnosed and lived with Alzheimer's disease. Thank YOU for caring!

Our guest started as a little girl helping to feed the homeless in Alaska,  Later she would be recognized by the Governor with a "Heroism Award" for advocacy for foster children and in her spare time she also served as "Mrs. Alaska" before founding Patriot Angels in 2012 providing funding solutions and Veterans Administration benefits navigation to veterans, widows, families, Caregivers and communities.

Our guest today is an accomplished attorney and nationally recognized expert on 2nd Amendment Rights with a profound interest in self-protection, situational awareness and Caregiver Safety.  Much of this interest was fueled vicariously though his observations and experiences of his Professional Caregiver wife... a home health nurse of 30-plus years.  Please enjoy this episode as we discuss personal and caregiver safety.

John Paul found himself in the cross-hairs of being a career Professional Caregiver that became a Personal/Family Caregiver and despite his experience, he felt unprepared.  This personal experience impacted his future professional pursuits as he became an advocate for working caregivers that has become a website and guidebook known as Caregivers Work.

Our guest today the lovely and talented Alicia Coppola has been affectionately referred to as a "household face" because she is immediately recognizable due to her more than 140 appearances on television in, NYPD Blue; Chicago Hope; Profiler; SportsNight; CSI; Ally McBeal; Dawsons Creek; JAG; Sons of Anarchy; Empire; Jericho; Law and Order; Monk; NCIS; Bones; Two and a Half Men; Castle; and Criminal Minds to name a few... she has been on just about everything but Friends and ER and is currently starring with Adam Ferrara on the CBS All Access show called... Why Women Kill.... and on this episode of the podcast we discuss her Personal Caregiver story and tribute to her father Matthew L. Copolla as we discuss her book; Gracefully Gone.

Gary is a true advocate and expert within the Dementia/Alzheimer's field.  His Personal/Family Caregiver experience(s) began while caring for his father for almost 10 years at home and then after a brief reprieve he then cared for his mother.  Along the way he began to develop his Common Sense Caregiving approach and writing articles for local papers which ultimately led to him being a truly international though leader in the area of Dementia Awareness and many other awe inspiring and industry leading efforts.

Kelli is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant that provides home health services to the elderly by day; by night she is a swashbuckling super-hero that started a non-profit organization that delivers hospital beds in tropical storms/hurricanes to home-bound people in need.  She is a true personality... a Caregiver Personality and this episode was ridiculously fun!

Pam is the kind of gal… little girl, that at the age of 9 started as a volunteer visiting nursing homes with her church youth group; would later see her grandmother move into that same nursing home and then she herself would pursue a multi-dimensional career in business offices, business development and general operations and management all with health-care and Caring organizations. She is now the Director of Business and Resource Management with Home Instead Senior Care in Annapolis, a mother of three boys and grandmother of 4 (or 5?) grandchildren but most of all… she is a Caregiver.

Matt Balaker, born premature and grew up with Cerebral Palsy offering him a unique perspective of Caregivers.  Now a successful Comedian, a husband, father and caring man he has co-authored a book:  "Greg Giraldo:  A Comedian's Story" that serves as an excellent parallel and backdrop for many "Caregiver Stories" I've heard over the years of constantly feeling that you are failing in your duties of pleasing others; leading to depression, self-medication, and isolation partially due to a phenomenon known as the "impostor syndrome"

This is a very heartfelt episode and reunion with four very special women who enjoyed (and suffered) long and successful careers in the Skilled Nursing industry.   Nancy (Director of Nursing), Pat (Admissions Director), Peggy (RN, Unit Manager and Staff Development) and Kathy Bradley (LPN and Nature Caregiver) took in a young Administrator (ME, Lon Kieffer, your host) and taught him how to slow down and get in touch with his inner Defender Of Caregivers.

Dr. Daniel Potts is a neurologist in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is affiliated with Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He received his medical degree from University of South Alabama College of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Tim is the kind of guy that, as a young man looking for direction, accepted a job that no one else wanted; as a Caregiver for an elementary school kid with Cerebral Palsy and a lazer sharp comedic personality.  Little did he (they) know that this would turn into a new direction in their lives, a mission, and a message known as HandicapThis... together, Tim and Mike Berkson share their message of tolerance and inclusion in over 300 performances, traveled more than 77,000 miles and performed for more than 100,000 audience members and in this episode Tim tells us his Caregiver Story.

Adam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian known for playing the roles of Chief Needles Nelson on Rescue Me… Sargent Frank Verelli opposite Edie Falco on Nurse Jackie… he was the co-host on the U.S. version of Top Gear… He has had three comedy central specials and his new album “Unconditional” has received comedy album of the year recognition... He is currently launching the Adam Ferrara Podcast… "30 minutes you'll never get back" and in my mind, he is a Nature Born Caregiver… and I am so grateful that he spent 30 minutes with us in this episode...

Mary is the Program Director for Caregiver Support with the Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities and the coordinator of a highly successful annual Caregivers Conference.  As we all do, Mary brings with her to this role a robust personal story and a true Caregiver by Nature personality and perspective.    

This LIVE podcast was a heck of a good time with the members of the Coffee Tea and Me Caregivers group started by Shirl Parnell, a Personal/Family Caregiver that found out just how unprepared she was to be a Caregiver after her mother's health had a serious down turn.  After receiving training and the support of others she started her own support group and invited DOC, the "Defender Of Caregivers" to a recent meeting.

Don and Lynda were Caregiver's for multiple members of their respective families... and their individual Caregiver Journey's crossed path with the writing of a book.  Now, several years later they are some of the leading advocates working tirelessly to StampOutAlzheimer's and I am so happy they shared their story with us in this episode.

Loretta is a Personal/Family Caregiver and a Professional Speaker/Author and advocate for all things Dementia/Alzheimer's related.  We met on Facebook and have followed each other on the speaking tour where Loretta tells the story of how growing up in a household without a car or a father figure forged her as a forever learner and helped prepare her to be a Caregiver for her mother with Dementia and how loss and health challenges have continued to focus her on her Caregiver Journey

My guest this week is Rachel Yoder Shetterly a Personal/Family Caregiver that I first met on Facebook.  She is the kind of person that will dedicate her life, family, and career to help another person, as well as drive three hours in a thunderstorm on a weeknight to meet a stranger (ME) and listen to him perform a one-man comedic-dramatic play for the first time ever!   Rachel literally "bet the farm" to take care of her mother and you will have to listen to see what I mean by that.  We talked about:  The Caregiver Personality; Depression; Religion and Spirituality and so much more.  Thank YOU for Caring! TGIF!  http://TheCaregiversPodcast.com

Welcome to The Caregivers Podcast and Thank YOU for Caring!  During this introductory episode of the podcast my good friend Paula Sangeleer will serve as the host of the show and I, the originator and host, will be the first guest on The Caregivers Podcast.  This will give me an opportunity to introduce myself, share a bit of my Caregivers Journey and how I became DOC, the Defender Of Caregivers and why I am an advocate of and for ALL Caregivers and what this show is all about.  It is about you... because You Might Be A Caregiver!?   We will be Caring and Sharing every Friday so TGIF can actually mean something to the Caregiver whose work is never done!  Come on in so we can say; "Thank YOU for Caring!"   Enjoy The Caregivers Podcast!  http://TheCaregiversPodcast.com