{"id":454,"date":"2013-02-06T04:01:09","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=454"},"modified":"2013-02-03T01:07:48","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T01:07:48","slug":"tips-for-coping-with-a-loved-ones-long-distance-health-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/02\/tips-for-coping-with-a-loved-ones-long-distance-health-crisis.html","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Coping with a Loved One’s Long-Distance Health Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The first day of February started off as a good day for me. Full of energy, lots of plans. A completely unexpected phone call in the midst of it changed that; my father was hospitalized with heart problems.<\/p>\n

The irony was not lost on me; February 1 kicked off National Heart Health Awareness and Education Month, and many of the plans I mentioned earlier involved\u00a0writing about the personal side of heart disease.\u00a0 (You can imagine\u00a0I said, “Good timing, Dad,” to myself. More than once!)<\/p>\n

A family member or loved one’s long distance health crisis is not easy to cope with, but I thought some of the things I find helpful might help you, too, if you’re faced\u00a0with\u00a0much the same situation.<\/p>\n

First:\u00a0Try to get all the information you can about the situation, but understand that, especially at the beginning of a crisis, much may not be clear or known at all.\u00a0 Try to pray for guidance about what to ask and say, and try to remain calm.\u00a0Provide all the information you can to medical professionals there about any of your loved one’s pertinent health information so that those treating him or her are fully informed.<\/p>\n

Second: Respect the expertise and knowledge of the health professionals involved in your loved ones’ treatment, and ask them what you may expect in terms of follow-ups and further communication. Also, when calling the hospital, for example, ask when is the best time to call (change of shifts, for instance, are difficult times to get updates because the staff nurses are rotating in and out of their shifts).<\/p>\n

Third:\u00a0Before you quickly jump on a plane and go,\u00a0find out as much as you can, and try to determine what is best for you, especially if you have a chronic health condition or other health problem that requires extra attention and may be aggravated by sudden travel.<\/p>\n

Fourth: Telephone communication can be difficult, especially if your loved one is under sedation, not able to speak clearly, or perhaps already has an underlying dementia that makes any talking problemmatic. \u00a0Before you panic about what you perceive to be your loved one’s condition based upon a phone call, speak with the charge nurse, guardian, or other person nearer to the situation and ask him or her to give you a better idea of your loved one’s condition.<\/p>\n

Fifth: If there is a time difference involved, let everyone know, so that you can communicate effectively (those wee-hours calls might be necessary, but they can be difficult if one person is so groggy he or she can’t be as articulate as he or she could be!)<\/p>\n

Fifth: Pray for your loved one, those treating him or her, and also for yourself. You need comfort, support, and strength. Being so far away can be frustrating and scary. Accept God’s grace to “be not afraid,” and trust that all will be in His hands. All will be well.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first day of February started off as a good day for me. Full of energy, lots of plans. A completely unexpected phone call in the midst of it changed that; my father was hospitalized with heart problems. The irony was not lost on me; February 1 kicked off National Heart Health Awareness and Education…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,3,43,4,383],"tags":[393,395,385,394],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alzheimers-disease","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-heart-health","tag-emergency","tag-health-crisis","tag-heart-disease","tag-long-distance-health-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\nTips for Coping with a Loved One's Long-Distance Health Crisis - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/02\/tips-for-coping-with-a-loved-ones-long-distance-health-crisis.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tips for Coping with a Loved One's Long-Distance Health Crisis - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first day of February started off as a good day for me. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}