This is a very dark thought and not something I like to consider yet it happened to my Grandparents. And no, my Grandpa didn’t have Parkinson’s Disease but he did have leukemia. When he was diagnosed we were all devastated and Grandma prepared herself for the worst. Imagine our surprise when, about a year later she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died within just a few months. Grandpa went into remission and, with support from his three daughters, would go on to live for another decade. This was not the outcome any of us were expecting.

My husband is older than me and has a chronic illness which should mean that I will outlive him. I can’t forget, though, that unexpected things happen. Our future planning needs to be comprehensive. We need a plan that will take care of me if he should go first and we need a plan of care for him should it be the other way around. It’s not enough to say we have money in the bank and I can’t leave this to our kids to figure out after something happens, we need to have the conversations now.

We are connected with a great Elder Law attorney who advised us on protecting our estate and helped us with all the documentation we needed to cover whatever we might face in our future. We review our plan often to make sure nothing needs to be changed and we gave copies to our kids. I also have a tool called the “CarePartner Back-up Plan” that I received from Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon that defines my role and outlines the help my husband would need if I weren’t here. Having this in place allows me to relax and live fully in the present instead of spending my days worrying about what comes next. I know I’m going to be okay, he’s going to be cared for, we’re covered for whatever our uncertain future brings.