Sunday, August 26, 2007
When a Kid Becomes the Caregiver - Washington Post
Like Thousands of Teens, Va. Student Looks After a Chronically Ill Relative
... Castillo, 18, is one of many teenagers across the country who are caregivers for ill or disabled relatives -- a little-known group that labors under unusual stress and with few resources. Her mother has multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease that has left the 40-year-old in a wheelchair, unable to work, make dinner or shower without help. For the past year and a half, Castillo has bathed her, prepared her meals, emptied her catheter bag and given her two dozen kinds of medication. She helps take care of Anthony, too, getting him off to school and reminding him to take out the trash.
So when Castillo was accepted to her top-choice university, she decided she would not go alone. "I can't totally abandon my mom," she said. "She needs me." While others from the Class of 2007 at Sterling's Dominion High School were packing a few suitcases to go to college, Castillo boxed up the contents of her Middleburg home and moved the whole family. Her mother's hospital bed and medicine chest, Anthony's tennis racket and video games, her collection of karate trophies and baby pictures all were moved to Greensboro. ...
Like Thousands of Teens, Va. Student Looks After a Chronically Ill Relative
... Castillo, 18, is one of many teenagers across the country who are caregivers for ill or disabled relatives -- a little-known group that labors under unusual stress and with few resources. Her mother has multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease that has left the 40-year-old in a wheelchair, unable to work, make dinner or shower without help. For the past year and a half, Castillo has bathed her, prepared her meals, emptied her catheter bag and given her two dozen kinds of medication. She helps take care of Anthony, too, getting him off to school and reminding him to take out the trash.
So when Castillo was accepted to her top-choice university, she decided she would not go alone. "I can't totally abandon my mom," she said. "She needs me." While others from the Class of 2007 at Sterling's Dominion High School were packing a few suitcases to go to college, Castillo boxed up the contents of her Middleburg home and moved the whole family. Her mother's hospital bed and medicine chest, Anthony's tennis racket and video games, her collection of karate trophies and baby pictures all were moved to Greensboro. ...
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