Episode 13 With Rose Sturghill

In this episode, I interview Rose Sturghill, who shares her story about her caregiving experience while her mother was on the Dementia journey. Rose, age 59, grew up in Sikeston, Missouri and following a fire, she and her siblings were taken in by various families and adopted.  Rose was blessed to be adopted by a loving family that showered her with care and love – because she was young at the time, she grew up calling her adoptive parents "mom and dad."  Once she turned 18, Rose graduated high school and began a habit of entering colleges and universities but not completing them in order to receive a degree.  She gave that up and began working health related jobs – all jobs that brought her job satisfaction.  Rose, finally made up her mind to return to school after many, many years, and in 2008, she received her Bachelor's of Public Health (BPH); in 2013 and at age 59, Rose received her Master's of Public Health (MPH).  She also hopes to secure a Ph.D.  Rose expressed that returning to school as an older adult was extremely challenging, and  the midst of all of this, Rose, along with family members were sharing in the responsibility of caring for their mother, whose cognitive abilities were declining. Rose shares that the most difficult time for her was once her mother got to a stage where she didn't know her children.  This was devastating.  Rose also mentions that despite major challenges with her mother's health, there were clearly days when it was a complete joy to attend to her mother's needs.  Laughter often got them through this ordeal.   She conveyed that it is most helpful when families work together and where the entire caregiving burden is not on one person.  Rose goes on to elaborate about the adjustments that have to be made when a new phase (decline) of Dementia is entered. She stresses the importance of the caregiver taking time to relax and care for themselves.  Rose can be reached at rsturghill@hotmail.com