Taking care of a sick or older family member isn’t easy.  It takes a team to do it and sometimes family feels left alone and isolated.  I recently lost my grandma (she was 92) due to a small cut on her leg becoming infected, her being in a hospital, then nursing home, and due to her age and other complications, her health took a downward turn, spiraling fast, and she passed away.  In less than two months she went from living on her own, with a health care worker’s help and help of family, to being gone.  It is scary how fast things went downhill.   Currently my mom is in poor health.  She broke her hip in April and has been having health problems since.  Currently she is almost bedridden, with a hospital bed in her bedroom, and gets up for the bathroom, to go on the back porch in a wheelchair, and to go to doctor appointments.  My stepdad has been her saving grace.  Taking care of her, changing diapers, organizing the PT (physical therapy) appointments, making meals, getting her medicine, etc.  But he can’t do it alone.  My siblings and I have tried (and need to do more) to step up to the plate and make weekly scheduled times to be able to go over there and help out and relieve him so he can get out of the house or do errands.  Doing errands for him is help too.  I found finding one store to do everything really helps save time (something none of us have enough of).  Sam’s Club seems to be that store, that has it all.  Be sure to check out Sam’s Club Caregiver program which makes shopping for your loved one more convenient. For shopping in store, they have two great options. Club Pick-up, where you have the ease of putting your order in online and Sam’s Club will fill your cart with your items. Then you have the ease of bypassing the register and pick up at the kiosk inside. Or at select clubs, you can pick up at the drive-thru area. They even have an “Easy Reorder” option! Or they have a “Scan and Go” option. While shopping you scan each item with their app on your phone, next you make your payment right in the app! You just show your digital receipt to the exit greeter. No long lines! Such a time saver. Head over to the website to read more about these benefits along with info on online ordering with free and discreet shipping.

I can shop at Sam’s Club for everything from groceries to Christmas decorations.  The bakery and deli always

have fresh food and the prices in the whole store are amazing.  I can also get things for my stepdad’s shopping list while I am there.  Sam’s Club has great prices on Depend, Poise, Ensure and Glucerna.  Currently my mom uses Depend and drinks Ensure when she needs some extra protein and a meal replacement and is too tired to eat enough food.  I also found Glucerna is great for a meal replacement for someone that is diabetic (like me).

While I am at Sam’s Club I can also drop off prescriptions at the pharmacy, go shopping and have the medicine ready when I am done shopping (this is a win-win for me, since I’m can do it all and not go to a few stores).  On top of all the benefits of shopping in one place, I love Sam’s Club for their fantastic prices and friendly customer service.  If I need help I just have to turn around and there is always an employee around to help me find something.

I am not sure where we will be in a month or two, or even by Christmas.  Ideally, I would love for my mom to be up and walking again and being able to get out of the house more.  I think some of it is the pain from her hip surgery and being older and not in great health to begin with makes recovery harder, and some is a mental block, and her thinking she can’t walk… therefore she can’t.  It is mentally frustrating for everyone to see her battle this and heart wrenching to see her deteriorate in physical and mental health.  All we can do is try to get her to want to be out of bed.  It is in her hands to push through the pain.

Meanwhile, it is great to have family around for the love and support system.  I’m glad I also have Sam’s Club Caregiver program to make my day a little easier.

This is a post sponsored by Sam’s Club. All opinions are my own.