Jenn Fredericks is the featured guest in this episode, sharing her deeply personal journey as both a long-term patient and a dedicated caregiver. Diagnosed with chronic kidney disease as a teenager, Jenn received her first kidney transplant from her father at age 15, and later a second from her husband’s twin brother. Her life took another challenging turn when her adopted daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of eight. Jenn describes the overwhelming responsibilities of managing her own Health while navigating her daughter’s complex medical needs, all while supporting her Family and working through the emotional toll of caregiving.
Throughout the episode, Jenn offers candid insights into the realities of caregiver exhaustion, discussing moments of vulnerability, Anxiety, and the struggle to maintain resilience. She emphasizes the importance of taking intentional pauses—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—to recharge and remain present for loved ones. Drawing from her experiences, Jenn has developed resources such as a caregiver exhaustion quiz and founded the Carewell Circle, an online community for caregivers seeking support and connection. Her story is a testament to the power of self-awareness, community, and proactive self-care in the face of ongoing caregiving challenges.
About Jenn:
Jenn Fredericks understands the unique challenges of caregiving from a deeply personal perspective. For over 30 years, she has navigated her own health journey with chronic kidney disease, which has included two transplants. For more than a decade, she has also been a caregiver for her daughter through complex health challenges, including a brain tumor, and she now provides long-distance care for her parents.
This extensive experience led Jenn to a powerful realization. While others called her “resilient,” she often felt overwhelmed, to the point of being unable to walk through her own front door. Recognizing the gap between her inner feelings and the world's perception, she became a Personal Resilience Practitioner and Prosilience Coach. She discovered that true resilience isn't about being tougher; it begins with learning how to find small moments of presence, even in the middle of chaos.
To share these insights with other caregivers, Jenn founded Carewell Circle, a community for those who understand the complex Emotions of loving someone deeply while feeling trapped. She has also created a guide titled “Caregiving Relief You Don't Have to Wait For.” Through her work, she teaches others the same powerful techniques that helped her find peace amidst her own challenges.
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Known since childhood as “The Elliott Girls” or simply, “The Girls”, it makes sense that we work together to support our mother, and each other. Our trio begins with Jenefer Jane “JJ” who was and always will be “in charge”. She’s the peacekeeper. The responsible one, ensuring Natalie and Emilie remain alive. Next is Natalie, the middle child, who was and always will be Miss Congeniality. She’s the athlete. The rebel responsible for three babysitters exiting the summer of ’84. Then there is Emilie, the youngest, who was and always will be “the baby”. At 6’1”, she is the sensitive and quiet soul. The one responsible for the guinea pig that begged for lettuce and the stray dog we adopted from the bus stop.
After high school we went separate ways, from New Mexico to North Carolina. JJ would go on to get her Master’s in Business Administration and work in the finance world before partnering with her now husband, Dexter, to run a variety of businesses. Natalie would go on to get her Master’s in Social Work degree, and work in the mental health field, advocating for children and families to receive the most appropriate services. Natalie would marry and divorce early on but later marry Jason. Emilie would exit college early to marry and gift us with Owen and twins, Maxx and Natalie Jane aka “The Kids”. Emilie would later divorce and work with county government, focusing much time on caring for the kids.
The source of the sisterhood falls to Jim aka “Big Jim” and Connie, small town high school sweethearts married for almost 40 years.
In 2005, at the age of 52, mom would be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. She hid the disease for years behind dad’s 6’2” frame. The tremors and sudden inability to move were both calmed and steadied by his arm and simple presence. He was her rock. Our rock. Close family and friends knew of her chronic illness, but to the rest of the world, everything was “fine”. Life would turn upside down when our dad unexpectedly passed in 2011 of a massive heart attack at the age of 58. The assumption was Dad would always be mom’s caregiver but that wasn’t God’s plan.
Mom would spend the years following our father’s death desperately seeking a cure for Parkinson’s while trying to manage her symptoms. As the years went by, the cruel symptoms associated with the disease increased, negatively impacting her body while her mind remained clear and in tune. We lived our lives checking in to make sure she was “okay” but knowing the day would come when we had to do more. And then it did. The summer of 2019 changed everything. That’s where the real caregiver story begins for us. Little did we know she would be only the beginning of our caregiving journey.
In March 2022, Natalie’s husband, Jason, was diagnosed with head and neck cancer. From the first time Jason detected something off about the swollen lymph nodes in his neck, to the formal diagnosis, and the decision to move to New York City to participate in a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the journey would push them to their limits. The silver lining of his diagnosis was the cancer brought them closer to God, restoring their faith in Him while also experiencing a myriad of blessings through the kindness of family, friends, and strangers. Their story is a testimony that will inspire and offer hope.
