Valery P.

I became a caregiver because I love caring for others and I like knowing that I made a difference in someone's life. I am very proud of myself for becoming independent. I am very friendly, honest, a people person, and I am always smiling, even on my worst days. I have a great sense of humor and I also love anticipating the needs of others.

I've been an active caregiver for the past 15 years or so, both as a live-in and live-out caregiver. Most of my working experience comes from outside of the US. I started working as a caregiver because needed a job and earn money(do not let yourself fooled by anyone that says otherwise ) and as a single mom of three you can guess that i had no choice in choosing what i considered at that time that i would like. During the years i earned so much more than money. I started out with a job and ended up with having more and more family members as each and one of the patients that i assisted become in some way my mother/father, my daughter/son and a challenge to build up my empathic skills . Ended up understanding that caregiving is not a JOB although it's paid. You treat not just people but a very fragile class of people. They definitely need our assistance in daily chores but that is not enough , they need somebody that does not define them only trough their disability. Caregiving it's not just about taking care of a body it is a 360 degree assistance which consider the person in a holistic way (body,mind and spirit) As a caregiver i might fail in some chores(nobody is perfect) but one thing that i am proud of is that as much as i could i tried to bring joy. Hard but necessary was when I had to assist patients in an point where life comes to an end. In some cases I sing their favourite song, hold a hand, give a caress to the person in need and explain to family members that it is perfectly normal to be scared or to suffer and to assure them that they are not alone.