Rob and his beautiful wife, Cindy.
My name is Rob Harris. Like most people, I very unexpectedly became an at-home caregiver when my wife was first diagnosed with cancer.
Since then, I have been an at-home caregiver, on and off, from 1990 until present day, for my wife and best friend, Cindy, who is a two-time cancer survivor. Presently, she continues to experience challenges with a leg amputation that has forced her to remain wheelchair-enabled since January, 2010. As such, I continue to provide caregiver help, over two-decades later.
During her most recent battle with a very deadly form of cancer, which began in 2006, I was her exclusive family caregiver. More specifically, I was her in-home caregiver and also watched over her each and every day she spent in the hospital. My mission was to provide exceptional caregiver help and support day and night, seven days a week. From this, I gained invaluable knowledge about how caregivers can provide exceptional caregiver support to their loved ones.
Caregiver Help
After providing years of caregiver assistance, it was recommended that I share some of the valuable information I gathered during my journey providing caregiver help to my wife. Initially, I was persuaded to write a chapter to see if I wanted to write a book. I resisted. At first I didn’t believe I had enough information to share about being a family caregiver.
Surprisingly, the words flowed, as did the number of Caregiver Tips I developed from my personal experiences.
Above all else, in writing my book, my memory of the events as a family caregiver were vivid, as if they had happened just moments before.
What I recalled above all else was the feelings I had when I learned my wife’s life was in danger. The two most prominent emotions were FEAR and CONFUSION. The reason for the fear was obvious. My confusion came from not having any idea how to be an in-home caregiver. I had no knowledge, no experience, and nowhere to turn to learn how to provide caregiver help to my loved one.
One chapter became two, then three, and eventually I finished the first of my two books, We’re In This Together, A Caregiver’s Story.
Somehow, that did not quench my thirst. I needed to do more. My goal was to help as many individuals who were, or were soon to be, at home caregivers as I possibly could.
I wanted other frightened and confused caregivers to know they had a friend they could turn to for caregiver support and advice. I wanted them to know me personally, even though the population of those in need of caregiver assistance is enormous.
Thus was born the concept, the phrase and the logo: “robcares, caring for caregivers.”
Providing Caregiver Assistance
The robcares organization focuses upon the total family caregiver, and not just those dealing with cancer. There are so many in need of in-home caregiving assistance from family caregivers. robcares attempts to help all those in need, whether it’s for those providing caregiver support for patients suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s, Muscular Dystrophy, or any other illnesses or injuries in which a family caregiver is needed.
This robcares website is built with that in mind. It is also evolving and being updated regularly to improve the caregiver advice we provide. The website shares, among other things:
- An entire page of Caregiver Resources, for anyone in need of caregiver support.
- The robcares Media Page, with videos, radio interviews and guest blogs I’ve written for various non-profit organizations and agencies, celebrity websites, and well-known charitable groups.
- Access to the robcares Facebook Fan Page and the Rob_Cares Twitter Page, with thousands of followers, many of whom are corresponding daily with me and with those who follow robcares.
A visitor, or member, can receive words of encouragement, advice, vital information and key contacts from doctors, nurses, social workers, caregivers, patients and even a few celebrities. Many valuable contacts have been made by those robcares’ social media sites.
My Caregiver Support
robcares is an army of one…ME! I personally read every email received and respond to as many as humanly possible. I understand that full-time, at-home caregivers, and even those that do so on a part-time basis, are in need of critical caregiver assistance. I correspond every evening and early morning with subscribers on a one-to-one basis on our robcares.com website, our Facebook fan page, and Twitter. My goal is to ensure that every caregiver that is in need of caregiver help knows they can call on me and receive a response…and have a friend they can turn to when in need of emotional support.
No family caregiver should go through the caregiver journey alone, as I did. My mission is to be the person those at-home caregivers can go to when in need. I will do everything possible to help in-home caregivers feel they are in control of their environment — mentally, physically, and especially emotionally. I never want another human being to feel as I felt: a husband, and a dad, who did not know where to turn to receive caregiver help.
Your Best Resource For Caregiver Assistance, Caregiver Support, And Daily Caregiver Help
My goal is to reach out to as many people in need as humanly possible in order to provide caregiver support. How I complete this mission is a chapter that has yet to be written. While I have been a family caregiver, and an in-home caregiver, for more than 20 years, I’m still learning!
If you have ideas on how I can better provide caregiver assistance and help to the greatest number of people, please contact me. I promise to respond! 
Legal: All thoughts and advice written on this blog are for informational purposes only. The content is not intended for professional medical advice, legal advice, etc. or should be used as a substitute for any professional services. Finally, the blog administrator is not responsible for any comments, advice, or any information others should post here.
