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Already Toast
Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America | Kate Washington
3 posts | 3 read | 6 to read
The story of one woman's struggle to care for her seriously ill husband--and a revealing look at the role unpaid family caregivers play in a society that fails to provide them with structural support. Already Toast shows how all-consuming caregiving can be, how difficult it is to find support, and how the social and literary narratives that have long locked women into providing emotional labor also keep them in unpaid caregiving roles. When Kate Washington and her husband, Brad, learned that he had cancer, they were a young couple: professionals with ascending careers, parents to two small children. Brad's diagnosis stripped those identities away: he became a patient and she his caregiver. Brad's cancer quickly turned aggressive, necessitating a stem-cell transplant that triggered a massive infection, robbing him of his eyesight and nearly of his life. Kate acted as his full-time aide to keep him alive, coordinating his treatments, making doctors' appointments, calling insurance companies, filling dozens of prescriptions, cleaning commodes, administering IV drugs. She became so burned out that, when she took an online quiz on caregiver self-care, her result cheerily declared: "You're already toast!" Through it all she felt profoundly alone, but, as she later learned, she was in fact one of millions: an invisible army of family caregivers working every day in America, their unpaid labor keeping our troubled healthcare system afloat. Because our culture both romanticizes and erases the realities of care work, few caregivers have shared their stories publicly. As the baby-boom generation ages, the number of family caregivers will continue to grow. Readable, relatable, timely, and often raw, Already Toast--with its clear call for paying and supporting family caregivers--is a crucial intervention in that conversation, bringing together personal experience with deep research to give voice to those tasked with the overlooked, vital work of caring for the seriously ill.
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Bookwormjillk
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I thought this book was excellent. It was brutally honest and relatable. A really important read.

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Megabooks
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Like the author, I am already toast. I am a burnt out caregiver who is disabled herself. I am frustrated, sad, and angry every day. (Not that I don‘t have moments of joy, though.)

While this book did offer ideas to fill the US caregiving gap, I just appreciated being seen. It can be incredibly validating to hear that someone has similar struggles to you! I enjoyed her literary references - everything from Little Women to Goodbye Vitamin. ⬇️

Megabooks I think there‘s a great reading list here for those of us who are caregivers. When I listen next time, I‘m going to write all the books down! #audiobook Also, I‘d like to note that the author is not disabled (but I am). Instead, the author is dealing with raising young children while caring for her husband who has a rare form of cancer. 4y
Cinfhen Sounds like an empowering read!! And I love that she includes literary references 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen it was really good. Just what I needed this week. 4y
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Megabooks @Bookwormjillk I hope your hold comes in quickly and that you like this, too! 4y
Bookwormjillk Thanks, and I hope this country gets it together to support caregivers soon! 4y
Megabooks @Bookwormjillk same!! She definitely talks about that both in a memoir way and from a policy perspective. 4y
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Megabooks
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So I only picked up one new release from the library yesterday, but I am super excited about it! I am definitely experiencing caregiver burnout, so I hope to learn some really useful things.

Bookwormjillk I have this on hold. I was really excited to read an article by her that used research my firm did. Looking forward to seeing what you think about it. 4y
Megabooks @Bookwormjillk I just started it! 4y
Reggie They just talked about this book on The For Real Podcast. It sounded very interesting and timely. 4y
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