Text: Laketa, Caregiver
Text: Jennie, Actress & Caregiver
Text: Use as directed.
Jennie VO: Hi!
Laketa VO: Hi!
Jennie VO: You must be Laketa, nice to meet you, hug? Ok, good.
Jennie VO: Hello, how are you?
Laketa VO: I’m good, how are you?
Jennie VO: I’m not bad.
Laketa VO: Good.
Jennie VO: Should we walk and talk?
Laketa VO: Yes, let’s do that.
Text: Voltaren Arthritis Pain presents…
Text: CareWalks
Jennie VO: So tell me, who do you take care of?
Laketa VO: Well, I help take care of my aunt.
Laketa VO: She’s not able to walk right now, she is wheelchair bound, so it's always a new normal.
Laketa VO: When I get used to one thing, something else happens.
Jennie VO: Have you had to sort of sacrifice or give up things in your own life?
Laketa VO: I couldn’t see my kids. They all live in separate states and I couldn’t see them.
Jennie VO: Do you ever get like burnout?
Laketa VO: I do feel like I’m losing myself.
Laketa VO: Because if you're not a caregiver, after you’ve taken care of someone for so long, what are you?
Jennie VO: So do you have anybody that you talk to?
Laketa VO: To my sister, who actually took care of my father and my mother.
Jennie VO: Yeah! It feels good right - to be able to talk to somebody who can relate sometimes.
Laketa VO: Absolutely, absolutely.
Jennie VO: You can just vent!
Laketa VO: Because you always have that little thing in your head - “Am I doing this the right way?”
Jennie VO: Oh my gosh.
Laketa VO: The downfall of everything.
Jennie VO: You’re responsible for someone else’s life.
Laketa VO: Yeah.
Jennie VO: It's a big deal.
Jennie VO: When I was taking care of my dad, I had my mom to talk to.
Jennie VO: But now my mom is at a place where she needs caregiving, so my sister is her primary caregiver.
Laketa VO: Oh, that’s wonderful!
Jennie VO: We spend some time just talking to each other about all the stress of it.
Jennie VO: Really helps her to go back in with some gusto, you know?
Jennie VO: How do you think having osteoarthritis affects your ability to be a caregiver?
Laketa VO: Most of the time I can ignore it, and that’s probably something I shouldn't do.
Laketa VO: Like this little twinge, this little twinge in my wrist, is something that I need to be aware of.
Laketa VO: I just need to move more, I think.
Jennie VO: That's the key right…
Jennie & Laketa VO: Staying active.
Jennie VO: Especially if you are suffering from arthritis or pain of any kind yourself, that sort of is like a silent suffering.
Laketa VO: Nobody wants to be a debbie-downer all the time, you know? Like start moving a little bit more…
Jennie VO: It’s so hard to remember to do, isn't it?
Laketa VO: It is so hard, like drinking water!
Laketa VO: Laughs
Jennie VO: Yeah, I try to stretch when I wake up and I always forget.
Laketa VO: Yeah, paying more attention to it now because I’m aware.
Jennie VO: There’s a beautiful spot over here I want to show you.
Laketa VO: Walking with you has been wonderful.
Jennie VO: How could this not lift your spirits?
Laketa VO: I know, it is gorgeous.
Jennie VO: When you think back to the beginning of your caregiving journey, what would you tell yourself?
Laketa VO: I would say, Laketa, take care of you. You can't take care of anybody else if you don't take care of yourself.
Jennie VO: And isn’t it great that Voltaren is bringing awareness to caregivers?
Laketa VO: Most definitely, most definitely.
Laketa VO: People have been overlooked for a long time.
Text: It’s not just movement.
Text: It’s walking alongside each other, and millions of other caregivers in America
Text: The joy of movement.