When a Mom's Caregiver SUDDENLY Needs a Caregiver Herself, Karla Jepson's Story

Join Dave, The Caregiver's Caregiver, as he interviews Tereza Harper & Hana Eicher, the two sisters of Karla Jepson, caregiver to her mom for over a year, that is, until she had a massive aneurysm that left her with severe short-term memory loss and paralysis on her left side. Now her sisters have become not only their mom's caregiver, but Karla’s as well. They will talk about their ordeal, and how they learned how burnout and stress can be disabling, as it was for Karla.

Back in 1979, their family all escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia. Karla's family stayed in a refugee camp in Austria for 5 months and came to California where they settled with the help of the parents' friends. None of them spoke any English when they first came.

Tereza & Hana are both in the health care industry; Karla was a purchasing director at a private school in Calabasas. They each have wonderful children. Hana has a 16 year daughter, Sarah, Karla has a 17 year old son Jake, and Tereza has two daughters, 6 year old Stana, and 4 year old Lenka.

Their dad passed away four years ago, and their mom hurt her lower spine taking care of him in his last two years of life.

They believe the reason they are able to get through all of this hardship is that they were always a very close knit family. It is very difficult for them now to watch their Mom and sister become just a shell of their former selves. They grieve for them, and yet they are still with them.