Care Factor - In Conversation with Sara James

After a six month break in recording and several COVID-19 related lockdowns, Sara and Kristine catch up on all that has happened in Kristine's life.  A special birthday, a health scare and an impossible decision mean that Kristine has had to think long and hard about what is best for her and her family.

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In this episode, Kristine and Sara look back on where the system let Kristine's family down over the past few years, and how things could have been done better.

Is the problem going to be solved with money, or is there more to it than that?

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Having Neal at home, my role and life had changed.  

I was responsible for raising the kids, advocating and caring for Neal and negotiating with systems that just didn't seem to understand where we were coming from.

I was tired. I was grumpy. I was resentful.  

It all seemed so unfair, yet I felt guilty about complaining.  Neal was the one who had suffered so much.  What did I have to complain about?  Even the thought of complaining about what I'd lost, filled me with guilt and shame.

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After working as a professional in the disability sector for years, I was now on the receiving end of the policies and supports I had previously designed/provided.

This was a bitter pill to swallow, and exposed where my work and attitudes in the past were misguided.

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After being admitted to ICU, a place we'd never experienced, we became all too familiar with this futuristic environment  - a bubble bearing no resemblance to our normal life. It was a time filled with grief, worry but also some laughs.

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G’day.  My name is Kristine Rawlinson and I have a story to tell.  On AFL grand final day almost four years ago, my husband Neal became seriously ill and everything changed for our family.  With Neal’s permission and blessing, I will fill you in on all that he has been through.  This podcast will shine a light on carers - the unpaid family and friends who support others to thrive, often at their own expense. 

My life changed dramatically when Neal became ill. Overnight, I was no longer a professional, I was a pensioner.  And, I was no longer a wife, I was a carer.  My story could be your story.  Becoming a carer can happen to anyone at any time. Join me, in conversation with Sara James, for Care Factor.

Given this is the first podcast I’ve ever made, I asked lots of friends, new and old, to help me out with this project.

Enter Sara James.

For my fellow Aussies, you may know Sara from ABC News Breakfast where she has a fortnightly segment, an American in Oz.  Now others may know her from her many years on NBC news in the US, where she covered assignments such as September 11, Australia’s Stolen Generations, and too many more to mention.

And as she’s the mother of a child with a rare and devastating genetic epilepsy called KCNQ2, Sara understands the complexity of my world in a way that few can.Luckily for me, Sara and I live in the same beautiful part of Australia, Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

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