How to Care for Aging Parents Without Sacrificing Your Career by Erika Parker-Price Liz O’Donnell had a full life with a husband, two kids, and a career when she got crushing news: On the same day her mother was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer in 2014, O’Donnell learned her dad had Alzheimer’s and would need to move into a memory care facility. Then 47, O’Donnell became a caregiver, one of 34 million U.S.