New Study and Japanese

Here is a good read from LSU School of Medicine for  possible help for people with Alzheimer's.

My husband and I are studying Japanese. We hope to go to Japan one day. There is a neat program called Drops for language study of usable words and stuff you might need to read and say.

It is cheaper than Rosetta and easier to learn. It has visual, verbal and written all at the same time. It is fun and it sticks. Worth a look for language studies.

This is a handmade goldfish by Wee Folk Studio. I have been following Salley Mavor's neat creations and publications. Worth a look at this talented woman's creations. She shows how she creates and you can see she loves what she does.

In Real Al-zhe-time!

These are our farming neighbors and our very good friends.  They have helped us with several farm problems over the years. Stuck trucks, broken tractor, torn fences, round bales of hay, poachers, predators, fallen trees, hunting and wildlife care. They have raised kids, dogs, cats and cattle for the last 10 years here. But that is now over because of his wife's brain. She is in her sixth year of finding out what is wrong and it is the big A, Alzheimer's. Caused by a thyroid medication she took for 20 years. She got a new doctor and he took her off that medicine but the damage was done.

They are going to sell the farm and build a new house in the next town next to a nursing home and closer to their children. Her husband has worked all his life and just retired to farm full time and travel with his wife. But that has changed. He will have to take care of her and keep her safe from her own mind. She does not sleep, forgets who he is and that she is married. She wanders but has forgotten how to drive, thankfully. She has forgotten how to cook and is afraid of water. 

So they came over and told us the news after they came back from the big city doctor.

We already knew she had it but now it is official. We have gone through this with several people we know. We know the stages and the final act. But his wife is one of the happy ones. She had a happy childhood and is a happy "new child" again in her mind.

We gave them one of our favorite movies"50 First Dates". It is a funny movie about a woman who forgets the present when she wakes up. So her family tries to come up with a solution. It is sad and funny like this disease. And like this movie our neighbor has many friends and family that will care for them both.

Note: My neighbors visit and the death of another friends son all happened on the same day. I do not understand why yet. But at least I am well versed on how to deal with it all. I think living out here in the Ozarks on our farm teaches you how to deal with many life or death things at once.

A Talk about Alzheimer's

It has come into my life all at once the disease of Alzheimer's. I have neighbors, friends, mother in law and an uncle who are the stages of Alzheimer's. And nobody wants to talk about it. It is silently dealt with in quiet conversations in other rooms or avoided all together. Family members get enraged at people wanting only to help or lend a hand. Even the ill person can be violent and combative in the later stages of this disease. Families are scared, raw and emotional. Yes, when a loved one gets ill and loses mental function it is scary and you lash out of fear or denial. But after the bullfight and the dust settles; you have to deal with an ill human being needing care.

Nobody talks about it in public and that is wrong. As humans we need to communicate about how we are solving problems of our aged. Problems like parents out of state, home health care, doctor appointments, bills, property management, putting your loved one in a home, estate planning, pet/livestock care, paying for doctors and long term care and the lists go one. When you see a doctor you are handed a pamphlet and left to your own devices, great. You will have to battle with the health insurance company not wanting to pay the bills incurred in treatment, oh joy.

That is not working for the families going through this trauma. Your life gets turned upside down and you need help righting your life.

What does help is the phone, the Internet, social network of visitors, trusted neighbors, churches and people helping each other. Making time in your life to deal with the changes occurring in your loved ones life and helping them. We are all in this journey and we need to help each other along the way.

Because in 20 or 30 years from this point in time we might be the ones on the receiving end of what our society/government decides and not what our families want. Lets provide a soft nest for our loved ones together to fall into protected and safe. And lets feather our nests with knowledge and strength to carry on.

To learn more about Alzheimer's go here and read this: The 36 Hour Day by Nancy Mace, M.D.