JOAN’S BLOG – WED/THUR, JUNE 1-2, 2011 – CHALLENGING AND EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

While I am desperately, frantically, trying to get everything ready for my rescheduled shoulder surgery on Monday, June 6th, I am taking this time to update you on some exciting new features coming to The Alzheimer Spouse website.

A business contact who wished to keep updated on my blogs recently pointed out to me that my website was “old fashioned” in that it was not set up for RSS feed, and he was therefore, unable to follow my blogs without logging on every day. For businesses, daily log-ins are impossible, since they follow so many websites.

Matt, my computer expert, assured me that he could plant me and my website well into the 21st century with RSS feed. For those of you unfamiliar with the service, it means that you will be able to subscribe to my blogs, and with a simple check on the feed, you will have my updated blogs and pertinent news/information at your fingertips daily without having to navigate my whole site, if you do not wish to do so. It should be ready by the end of this week. For those of you who are techno novices and have no idea what I am talking about, a special tutorial section with graphics and information will be set up carefully explaining how the feed works.

I am happy to have Dr. Joshua Uy onboard as our geriatric expert. You can read about Dr. Uy by clicking this link. His blogs can be accessed through this link. His knowledge, experience, and especially his approachable style, will be an asset to this site. Information is a two lane highway. As Dr. Uy will bring his expertise to us, he is giving us the opportunity to educate and enlighten medical students concerning caregiving issues. He informed me that many students and geriatric fellows read The Alzheimer Spouse website, and one of them did a presentation on caregiver burnout using comments from you – the real experts.

I am especially excited to announce that I am branching out, and will be contributing articles on Alzheimer spousal issues to a variety of different websites. This is extremely important to all of us, because it will give me a chance to raise awareness and disseminate information to a much larger audience than those who read my site.

Stay tuned for more information on a nationwide contest for winning a Caregiver Cruise.

As you know, hiring a computer expert and spending hours writing and networking is an expensive project. To help fund these new features, a new store will be debuting soon. My knitting hobby has turned out so well, that my scarf designs will soon be for sale on a website that specializes in custom creations. I cannot wait for you to see the variety of styles, colors, and textures that I have fashioned.

Unfortunately, all of this comes at a time when I will be down and out from surgery for an unknown period of time. My sister will be arriving on Sunday with my marching orders. She has told me – “I am in charge! When I take you home from the hospital, you are getting drugged up, put to bed, and are doing NOTHING until I leave.” I am so stressed from financial difficulties, worrying about Sid’s care, the website, my father's care, and taking care of myself with one arm while I am “down”, that her prescription is sounding good to me.

After my sister leaves, Medicare is sending in a nurse to check on Sid; my friend is hiring in-home help for me; my facility has a driver for medical appointments and grocery shopping; physical therapy is on site here where I live; and my Kindle is full of books. Knitting will be on hold for awhile, but I can always type with one finger, so I will be checking in regularly.

There are a couple of more blogs to be written before the surgery, and then my sister will write one or two after the surgery.

Feedback to joan@thealzheimerspouse.com
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The Alzheimer Spouse LLC
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