Speaker 1: Hi everyone. I'm Holly Robinson, pete actor, author, advocate, do
Speaker 1: it all mom, and I'm also a caregiver. And this
Speaker 1: is care Walks, a podcast from iHeartRadio and Voltaian Arthritis
Speaker 1: Pain Gel. It's a show for family caregivers who give
Speaker 1: everything to everyone and need to make time for themselves
Speaker 1: through movement. Every episode is designed for you to walk
Speaker 1: as you listen, so just think of me and my
Speaker 1: guests as your weekly walking buddies. We'll hear stories from
Speaker 1: caregivers and gain tips and insights from health experts and
Speaker 1: advocates who know how important it is to take care
Speaker 1: of yourself and manage joint pain due to arthritis that
Speaker 1: often accompanies being a caregiver. We'll discover community ourselves and
Speaker 1: maybe even alleviate some joint pain due to arthritis in
Speaker 1: the process as we walk together and connect to the
Speaker 1: best parts of being a caregiver. So thanks for joining
Speaker 1: us on what will be another great episode of care Walks.
Speaker 1: How has your week been? Were you able to take
Speaker 1: some time for yourself? Don't forget to lean on your
Speaker 1: support systems and find ways to connect and reconnect with
Speaker 1: the people and activities you love outside of your caregiving responsibilities.
Speaker 1: Just a reminder. Right now you're listening to the full
Speaker 1: version of this episode, but if you don't have time
Speaker 1: for a full walk today, then go check out our
Speaker 1: bridged version of this same episode. It's like cliff notes
Speaker 1: for podcasts. I asked earlier about connecting with others, and
Speaker 1: that's because today's episode is all about the importance of
Speaker 1: finding and maintaining a community as a caregiver. It's so
Speaker 1: easy to become an island and feel like you're all
Speaker 1: by yourself in this role, and that isolation can lead
Speaker 1: to depression. When I was younger, I didn't realize how
Speaker 1: much caregiver isolation was affecting me. And that's why I'm
Speaker 1: so glad that we can share care walks together, because
Speaker 1: you don't have to do this all on your own. Today,
Speaker 1: I'll be joined by caregiver Lakita Castin. Lakita has served
Speaker 1: as a caregiver to multiple family members. In her first
Speaker 1: two caregiving experiences with her aunt and uncle, Lakita frequently
Speaker 1: felt alone and without any support. When another aunt of
Speaker 1: hers became ill, she was determined to make sure her
Speaker 1: cousin didn't go through the same sense of isolation.
Speaker 2: She did.
Speaker 1: Lakda volunteered to help her cousin and her aunt, and
Speaker 1: she is now taking on a new mission with her organization,
Speaker 1: caring for caregivers. Before we get to my conversation with Lakita,
Speaker 1: let's get walking. A great mantra for today's conversation will
Speaker 1: be I am stronger when I ask for help. Whenever
Speaker 1: your to do list pops up during this walk, say
Speaker 1: that to yourself, I am stronger when I ask ask
Speaker 1: for help. Feel your feet connecting with the ground on
Speaker 1: each step. What do you notice about the way each
Speaker 1: part of your body works together to keep you in movement.
Speaker 1: Your feet can't do all the work. They connect with
Speaker 1: your knees, your arms, your lungs, all working in harmony.
Speaker 1: Let's take a couple of deep breaths together, In through
Speaker 1: the nose, out through the mouth, one more time, In
Speaker 1: through your nose and out through your mouth. If you're
Speaker 1: someone who is responsible for the care of someone in
Speaker 1: your life, you know that sometimes it can feel incredibly isolating,
Speaker 1: but you are not alone. With each step you take,
Speaker 1: think about someone who has been there for you. How
Speaker 1: do you feel when you let someone support you the
Speaker 1: same way you support others? Now, as you start to
Speaker 1: settle into your pace and your breath, remember to stay
Speaker 1: present in this moment. And when you start to think
Speaker 1: about your daily to do list again, remember today's mantra,
Speaker 1: I am stronger when I ask for help. Keep moving
Speaker 1: and give yourself time to recharge. I'm going to be
Speaker 1: there in your ear, keeping you company. Alongside our guest
Speaker 1: and fellow caregiver, Lakita Castin. I'm here with Lakita Castin.
Speaker 1: Lakita is a family caregiver based in Detroit. Lakita first
Speaker 1: began her caregiving journey when her aunt reached out looking
Speaker 1: for help caring for Lakita's uncle. Shortly after, her aunt
Speaker 1: passed away from cancer, but Lakda stayed in Baton Rouge
Speaker 1: and cared for her uncle alone for five years as
Speaker 1: you battled Alzheimer's disease. Today, Lakita is still caring for
Speaker 1: her family members, but no longer alone. She supports her
Speaker 1: cousin as they care for his mother together and build
Speaker 1: the organization Caring for Caregivers, which provides support and respite
Speaker 1: to family caregivers. Lakita, Welcome to care Walks.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you. I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to have you, so could you tell us
Speaker 1: about how you first became a caregiver.
Speaker 2: It was the most extraordinary thing. My aunt was ill.
Speaker 3: I didn't know how ill she was, and she called
Speaker 3: me one day. I was living in Illinois. She called
Speaker 3: me one day and said, you know what, I need
Speaker 3: somebody here. Your uncle and I are getting a little
Speaker 3: older and we need somebody staying in the house. Could
Speaker 3: you come down and help us out? And so I
Speaker 3: came down and two weeks later she passed away. She
Speaker 3: had stage four lung cancer. She was singer, so she
Speaker 3: sounded so strong over the phone. No one knew she
Speaker 3: was as ill as she was. And when I got
Speaker 3: down there, I saw her how emaciated she was. It
Speaker 3: kind of a It scared me a little bit, but
Speaker 3: if you knew her life, you would know that she
Speaker 3: had lived a wonderful life. It was just amazing to
Speaker 3: see the love that she had for her husband. She
Speaker 3: told me that he was suffering from short term memory loss,
Speaker 3: but I found out that it was Alzheimer's and he
Speaker 3: was doing pretty well, pretty good at first, but it
Speaker 3: became worse and worse, of course as years went by.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you got that chance to be with her.
Speaker 1: She sounded like an amazing woman, your aunt, just the
Speaker 1: fact that she reached out and you were able to
Speaker 1: come and connect with her, and then you shifted your
Speaker 1: focus to her husband, your uncle.
Speaker 3: Yes, my uncle was a very very intelligent man. He
Speaker 3: was a of engineering at Southern University, and I was
Speaker 3: not used to him being the way he was, so
Speaker 3: to watch him decline that way was a bit unnerving,
Speaker 3: But every day you have to get used to a
Speaker 3: new normal. But I got to know him in a
Speaker 3: way that I I don't think anyone else knew him,
Speaker 3: and that was a consoling thought for me.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, what would you say that caregiving means to you, Lakita?
Speaker 3: Caregiving means giving back to the people and your life
Speaker 3: who have given so much to you. My aunt and
Speaker 3: my uncle were amazing human beings. They didn't have children,
Speaker 3: so they gave to us. I would get tickets to
Speaker 3: her show she sang in Porking Bess at the Metropolitan Opera.
Speaker 3: He traveled the world, and there were always little gifts
Speaker 3: and things that they would send to us as nieces
Speaker 3: and nephews of their sisters and brothers. And they gave
Speaker 3: so much of themselves to everyone else that you have
Speaker 3: to give back to those people. And that's what family
Speaker 3: caregiving means to me. Even now I have a cousin
Speaker 3: he is the only child, and watching him trying to
Speaker 3: care for my aunt, I really said, no, I can't
Speaker 3: have him go through what I went through by myself.
Speaker 3: So I just kind of moved back here.
Speaker 1: What do you wish that you knew before you became
Speaker 1: a caregiver.
Speaker 3: Miss Holly, Let me tell you. I wish that I
Speaker 3: knew things that I still don't know. I want to
Speaker 3: know everything about the disease I'm still learning. I want
Speaker 3: to know everything about the disease. I want to know
Speaker 3: what the elements. I want to know where doctors. I
Speaker 3: want to know everything, and I still don't know everything.
Speaker 3: What I will say is self care is important. That
Speaker 3: you make sure you take care of yourself. That's one
Speaker 3: thing that I wish I had done a lot better.
Speaker 2: Make sure that I take my walks, make sure that I.
Speaker 3: Get to the gym when I can, make sure my
Speaker 3: doctor's visits are scheduled and that I keep them. Those
Speaker 3: are the things that I want to tell other care
Speaker 3: care for as family caregivers.
Speaker 1: Yes, aimen to that. That's you know, as I'm asking
Speaker 1: you these questions, I'm answering myself in my head. And
Speaker 1: that is the number one thing I wish I knew too,
Speaker 1: just to take a little bit better care of myself
Speaker 1: while I was caring for my dad. It's so difficult
Speaker 1: and if you can't hold up, you can't hold up others.
Speaker 1: So you need to hold yourself up and care for yourself.
Speaker 3: If you know anything about caring for anybody, you know
Speaker 3: that that person needs to get out the house. You
Speaker 3: know that person probably has laundry that needs to be done.
Speaker 3: Don't wait for them to ask. Just come over, drop
Speaker 3: off a meal. I was telling somebody, just drop off.
Speaker 3: It would be nice if somebody.
Speaker 2: Would just drop off ham, you know, some chicken. Just
Speaker 2: drop it off, so maybe I don't have to cook.
Speaker 1: Yes, that is true, That is true. But I think
Speaker 1: my takeaway is that I should have asked. Even though
Speaker 1: I felt like my brother should have known he saw
Speaker 1: what I was dealing with. I should have picked up
Speaker 1: the phone and said, I need help? Can you bring
Speaker 1: me some food? And I think that we have to
Speaker 1: self advocate because we can't expect other people to That's true,
Speaker 1: just you know, just.
Speaker 2: To have that mindset. Yeah, that's true. That's true.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that you were on your own as a
Speaker 1: caregiver in Baton Rouge, and since then have you been
Speaker 1: able to talk to your friends and your family about
Speaker 1: your feelings and your experience.
Speaker 3: Yes, I have, And as a matter of fact, my
Speaker 3: daughters would come and visit me when they could. We
Speaker 3: all live in separate states, so they came and visited
Speaker 3: when they could, and they would give me a break
Speaker 3: or let me go for a weekend just to get
Speaker 3: some rest, because that's what's needed. I started Caring for Caregivers,
Speaker 3: a foundation where I want to supply respee care for
Speaker 3: family caregivers and that's it. Maybe they need a massage
Speaker 3: in home massage or hair done, just something to make
Speaker 3: them feel like themselves. They're not always a caregiver every
Speaker 3: single moment of every single day, because that's what you
Speaker 3: are as a family caregiver.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, Caring for Caregivers sounds like an awesome resource,
Speaker 1: just an opportunity just find community.
Speaker 2: And yes, that was.
Speaker 1: Something that I wish I had. I found it was
Speaker 1: very difficult to find resources for caregiver support. Yes, I
Speaker 1: felt very isolated. So how would you suggest caregiver's best
Speaker 1: combat feelings of isolation?
Speaker 3: The way I did it was going back to something
Speaker 3: that I loved when I was younger. I went to
Speaker 3: cast Tech here where I majored in performing arts. And
Speaker 3: of course I couldn't do that there in Bad and Rouge,
Speaker 3: I couldn't really do a lot of theatrical things. But
Speaker 3: I became a costume designer for community theater there, so
Speaker 3: I did a lot of costume design and then I
Speaker 3: ended up acting. And that was the one thing that
Speaker 3: my uncle would stand still for. He would love to
Speaker 3: go because my aunt was not O for sinker. He
Speaker 3: would love to go to the theater and just sit
Speaker 3: and watch. It doesn't matter whether it was rehearsals. And
Speaker 3: that was one thing that was constant. And then isn't
Speaker 3: it wonderful? Your theater community is amazing. They're all family,
Speaker 3: so they would sit there with them. He became everyone's
Speaker 3: uncle and it was amazing how they treated him. The
Speaker 3: first role that I played in was Dot by Coleman Domingo,
Speaker 3: and it's about a woman who has Alzheimer's.
Speaker 2: Wow, And it was so prophetic. It was amazing.
Speaker 3: I was able to like channel some things from him
Speaker 3: and totally understand where that character came from. So I
Speaker 3: loved how everyone rallied around my uncle, and I loved
Speaker 3: how I was able to do that and he was
Speaker 3: able to see it. I don't know whether he understood
Speaker 3: everything about it, but he always had a kiss on
Speaker 3: the cheek from me when I came off stage, and.
Speaker 2: Man, I'm cheering up from that.
Speaker 1: Wow, Oh that's so emotional. That's that's a great memory. Though,
Speaker 1: that's a great memory. We'll be right back with more
Speaker 1: from Lakita Caston. And now back to my conversation with
Speaker 1: Lakita Castin. So let's talk a little bit about self care.
Speaker 1: Tell me what you do, what's your me time? What
Speaker 1: does that look like?
Speaker 3: My me time is is writing and reading to my end.
Speaker 3: And actually I just wrote a screenplay called Decline about
Speaker 3: a woman's decline while she's being a caregiver, and it
Speaker 3: got selected into film festivals, so hopefully I'll be able.
Speaker 2: To get it produced.
Speaker 3: And it's just a short film, it's nothing major, but
Speaker 3: I want to be able to show that to people,
Speaker 3: the effects that caregiving has on a person when they're
Speaker 3: with another person who needs the constantly every single day.
Speaker 1: And Lookita, how has that writing? How is writing decline?
Speaker 1: How has that been cathartic or therapeutic for you? It
Speaker 1: got so.
Speaker 2: Much out of me.
Speaker 3: It got so much out I was able to write
Speaker 3: down in words the things that I was feeling, the
Speaker 3: things that I was going through, and hopefully when people
Speaker 3: see it or read it, they can identify with. And
Speaker 3: even people who are not able to identify with caregiving
Speaker 3: now family caregiving now they can look at it and say, Okay,
Speaker 3: I understand and I will be able to do better
Speaker 3: with my own family or my own person that I'm
Speaker 3: caring for.
Speaker 2: So that has helped me.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that finding a community theater when you are
Speaker 1: taking care of your uncle, and then you've also written
Speaker 1: this screenplay as well. How has art made you feel
Speaker 1: less isolated as a caregiver?
Speaker 3: Art is something that I don't know how anyone else
Speaker 3: feels about it, But in my lowest moments, in the
Speaker 3: days when I'm down, I can look at beautiful dance,
Speaker 3: read a wonderful book, see a painting that just makes
Speaker 3: you want to cry, and it opens up a whole.
Speaker 2: New world to you.
Speaker 3: Not only that art as therapy music something that is
Speaker 3: wonderful for people with Alzheimer's and or dementia. When I
Speaker 3: couldn't relate to my uncle in any kind of way,
Speaker 3: I would put on some classical music and oh that man,
Speaker 3: he would calm down. And he was a big man too,
Speaker 3: he is about six foot six foot one. And when
Speaker 3: he didn't want to do something, he didn't want to
Speaker 3: do it, or he didn't want to eat something, he
Speaker 3: didn't want to eat it.
Speaker 2: But when I would put on music.
Speaker 3: His whole demeanor would change. And that's just what art does.
Speaker 3: Art moves people, no matter what frame of mind you have.
Speaker 1: It can move. Yes, for my dad it was Ray Charles.
Speaker 1: If I put some Ray Charles on, he would perk up,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, everything about Ray Charles Andy and listen
Speaker 1: to it. Yes, it was, I mean Ray Charles was everything.
Speaker 1: And so I totally understand how that music in the
Speaker 1: arts can really penetrate all of these situations that are happening.
Speaker 1: And I love hearing that. And so, how has your
Speaker 1: approach to caregiving and being a caregiver evolved and changed?
Speaker 1: We talked about, you know, letting people know what you need,
Speaker 1: and that was certainly something that if I could go
Speaker 1: back and be in that situation again, I would have
Speaker 1: maybe advocated for myself a little more. But what would
Speaker 1: you say how your approach has changed from the time
Speaker 1: you first became a caregiver.
Speaker 3: Don't feel like I have to take everything on and
Speaker 3: don't take things personally. There is always a little bit
Speaker 3: of ego in everything that we do. It has to
Speaker 3: be done this way, it has to be done that way.
Speaker 3: Just let things go. Don't feel like you have to
Speaker 3: do everything. And that's how I feel now with my
Speaker 3: aunt and with my cousin, who is wonderful. That's one
Speaker 3: thing I'll invite more people in.
Speaker 1: Yes. And the patience, right, So patience is Yes, it's
Speaker 1: something that I learned. I didn't think I had the
Speaker 1: patience to be a caregiver, no long term, but you
Speaker 1: develop it, you develop it, and it's something that is very,
Speaker 1: very tangible. You don't know how impatient you are until
Speaker 1: you have to be patient. Yes, that was another thing
Speaker 1: that did you find that you had to really develop
Speaker 1: your patience muscle.
Speaker 2: Yes, and did even more so than you do with
Speaker 2: the children.
Speaker 3: I know you have children that I have three girls,
Speaker 3: and children are different than grown adults. You know, of course,
Speaker 3: they're setting their ways and we're setting our ways.
Speaker 1: But so there's.
Speaker 2: Always a conflict.
Speaker 3: There's always a little bit more of a conflict, I
Speaker 3: think when you're dealing with adult family who needs more assistance.
Speaker 2: So, yes, patience is more than a virtue.
Speaker 1: You have to work at it. You really have to
Speaker 1: work at it. And it's a process.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: So on top of the emotional dedication that caregiving requires,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of physical work. You're lifting, you're you're walking,
Speaker 1: you're running, you're chasing, You're doing so much stuff. I
Speaker 1: wanted to know how how has that affected your body
Speaker 1: and furthermore, how has it affected your joint pain.
Speaker 2: It's been a struggle.
Speaker 3: Some days are are better than others, but still I'm
Speaker 3: a little up there in age, so it's more of
Speaker 3: a struggle.
Speaker 2: And that's where self care comes in.
Speaker 3: Of course, you have to exercise, you have to keep
Speaker 3: on your routines that you do for yourself in order
Speaker 3: to keep your body in shape.
Speaker 2: In order to do these things that you need to
Speaker 2: do for your loved one.
Speaker 1: You really do you push through the physicality, right, So
Speaker 1: if you're hurting and your joints are hurting, or you're
Speaker 1: not feeling good physically, you just push through it. And
Speaker 1: that's that's where we have to stop as caregivers and
Speaker 1: really recognize that we have to take care of ourselves
Speaker 1: in a real tangible way as caregivers. We just have
Speaker 1: to pay attention.
Speaker 3: Fifty nine percent of family caregivers they suffer from, like
Speaker 3: you were saying earlier, isolation and depression. And if you're depressed,
Speaker 3: you don't know how to push through sometimes, so getting
Speaker 3: that outside to help, the therapy, the support groups, if
Speaker 3: you can find one, it's very important so that you
Speaker 3: can push the isolation and depression.
Speaker 1: Yes, the isolation is something that rarely is talked about
Speaker 1: in our caregiver community. I don't ever remember talking about
Speaker 1: isolation or feeling isolated and during my caregiving years, and
Speaker 1: I started caregiving at very young age at nineteen for
Speaker 1: my dad. Oh wow, Yeah, I was nineteen years old
Speaker 1: when he got parking since disease. And I never discussed
Speaker 1: the isolation. Now I was young, you know, fifty seven now, So.
Speaker 2: I bet you cried about it. I bet you cried
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 1: I did, And it manifested itself in other ways, right,
Speaker 1: it came out in other ways and other conversations. It
Speaker 1: was really more about the frustration and the sadness I
Speaker 1: had about my father and how he was. His body
Speaker 1: was degenerating and with his punkinsins and he also had dementia,
Speaker 1: so that was difficult at the same time. But being
Speaker 1: so young, you know, I absorbed a lot of it. Wow,
Speaker 1: But I did. I did emotionally feel that I probably
Speaker 1: could have really used some help and be able to
Speaker 1: find somewhere in the community that I could talk about
Speaker 1: the isolation I was feeling.
Speaker 2: I remember your father, I remember him.
Speaker 1: On Oh my Daddy, the og the original Gordon on Street. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to be you'd have to be a certain
Speaker 1: age to remember my dad's Gordon from sixty nine to
Speaker 1: seventy three. But yes, he was like America's father for
Speaker 1: a while. It was really an amazing time. He was
Speaker 1: a remarkable man and got Parkinson so young in his
Speaker 1: forties and it was just pretty difficult, Yeah, really difficult,
Speaker 1: And I didn't There was no no search engines back then,
Speaker 1: so I couldn't really get much information about it. My
Speaker 1: question for you is when when do you know you
Speaker 1: need to reach out to others for help or support?
Speaker 1: What are what are the signs.
Speaker 3: I think when you're angry, the frustration kicks in. I
Speaker 3: think that's when you need to make sure that you
Speaker 3: reach out, because God bless them. There were some days
Speaker 3: that I was just like, would you please just do
Speaker 3: as I asked, Let's get this done. That's why I
Speaker 3: said earlier, I'm sure I'm not going to be that
Speaker 3: picky about things that need to be exactly the way
Speaker 3: you're gonna put on these socks, you're gonna put on
Speaker 3: these pants. You know what you want to wear, You're
Speaker 3: underwear outside your Jim shortz.
Speaker 2: We're not going anywhere today.
Speaker 3: Fine, but yeah, just when you start getting so frustrated
Speaker 3: that you're frustrated at your loved one and you're frustrated
Speaker 3: at yourself, that's when you need to go out and
Speaker 3: you need to talk, and you need to talk to
Speaker 3: someone quickly.
Speaker 1: And how important is it for you to talk to
Speaker 1: and connect with other caregivers like minded people. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just having a great time talking to you because
Speaker 1: I feel like we get each other right, We understand
Speaker 1: what we've been through, what we're going through. I first
Speaker 1: went to a caregiver support group when I was about
Speaker 1: nineteen or twenty and I felt so good after talking
Speaker 1: to other caregivers and other families dealing with Parkinson's at
Speaker 1: the time, I felt so heard and seen. Really felt
Speaker 1: like that helped me early on. So I always encourage
Speaker 1: caregivers to get together and talk.
Speaker 3: Most definitely because didn't you feel a little bit. I
Speaker 3: don't know about you, but I felt a little awkward
Speaker 3: even when I took my uncle out.
Speaker 2: Not awkward about him and his condition.
Speaker 3: I felt awkward that other people would look at him
Speaker 3: or maybe laugh or or I just felt like I
Speaker 3: didn't want him to be judged, and I didn't want
Speaker 3: me to be judged. I just didn't like the idea
Speaker 3: of someone mocking him. So I love to be able
Speaker 3: to be around people who understood the situation and there
Speaker 3: was no judgment.
Speaker 1: Even though caregiving can have a big mental and physical demand.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that. What have been some of your
Speaker 1: favorite parts of being a caregiver?
Speaker 3: Getting to know me, knowing who I am and what
Speaker 3: I'm capable of. Days that I didn't think i'd have
Speaker 3: the strength to do certain things, I found out I
Speaker 3: was able to do it and I was able to persevere.
Speaker 1: I love that. Wow, this has been a great interview,
Speaker 1: and again, so many years ago, I would never even
Speaker 1: be able to have a podcast. Well they didn't have
Speaker 1: podcasts back then. But even on the radio and even
Speaker 1: on TV, you didn't hear caregivers talking to each other
Speaker 1: about what they're experiencing and caring for a loved one
Speaker 1: and what that brings. So I've really enjoyed this conversation
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad to meet you and connect with you.
Speaker 1: And wow, I just hope that we are able to
Speaker 1: connect again. And when you get caring for caregivers up
Speaker 1: and going, please let me know I'll definitely amplify it
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: I do appreciate that you're welcome, and it's been wonderful
Speaker 3: speaking with you too.
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 3: I really am.
Speaker 2: I did not know you started this at nineteen years old.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I could have handled it, but
Speaker 3: oh my goodness, I'm proud of you. Thank you, and
Speaker 3: look at how much you are thriving. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: You know, when I was nineteen, I did a lot
Speaker 1: of people didn't say that to me. They didn't say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, you're doing a great job. I'm proud of you,
Speaker 1: and I think that was part of my you know,
Speaker 1: I just I think I was just supposed to take
Speaker 1: care of my daddy. That was my job. And I
Speaker 1: really appreciate you saying that.
Speaker 2: Oh well, I am.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of work, but it was so
Speaker 1: worth it. It is. Thank you so much, Lakita. I
Speaker 1: just really appreciate talking to you. Take care of yourself.
Speaker 2: Thank you you too.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Lakita Casten for joining me today. Hearing
Speaker 1: more about her story really reminded me how proud every
Speaker 1: caregiver should be of themselves, not only for the time
Speaker 1: they dedicate to their loved one, but also for finding
Speaker 1: joy in that process and being able to share that
Speaker 1: joy with others. That's it for today's episode. Join us
Speaker 1: next time with physical trainer and fitness educator Pete McCall. Together,
Speaker 1: we'll explore the importance of mobility and strength training for
Speaker 1: caregivers with joint pain due to arthritis. Until our next walk,
Speaker 1: don't forget to find the support you need and take
Speaker 1: care of yourself too. Care Walks is produced by iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: in partnership with voltairean Arthritis pain gel, and hosted by
Speaker 1: me Holly Robinson, Pete Our executive producer is Molly Sosha.
Speaker 1: Our head engineer is Matt Stillo. This episode was written
Speaker 1: and produced by Sierra Kaiser, with special thanks to our
Speaker 1: partners at GSK Platform, GSK, Weber, Shandwick and Edelman