JOAN’S BLOG – THUR/FRI, OCTOBER 18/19, 2012- THE OMG! AWARD

Let me tell you how an Alzheimer Spouse friend of mine and I are handling the never-ending crises and problems with our AD husbands. If it weren’t for my sense of humor, I would not be surviving this battle. We have what is called the OMG! AWARD OF THE WEEK. (OMG = ‘Oh my God!’ to those not familiar with text language).

We talk on the phone regularly and try to support one another through our Alzheimer tales of woe. One night, as I was relaying one of my PP (poop patrol) indidents that took 2 ½ hours to clean – 2 bathrooms; living room; hall; and dining room, she exclaimed, “OMG! You get the OMG AWARD of the WEEK. And that is how it started.

We do not purposely TRY for the award. It just seems that there is always a crisis, emergency, or major event occurring in one of our lives as Alzheimer Spouses that is deserving of the award.

To protect her privacy, I will not describe the incidents that won her the award, although I can say that they involve PP, wandering, tree cutting, and lost dogs.

She has conceded the award to me for my Shingles, the causes of my major meltdown as detailed in the October 3rd blog below, and now……………………..my latest incident, which caused her to lament – “You will do anything to claim that award!”

I have won this week because last Saturday I came home from a short walk with excruciating sharp pains in my left hip. I sat; I could not get up. I could not turn to the left. I could not turn to the right. I have not had that level of pain since I strained my back shoveling too much snow about 30 years ago. It was horrendous. So there I sat, screaming in pain, and my AD husband was whining and complaining about his painful knees, and asking me to get up and get his headphones. I explained about my pain, and he said he didn’t like to see me hurt. 10 minutes later (and all the next day), he wanted to know what was wrong, as he had forgotten what I said.

Once I managed to get up, I had to keep walking, as there was no pain while I was walking. That was not conducive to a good night’s sleep, as you can imagine. I was careful how I sat and how I walked on Sunday, but I still experienced sharp pain if I moved certain ways. Monday morning, I called my doctor. He was on vacation, and not a single doctor or nurse practitioner in the office had room in their schedule to see me. As the day wore on, and I learned how to sit to avoid the pain, I decided to wait until the next day to go to the ER around the corner – same building as my doctor’s office.

3 ½ hours in the ER, an X-ray and a CT scan later, I was diagnosed with a lumbar sprain and sacroiliitis, given Prednisone to reduce the inflammation, a muscle relaxer, and Tramadol for pain.

On Friday morning, I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor, and at the end of November, I have an appointment with a back specialist.

Now the trick is to get my AD demented husband to remember that I cannot wait on him. This is a bigger challenge than dealing with my pain, which the pills have eased.

My next phone call will be to my Medicaid case manager to get Sid’s name on a list for placement, which I was planning on doing anyway before this latest setback of mine.

I thank the Academy for my OMG! Award. I will gladly concede next week’s award to my friend.  

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