How do you handle being a caregiver?

Done it twice now. First of all, I have to admit I already was retired so not as disruptive as regards job or active life. Which is not to say that the 24/7 isolating drain does not still apply. The first time, with my wife, in retrospect, was a piece of cake. Her health and mobility was seriously declining over an 8 year period but we could still do some things together although I had to assist her more and more. It wasn't until she declined the third round of chemo and opted for hospice that I got hit with the full brunt of her bed ridden, doped up, etc., but that was a very short period and the home hospice staff that came out helped a lot. The second time was a decade later and I no longer felt I could take 24/7 responsibility. At first we had a part-time caregiver come in to help and she was great, gave me some respite, could relate better to her needs (being both female and a CNA) than I. When she got worst and was going to need more 24/7 care the cost of having someone come in for around-the-clock help was prohibitive, so I moved her into an assisted living facility. Most days I still went and picked her up and brought her to the house for a few hours, most of it frequently spent with her napping with her cat. But it provided flexibility -- knowing 24/7 back up was there -- yet she felt connected to home life. You need some respite to get over that isolated feeling, be it other family helping out on some sort of schedule you can look forward to, part-time in home paid help, or assisted living. Something that gives you a little respite and flexibility to look forward to. It is something to look forward to that is more important than the actual amount of time freed up, imho.