Hi. My name is Meghan and I am one of the four family caregivers who are employed by PASCO to care for my younger brother, Harrison. I’ve recently been told by some very nice people at PASCO that our situation is unique in that not only are Harrison’s parents (mom and step-dad) employed to care for him, but he has siblings who are very involved in his care as well. It was suggested that by sharing a little of our story, we could possibly help others in similar situations who might not know about the caregiver services and employment PASCO provides to families like mine. PASCO has been a huge blessing to us, so I would love if my family’s story could bring other families and PASCO together.
Harrison was born with cerebral palsy when I was 12 and my sister, Jennifer, was 8. Since that time, Jennifer and I have been very involved in Harrison’s care. We started helping with whatever we could, and as we got older our responsibilities greatly increased. Harrison’s condition requires him to have supervision and medical care 24 hours a day. He is on oxygen, is fed through g-tube, and needs to have his secretions suctioned from his mouth because he does not swallow well. Part of his care also involves providing companionship – he loves watching DVDs and has a wonderful sense of humor, which is shown to us by his smile and laughter at the same parts of a movie that makes us laugh as well.
For the last 16 years I have been employed by a couple of different companies to work part-time as one of Harrison’s caregivers, and about four years ago when Harrison turned 18 and most of his care services were turned over to PASCO, I switched my employment over to PASCO too. Jennifer became an employee of PASCO shortly after.
My family has had the assistance of in-home nurses on and off for the last 22 years, but Harrison’s care at this moment is provided exclusively by our mom, step-dad, Jennifer and me; all of us are employed by PASCO. Our step-dad is an LPN and works skilled nursing hours with Harrison. Our mom, Jennifer, and I work IHSS (In Home Support Services). Our youngest sister is only 13 years old and so is not old enough to be an employee, but her compassionate and empathic heart leads her to show support and kindness in her own ways for her brother and other family members.
Jennifer and I continually strive to find the balance between caregiving and pursuing our individual life and career dreams, so we are very thankful that PASCO has provided us and the rest of our family such amazing support in our roles as dedicated caregivers for Harrison.
