I found something last night that helped me. It said the definition of "hope" is not believing that things will eventually be better than they used to be. "Hope" is being able to imagine that things can eventually be better than they are...right now.
I'm constantly reading about how life is a new adventure just waiting to happen, that new things (it's implied that these are all "good" new things) are always just around the corner. While caregiving, I have not found that to be true. But feeling like I can have hope again, that things will eventually be better than right now? I find that encouraging.
It's always good to see your name again, Jan. I really like your definition of hope. Where did you find this gem? Yes, "better than right now" helps us get over the moment, and it is true.
Jan, I used your definition of hope when talking to a neighbor of mine today. We have been through a lot together, and she is having a rough time right now. Its a great definition.
Made it through my colonoscopy. Hb was still sleeping when I got home. It only took them 4 times to hit a vein to use. Doctor said all look good. I was sleeping so nicely when they had to wake me up - :-( I only got one hour last night so needed it. Will try to sleep now but probably won't.
Hope all is having a good May 4th - as good as one could have.
We have had no rain..it is pretty out, but chilly and windy these first days of May. My new front yard with the planters is doing well. Fresh new start for the yard.
It's a cooler day today. I've had the windows open since May 1 though, and my indoor cats love that. They move up from the living room (I have a living room?) and sleep in the hallway up here because I open the bathroom window facing west and the guest bedroom window facing east so they can hear real life in stereo. I did pull a bureau in front of that window and they lay on that and look out.
It takes me a few days to get used to the sounds like those going to work and the dawn bird calls and noise of the city. Up at this latitude the leaves are just coming out on all the early trees with that light green of early growth. The late trees like the honey locust in the back have nothing but a few tiny buds. Summer's coming though.
Finally had some rain yesterday. After all the snow we had this winter, it seems strange to say that the ground really needed the rain. Now the grass has started to green up. It's definitely spring - had our first hummingbird at the feeder today!
Pathology on the polyps came back was expected - negative which is good. I only got one hour sleep Sunday night. I now know why Michael Jackson like polypropylene - 45 minutes of sleep from it and I was fine for the rest of the day! The couple times I was going to lay down he would come ask me a question or tell me he was taking the dog out,etc. I went to bed at 11 last night, turned the TV off before 11:30 (which is early for me, usually 1 or 1:30am) and slept until 6 - took the dog out and slept another 2.5 hours. Got up, took dog for a walk, went to lab for thyroid blood draw, was almost home before he was up. He calls telling me he was up and dressed then noticed it was Tuesday - his shower day. Asked if he was to change clothes and shower!
Continue to have wild flowers pop up out in the fields, flowers I would never had noticed without having to walk the dog. So the dog has proved a positive move in more ways than one.
Glad the polyps were negative and that you got some sleep, Charlotte. Our wildflowers are popping up, too, over in the park. Lots of spring beauties, bluebells, and others that I don't know. (It is so nice not to be cold all the time!)
Yesterday a friend dropped over with some fiddlehead greens she had just finished picking. They made a delightful addition to our supper tonight.
Today was the first "face to face" support meeting. There were only 6 of us there, and it was very structured. Today's topic was "services available in the area". Despite the lack of opportunity to share experiences with other participants, I did pick up some useful information. So I am glad I went. Next week the topic is "signs of exhaustion in the caregiver". I hope the turnout is better.
On the way home I saw a notice saying that there is fire ban in place in our area. It has been very hot and dry with little rain predicted until Monday at the earliest. Good thing I wasn't planning to burn all the yard waste I have accumulated in the spring clean up!
Marsh, I'm north of you in Western Quebec. We had the fiddleheads hot the other night with butter and lemon juice. I cooked them all, so last night we had some cold, marinated in Italian salad dressing. I think I preferred them that way.
Correction, Marsh. I just looked at the atlas, and unless you are in Bangor, I am west of you, not north. So, I know you had more snow than we did, but temperature wise I think we suffered through the same long, cold winter. The fiddle heads in your area should be ready for picking so enjoy!
Thanks Wolf. The kids took me out last weekend for a combination birthday/Mother's Day celebration. And I posted on another thread that I made reservations at our local restaurant for my DH to take me out to dinner tonight.He doesn't know what day it is (although he did guess that today was Sunday). So you are really the first to wish me a Happy Mother's Day.
And I echo your wishes to all other mothers out there, past, present and future.
Surprise, surprise. After breakfast (and before he went back to bed) my DH remembered it was Mother's Day, and was embarrassed because he had done nothing to honor the day. So I gave him a big hug, told him it was alright, and that he was taking me out to dinner. Made us both feel better.
We had a thunderstorm last night and it knocked our power off for 6 hours. For safety reasons I now use an LED lantern to supply light in case of emergency (instead of candles or oil lanterns) but even with that DH was confused and found it difficult to move about. Another reason to add to the list of why it might be time to place him.
A great point, bqd. OK, everyone, this is your public health nurse speaking: Please, please, please eliminate candles or oil lamps in homes where there is an impaired person. You'll need good emergency lighting, of course, but use battery-operated hurricane lamps, good bright flashlights, and…if you want ambiance during the power outage…flameless, battery-operated candles.
It is almost unbelievable the terrible fires and injuries that I have seen occur from the simplest mishaps with a lit candle. It takes so little to ruin lives forever. Even for those of you who don't have an impaired person at home (or a pet), be paranoid about flame candles in terms of your own health and safety.
Yes, Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I just heard an interesting fact earlier today on the morning news - Mother's Day was instituted by Woodrow Wilson in 1914 - here in Canada we followed a year later in 1915, making this the 100th anniversary! I hope all the mothers will enjoy some special time/recognition. I'm looking forward to dinner out with my three adult children this evening.
I strongly recommend no candles or oil lamps even if there isn't an impaired person in the house. These are major causes of house fires when power goes out. I am impressed with the LED flashlights and lanterns. You can even get LED lights that plug into sockets and automatically turn on if the power goes out.
And Happy Mother's Day. In the US Mother's Day was started by Anna Jarvis. Shortly after it became an official US holiday she spent her time and fortune campaigning against its commercialization. She lost (of course) and spent the end of her life penniless and in a Sanatarium.
Just read this article. I have read many on AD research but they are confusing. This guys combines the top research finds so you can actually get a picture of where they are.
Hi Charlotte, Thank you for posting the link to the interview with Professor Tanzi. You are so right about the clarity of the explanation he gives. First the amyloid, then the tangles, and if there is inflammation, there is no protection.
Despite the clarity of the explanation, reading this made me sad. If I understand this correctly, the researchers can identify people who have the genes that make them susceptible, and they have some idea of how to forestall at least some of the factors (amyloid + tangles + inflammation) that are necessary to create the disease. But although an amyloid antibody has been identified, drugs to prevent the amyloid (which is present in the brain 15 years before symptoms show) are 5-10 years out and inflammation drugs are 10-15 years out (which Prof. Tanzi calls a "fairly short" horizon).
This knowledge is obviously much too late for our spouses and is probably too late for us, too, since Prof. Tanzi says that by the time the symptoms show, the amyloid has had 15 years to accumulate, so it has started the disease and already done its job. I wish they could move this research along faster.
One never knows what they will remember. He rarely remembered our anniversary in the past. I made sure it was not marked on the calendar. Somehow he saw the date and then said to me: happy anniversary. I asked him how he remembered when he couldn't in the past. He says: I don't know. I told him just another day. Then I asked how many years. He remembered the year but did not get the math right - he said 34 but it is 44. Oh well.
Otherwise sunny day with light winds - 10 to 15. Just enough so 78 does not feel so hot. For those in the SW 78 is not so bad since our humidity is low.
Ah, Victoria Day Weekend, the unofficial start to summer in Canada! Of all the Commonwealth countries, only Canada still refers to it as Victoria Day (really May 24). Here in Quebec, not wanting to have anything to do with anything British, but still wanting a long weekend in May, the day is now referred to as Patriot's Day. We are having lovely summer like weather. This morning, taking advantage of the fact that my DH is in respite, my son and I went out to play 9 holes of golf - something I haven't been able to do for the last few years. Went for lunch, and then picked up the annuals for the deck planters. Now he is putting the patio furniture together for me, and we will have a bbq this evening.
I had a nice suprise today. I heard a knock at the door and it was the nurse I'd hired to help look after Dianne. The nursing home had misplaced the framed photographs I'd put into the glass case outside her room and weren't able to find them. She snooped around until she found where they'd been misplaced and brought them to me today. It's nice to have them.
What a lovely gesture, Wolf, for her to hand deliver the photos to you, instead of asking you to pick them up, or mailing them. I am glad they have been returned to where they belong.
It is somehow very fitting that it was Dianne's own nurse who made this effort. It shows that it matters to her that these pictures be in the right hands.