The Wicked Daughter - Caring For Your Aging Parents, One Meltdown at a Time
This podcast is for every daughter, son, spouse, partner, friend, and caregiver who has ever sat in a doctor's office taking notes, answered a call from the emergency room, argued about a walker, searched for the missing phone, or cried in a parking lot before pulling themselves together and walking back inside.
It's for the people who suddenly find themselves managing medications, appointments, paperwork, insurance, doctors, family dynamics, and decisions they never expected to have to make.
It's for the person who loves their aging parent deeply... and occasionally wants to scream into a pillow.
Because caregiving isn't just the big moments.
It's the endless little things.
The phone calls.
The questions.
The research.
The waiting rooms.
The "Did you take your medication?" conversations.
The arguments over whether Mom really needs that walker.
The guilt when you go home.
The guilt when you don't.
And the constant wondering:
Am I doing this right?
Here you'll find real stories, dark humor, hard-earned lessons, difficult decisions, and the occasional reminder that you're not losing your mind.
You're just doing one of the hardest jobs there is.
And sometimes the best thing you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all.
I'll share what I've learned from the trenches of caregiving—including the things I wish someone had told me sooner—while figuring out how to advocate for someone you love without completely losing yourself in the process.
We'll talk about aging parents, medical crises, role reversal, caregiver guilt, family dynamics, impossible decisions, patient advocacy, recovery, independence, and all the wonderfully messy moments in between.
There won't always be an easy answer.
I'm definitely not a perfect caregiver.
I've gotten frustrated. I've made mistakes. I've second-guessed myself. I've had moments when I wanted to crawl under the covers and pretend I had never heard the words "care plan."
But I've also learned that sometimes the best we can do is make the best decision we can with the information we have—and then keep showing up.
That's what this podcast is about.
The messy middle.
The moments nobody prepares you for.
The things we laugh about because if we didn't laugh, we'd probably cry.
And the little victories that somehow become the biggest ones.
So welcome.
Pull up a chair.
Hide your emergency chocolate.
And join me as we navigate aging parents, impossible decisions, and caregiving chaos...
one meltdown at a time.
Episodes
17 episodes
E017: Mom Needed a Little Self-Care, So Did I: Caregiver Self-Care
Somewhere between hospital stays, rehab schedules, medical appointments, and trying to figure out what happens next, I realized something:Caregiving has a funny way of making your own life disappear.Mom h...
E016: The Rest of Life Doesn't Stop
Well... this week's episode is a day late.Which, considering what this episode is about, is actually pretty damn appropriate.Because caregiving has a funny way of making you feel like you've stepped out of your own life.For...
E015: Transportation is a Thing
Getting an aging parent to a doctor’s appointment is easy… until it isn’t.In this episode of The Wicked Daughter, Mom is settling into rehab and starting to make real progress. She’s getting stronger, going to PT and OT, getting...
E014: What a Difference Rehab Makes: From Hospital Bed to Rehab
A month earlier, I was sitting beside my mom’s hospital bed, watching a machine breathe for her and wondering if she was going to make it.Now?She was getting ready to leave the hospital.Not for home....
E013: Apparently, I Was Supposed to Know That: Rehab Hunting & Medical Mishaps
Welcome to caregiving, where you are suddenly promoted to Director of Google, Phone Calls, and Making Decisions Nobody Trained You For.In this episode of The Wicked Daughter, I’m deep in the trenches of finding a skilled...
E012: Discharge? She's Not Even Out of Bed!
Mom was finally getting better.Her lungs were improving. Her heart was stable. Her broken leg was healing.So why were we suddenly talking about hospital discharge?Discharge? She's Not Even Out of Bed!!<...
E011: Progress Is a Four-Letter Word
I thought I finally understood what happened after a hospital stay: you went home, or you went to rehab.Then someone introduced me to an acute care hospital—a type of hospital I'd never even heard of.So what exactly is an acute ca...
E010: Good News! There's a New Problem.
Mom survived the ICU. She was finally breathing on her own. The crisis was over.Or so I thought.Recovery turned out to be a whole new battle.One day we're celebrating a successful swallow test. Great, mom can eat but...
E009: Why I Didn't Give the Hospital Her DNR
When my mom was admitted to the hospital after being hit by a car, I made a decision that would weigh heavily on me for weeks.I didn't give the hospital her Do Not Resuscitate order.It wasn't because I didn't know her wishe...
E008: It's OK to Go Home: Caregiver's Guilt
Hospital Time teaches you patience. ICU Time teaches you endurance.The first full day after my mom was placed on a ventilator was an endless cycle of waiting, hoping, and bracing for whatever came next. Every decision depended on ...
E007: I Promised Her It Was Temporary
For the first time since my mom's accident, it finally feels like we're moving in the right direction.After days of hospital stays, setbacks, and learning what it really means to become a family caregiver overnight, we're finally seeing ...
E006: Okay Means Something Different in a Hospital
When the phone rings at 2:45 in the morning, you already know your night is over.Just when it seemed like Mom had survived the worst, a new complication appeared—AFib. Overnight, I found myself learning another medical term, coordinating...
E005: As Needed
New here? Welcome! This podcast follows my real caregiving story - managing my aging parent, one meltdown at a time. If you'd like to hear how it all began, start with Episode 1: Welcome to the Right Waiting Room...
E004: It Shouldn't Be Much Longer
"The doctor will be with you shortly.""It shouldn't be much longer."If you've ever waited in a hospital, you know those words can mean absolutely anything.In this episode of The Wicked Daughter, sur...
E003: Hospital Time
The sheriff said Mom was alive.That was the good news.Everything after that...got complicated.In this episode, I take you inside the emergency room, where fear, uncertainty, and "hospital time" collide. If you've eve...