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Hello, my name is Sanford Freed. I own and run SafeCall Inc. We work with family caregivers in western Michigan as a provider of home medical alarms; emergency response services and automated medication dispensers are the primary products that caregivers look to SafeCall for. It is my hope that this blog will provide caregivers, and others who support loved ones through their health challenges, with a forum for information, questions and dialogue.

Caregiving is a huge undertaking. It can last for just a few months or years. Everyone’s caregiving experience follows different patterns. I was a caregiver for my mother in the last two years of her life. Dad suffered a fatal stroke passing on a month after the incident. He lost brain function and consciousness a few days after the stroke. My caregiving efforts were focused on my mother who was now living alone, 150 miles away from me. I made bi-weekly visits where I would hang out with her, prepare food for her, take her to the store for groceries and perform small maintenance tasks needed around the house. We would also go and visit with my brother’s family.

Two years later, mom died suddenly from a massive heart attack. Over those years, I became aware of how being a caregiver and running a company that serves caregivers provided me with a unique insight into this business and into the hardships and sacrifice that many of you experience daily. I don’t pretend to be a teacher, an expert or anything more than someone who understands that the caregiver’s life is unlike anything else.

It is difficult. It is frustrating. It is exhausting. It is also a blessing and an opportunity to draw closer to your loved ones even when they may not be very loving. If you appreciate religious references, caregiving is a way of drawing closer to God because of the divine nature of service to another.

Please return to this blog often. I have an ambitious agenda of ideas that I will be sharing. Occasionally I will mention SafeCall’s products and services if they serve to make a point. This blog is less about sales and more about dialogue. I hope you will respond with your ideas and thoughts. I will ask you questions to encourage your responses. Let’s start with this one: How has caregiving changed you?

Thank you for your time.