Another great day

Today I drove myself to work. DH had an appointment on the east side of Cincinnati at 8:00 am and there was no way he could make the appointment on time after dropping me off at work. It was a long cold walk into the office and I am in the first lot because of a handicapped sticker on my car. 13 is just too cold for this slow walker.

When I got to work he asked me to call and then reassured me that I didn't have to drive to work every day until I really felt like it. Boy I would love to take advantage of that offer and never drive to work again. But...that is lazy and taking advantage of him. It would show him that one car will work for both of us, but at what expense? I think I had better plan on driving myself as soon as I am really ready to do it regularly.

He has really stepped up to the plate to become my caregiver. I will never be able to say thank you enough to him. There have been a few moments when we didn't see eye to eye, but that is typical of any marriage. We iron them out and go forward.

We go to see DH neurologist next Tuesday. I think he will see little if any change for the worse. Maybe we can go back to once every three months for visits. I surely hope so and I an certain DH would like it too.

Bless all of you who are praying for dementia patients and their extended families.

DH is on top of things

Yesterday DH called the company that has put alarm systems on all of our vehicles. They are going out of business and selling everything at half price. We are going to get additional remote controls for both vehicles and have an alarm system put on the newest vehicle with a remote starter as well. The older vehicle needs some maintenance work on its alarm system and we are going to try to get it back in full working order. DH thought of this on his own and pursued the necessary information. When he told me about his research he indicated that we had about 24 hours to act on it.

This morning it was the first thing on my mind. I wasn't trying to test DH, but busy getting ready for work, and didn't remind him of the conversation. As DH was driving me to work he brought up the subject himself. This indicates to me that his short term memory is not as impacted by the dementia as we were afraid it was. This is a big Woo Who!

DH has been a wonderful care giver and now it is time for us to trade the titles again. He injured his spine over the holidays and after an extensive MRI he is going to have an epidural to try and move the disk back 1/4" into the proper position. If the epidural doesn't work spinal surgery is the next step. This will not be an easy time for us.

MIL is moving to our hometown the last weekend in January. She will be in a nursing home within 2 miles of our house. We will start packing her heirloom possessions this weekend. We will also be packing some of her off season clothes as well. I anticipate 9 boxes and some large sized garbage bags will come back to our house this weekend. It is a small start, but it will be an accomplishment. She has held on so long that it is harder on her now than it would have been a few years ago. I feel for her. She is loosing her Independence and her privacy. Two very hard things for an individual to do. Thank God I had a long week in a nursing home during my recovery from surgery. As a patient I now know what to look for and how to help her with the transition.

Please keep praying for all dementia patients, their caregivers and families as they struggle to love and help.

Working Girl

Today is my first day back at work. You wouldn't believe it but I had over 600 e-mails in my inbox. It will take hours to clean up.

DH drove me to work as I am not released to drive yet. He actually got up with me at 6:15 and took care of the dogs and me before the drive. I love having coffee with him first thing in the morning.

Last night he discovered that his right ankle was badly swollen. He has a rash that is being treated with hydrocortisone on the same leg. This morning the swelling is down, but we will be watching it. He was the one that discovered it. This is good because it means that he is watching his body for symptoms that might lead back to the staph infection. He is back in the early stages of dementia!!! Happy Dance!

Please keep praying for patients with dementia, their caregivers and families.

Return to posting

It has been over a month since my last post. DH is doing very well. He has been taking care of me since my surgery and doing a very good job of being a caregiver. I will be returning to work next Tuesday. It will be 5 weeks since my surgery.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson came over during the afternoon and we exchanged gifts. It was great to see them here. The dogs, Max and Roxie, were very interested in our grandson, who does not really trust big dogs. We will have to find the opportunity to make it easier for all.

My MIL is moving to our city the end of this month. She will be entering a nursing home. She has been refusing this for over four years. James has promised to visit her daily. This will keep both of them active. Initially we will go to church services in the NH weekly to get her involved with the other members. This will be good for all of us.

Please continue to pray for all dementia patients, their family and caregivers.

Driving

DH finally admitted that his driving edge has become less acute. There are times that he scares me when he is driving. He pulls too far forward at stop signs and red lights. He drives too close to the white or yellow lines. He follows too close. All of these can cause a disaster but he is trying and for that I give him a 10.

Surgery for myself is coming closer. Yesterday I asked DH to list the things that he felt needed to be completed around the house before I go to the hospital. He had a very good list at the end of the day. I almost completed one of his items. There has been a box of books in our master bedroom since the carpeting was cleaned. Last night I put most of the books away. Tonight I will complete the task. When I say books I mean close to 250 books. My endurance is not great now so I am taking my time but sticking to it until I give up or finish.

Please continue to pray for all dementia and Alzheimer's patients, their care givers, families and friends. God bless you.

DH not well

Yesterday DH visited the doctor for his weekly protime test. (He is on Coumadin therapy and currently the dosage is changing weekly.) After my visit with our primary care physician last week and some straight talk the first thing they did was take an x-ray of his lungs. He has fluid in his lungs again. They put him on a strong antibiotic and took blood samples for various tests. DH is scared that he is sick again and will end up in the hospital. I keep encouraging him by reminding him that this time we caught it early and will see it through to total healing. He was also told that it will take six months for his strength to totally return. I don't think he liked that, but it will give him a time line to work towards.

The rehab hospital that he was in the final two weeks of his hospitalization has a six month free use of the physical therapy swimming pool. I am encouraging him to take advantage of it. If I encourage (nag) him often enough he will finally hear me and call about arrangements. He needs this to help regain his strength.

I extend my deepest sympathies to Ami Simms and her family. Ami's mother Beebe passed away this last weekend from Alzheimer's and will be deeply missed. You can visit Ami's blog at www.amisimms.wordpress.com. She is the founder of the Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative at http://www.alzquilts.org/.

I have a very busy next two weeks so posts may not be daily or very long.

Thank you again for all your prayers for dementia patients, their care givers and extended families. This is a very tough road to walk.

Although I had a four day weekend most of the time was spent working in the kitchen, working on a toilet that will not flush and searching for 5 pistols that belong to DH. The kitchen is almost back in pristine shape, the toilet is still not working and DH found 4 of the pistols. Today he will be looking for the last one. Finding these pistols takes a load off my mind.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with DD, SIL and GS. Jeremy is growing into such a wonderful boy. He and I had a long conversation and I must say he is fantastic. I love him too much to define. After dinner we had some target practice. Wait, you say. Jeremy is only 7. Well that kid can sure shoot a marshmallow blaster. I learned from him. What fun!

I have a very heavy work load during the next 15 calendar days and on December 16 I will be having my right knee replaced. I don't know how much blogging I will do in the meantime. I also need to stick very strictly to my diet so that my physical therapy after surgery is easier. 30 minutes 3 times a day for knee replacement physical therapy and some of it is patient driven. Thank God some of it is a machine that works on keeping the knee flexing. I will start at 35 degrees and end up at 110 degrees flex. After that any additional flexibility will be on my own.

DH is worried about how he will be able to care for me after I get home from my three day hospital stay. I am sure that he will do fine. He is still showing symptoms of dementia. Last night he repeated the same question within 5 minutes, but stopped half way through as he realized that he was repeating. That in itself is reasuring.

Bless you and please continue to pray for dementia patients and their extended families.

Have a great day.