THE ALZHEIMER'S REPORT

 

 

THE

ALZHEIMER'S REPORT

Gary Hyde

Published by

Hyde Manor Press
Gig Harbor, Washington
Copyright © 2017

FOREWARD

We all stood around the bed of our dying friend and mother Vivian, when Tom Otzwirk, Vivian’s nephew-in-law, softly began to sing;

You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can’t you see
Your everything I hoped for
Your everything I need
You are so beautiful
To me

Sharon’s mother Vivian Linton died at the age of 82 on December 25^th, 2003.  She had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease for eight years, a disease which robs the individual of their memories and finally of their mind.

As I began to see similar memory problems in Sharon, I decided to keep this diary to show the progress, just in case it turned out to be the Alzheimer’s disease.  I’m glad I did, because it is a record of the love and joys, and the disappointments and frustrations that Sharon and I experienced on our journey into a dementia of the mind.

I hope that this collection of thoughts, incidents and memories may be of help to some, and of interest to all.

 

2008

August 17-31, 2008 

Memory problems – Couldn’t remember where we went, what we ate, or who we talked to, even after a few hours.

September 2, 2008 

Fell.  Evening.  Was walking in living room, stumbled over something, bounced off of chase-lounge, the couch and then fell into the wall, hitting her head.  Hurt the left side of her chest badly.  Luckily, she did not break or dislocate anything.

No medical actions taken.

September 6, 2008

Sharon had given The Pip a bath and clipping, a dauntless task even under the best of conditions.  Later she asked if I wanted any dinner.  “Have we eaten today” she asked?  I told her that she had fixed a hot dog for lunch, but if she wanted something, I would help her.  I said that all I wanted was some of the egg salad she had fixed the day before, on toast.  I then went outside for something.  When I returned, she said that she had the salmon out thawing in the microwave.  I went out and brought it in and she said “I don’t know what I’m doing.  She had opened a can of salmon and she was fixing it for salmon sandwiches.  So, we had fried salmon for dinner and salmon sandwiches for lunch the next day.

The salmon dinner was excellent; fried salmon, fresh corn on the cob, and her famous half-avocado slathered in mayonnaise with Vegi-Sal and paprika topping.

September 20, 2008

We were returning from the Hyde Family Reunion in Salt Lake City, UT.  I had stopped for gas and Sharon had gotten out of the car to throw away some trash.  Returning from the trash bin, she stepped over the gas pump hose but caught her trailing foot on the hose and went down on both knees, her side and her hands.  It was an honest trip, but I thought I would mention it here; nothing broken, just a skinned knee and some bruises, hurts and embarrassment.  Our granddaughter Celci was with us at the time and gave her comfort.

October, 2008 

Sharon seems to have developed more of a negative attitude about things.  She often interprets the actions of others as threatening, or that they don’t like her, that they are saying bad things about her.  On the other hand I am the eternal optimist.  Even when people say derogatory things about me, I interpret them in a positive way, so we both tend to even each other out.

October 15, 2008

This year in our travels from AZ to WA we did not bring our RV 5^th wheel trailer; instead we drove up in the Toyota.  As we returned to AZ, the days of driving were of a much greater distance than if we had taken the RV.  I think that these longer days, confined space and compressing so much into each day (3 days’ worth of driving) brought on confusion for Sharon.  Her comprehension of distance and place were diminished for the trip.

October 27, 2008

Sharon complained of having one of her “seizures” tonight.  She has a feeling like a wave of something had crosses across her face and head.  She smells a musty sort of smell, and gets weak all over.  She laid down until it passed, about 10 minutes.

She said that the seizures first manifested themselves when her mother first went into the Gig Harbor Alzheimer’s Home.  Sometimes she would feel a tightness which would cross her chest from left to right.  She would feel weak and tired.  She went to see the doctor two or three different times, but when she was examined, they could find nothing.

She recently had a brain scan to see if there was any tumor which may have caused her hearing difficulties, but that showed no abnormal signs for anything.

She says they may come every three to six months apart with no particular pattern.

Today was somewhat stressful in as much that she could not figure out what medications we had for Pippin.  We had some “revolution” for fleas, heartworms and ticks, and some “interceptor” which was for fleas and heartworms, but not ticks.  The label did not clearly say and she was confused as to which one she should give him.

November 6, 2008

Confusion.  Sharon seems to get confused a little more easily lately.  Singular items are easily recalled, but when there are two or more consecutive events together, she has a harder time separating them. 

We went to see Dr Armstrong about her hip pain today.  She had gotten a bone scan a few days ago, and they requested her old scan pictures in order to compare the old (1 year ago), and the new.  After leaving Dr Armstrong’s office we noticed that we did not have the scan prints.  Sharon went back to retrieve them, but there were only the latest ones there.  As we were driving home, she remarked that we only had the new scan prints, they must have left out the old ones.  She could not put together that the EVDI had not returned her old scans and that they had only given Dr. Armstrong the new scans.  We called EVDI about the old scans, but they could not find them, further confusing the issue.  We have to call EVDI on Monday to see if they can find the old scans.

November 8, 2008 

Keeping track of appointments, assignments, people to call and places to go is always a task.  Sharon has used a calendar for years but it is now branching out into post-its, taped papers, and lipstick on the mirror.

November 15 – 25, 2008

Awesome Israel Tour

Considering the close to 24 hours of travel time, Sharon did surprisingly well; alert, organized and attentive.  On one of our first tours we visited the Netanya College and the Orson Hyde Square where we gathered in an amphitheater for a presentation.  Sharon and some others needed to visit the restrooms in the college, but it was some time before Sharon returned.  She told me that when she came out of the restroom there was no one around and she became disoriented.  She didn’t want to go the wrong way and wind up lost in a maze of college rooms so she just went short distances until she found the correct way.  It did make her a bit nervous.

After a few days she would get temporarily confused as to where we were; the country, the city, the room.

A few days into the trip she realized the toll it was taking on her and she said that this would be the last trip we would be taking.

The rest of the trip went OK with just minor confusions but after the return home and we were able to rest, she was noticeably worse.  More disoriented and confused.  The stress of change, decisions, and responsibilities cause her much distress.

December 2, 2008

The Red Hat Rebellion

Sharon had been put in charge of the December outing for the Mariola Ct. Red Hatters.  She had made arrangements for lunch at “Abbeys Garden” and she had marked her calendar that the outing was on the 5^th, but for some reason also marked it on the 17^th.   One sister called to see if there would be room for one additional person, so Sharon called Abbeys Gardens to be sure.  When she told them it was on the 17^th, they told her that they had the reservations for the 5^th.  She had the 17^th marked on her calendar so she had them change the reservation to the 17th. 

Sharon checked with the other Red Hat leader who said that the outing was indeed on the 5^th.  Now she was lost.  All the stress from the Israel trip and an oncoming cold was almost too much for her to handle.  She couldn’t think, didn’t know who to call, and was not sure what she had told the Red Hat sisters   We called Abbeys Garden and managed to change the date back to the 5th, but it left a devastating mark on her self-esteem and self-confidence.

December 2, 2008 

Grocery lists

I must constantly check grocery lists.  We now have five sacks of sugar, even though we only use about ¼ sack per year, and 20 packages of spaghetti.  She can never seem to find them when she needs them.

Lillie Lackey

Lillie is one of our Family Home Evening group.  She tells the story of when she was a little girl her mother would send her to the store for some groceries.  More often than not she would come back with an extra bar of soap.  It didn’t matter if it was on the list or not, she would buy a bar of soap.  One time after returning from the store with yet another bar of soap instead of the requested items, her mother sent her back to return the soap and get the requested items.  Lillie returned to the store, explained to the clerk what had happened and returned the soap to the shelf.  When she returned to the clerk, he asked her what it was that she was supposed to pick up.  After some stressful thought, Lilly exclaimed “soap”.

December 4, 2008 

The smile

There are good days, and there are days filled with stress. 

Yesterday Sharon and I laughed out loud together at something and it is wonderful to see her eyes sparkle and light up with just a hint of mischief.

December 9, 2008 

Vinegar

Somewhere along the line Sharon heard that putting vinegar on weeds will kill them.  There was a culprit tree outside in the wash behind our home. She goes to the store buys 4 gallons of vinegar, pours it over the tree and waits.  Nothing happens.  Another four gallons of vinegar, nothing. Over the past year she has easily purchased at least 20 gallons of vinegar.  The trees are still hale and hearty.

  

December 11, 2008 

The Holidays

Sharon has a cold and is tired.   “There is so much going on, I don’t know what is happening, it’s confusing and I can’t keep track of it all”.

2009

January 16, 2009 

Value

Yesterday United Airlines Flight #1459 went down in the Hudson River.  Bill O’Riley was interviewing a survivor and his wife on his program tonight.  He made the comment that after an experience like this the value of a relationship goes up.

I have noticed this in Sharon’s and my relationship.  We are more tolerant, more supporting, more loving and more understanding.  Instead of growing more distant, we are growing closer, in all areas of our relationship.

Things which would have been irritable years ago are non-essential now.  Indeed, I am her “Parley Butt”.  (See Parley Butt, December 7, 2013)

February 10, 2009 

Massage

Carol Hyde has been down visiting with us and I suggested that both Sharon and Carol go to Massage Envy for a massage.  They only had an opening for one at 10:00 AM, Tuesday the next day so I scheduled in one for Carol. 

On Tuesday I had a meeting I had to attend so I told them just to lock up the door when they left and I had a key to get in.  When I returned from the meeting, I asked Carol how the massage was.  Carol said she thought it was for 11:00, even though it was now 11:45, and Sharon didn’t even know about it. 

I feel as though I let them down. I could have posted the time on a piece of paper, I could have called to remind them, ….I could have….

March 23, 2009

“Weren’t they there yesterday”?

Often times as we are driving and see someone walking along the highway, Sharon says “We saw those people walking out there yesterday didn’t we”. 

Like today there was a red Coca-Cola truck which merged into the highway in front of us.  “We saw that same truck merging in front of us yesterday didn’t we”

March 23, 2009

“The Medium”

One of our favorite TV programs is “The Medium”.  The first episodes were partially based on actual crimes and occurrences in the Phoenix area.  But as the series progressed, the shows became more “entertainment” based.  Even with the far out bizarre shown now, Sharon still thinks that they are based on actual crimes.  She says “I can’t believe that people can be so cruel”.  She can’t let go of the belief that they are still about actual occurrences.

May 1, 2009 

Bath Day

Sharon gave baths to both the dogs today, Jasper and The Pip.  Yet tonight when she sees how clean they are, she says she cannot remember giving either of them a bath.  Now giving them a bath is a traumatic experience and not easily forgotten.

May 18, 2009 

Incredibly Hot Day

We are still here in AZ and the weather has been very hot.  Today we set a record for the hottest May 18 in history, 108 deg.  Tomorrow we are working on a record for the most consecutive days of temps over 100 deg in the month of May.

The heat has taken its toll.  We both are having our share of fuzzy thinking.  I was hooking up the 5^th wheel trailer to the truck today and being very careful as usual by ensuring that the safety pin of the hitch was inserted and secured.  When I pulled away, the trailer came crashing down on the truck, damaging the bed by putting a 4-inch crease in both sidewall panels.  The pin was in, but the hitch was not fully engaged.  I don’t know how that happened, but it did.

Came home and suggested that we start to pack.  Sharon was asking me where her Compass Financial reports for 2009 were, and I told her that because we had the money in treasury bonds, we only get quarterly reports, and I had given them all to the income tax accountant.  She asked another question, then seemed to blow up.  “What do you mean by all this”?  She yelled.  For a moment it looked all too much like her mother’s “flip out” in Salt Lake City, when she didn’t trust anyone.  I just walked away, and it was over within a few seconds.  That was close.

June 11, 2009 

Just returned to WA from AZ for the summer.  We had had an eventful trip, with Jonathan’s graduation from the Air Force Academy, meeting with all the family, and completing the trip to WA with our granddaughter Celcionna traveling through WY, ID and WA. 

Today Sharon mentioned that she was really confused and disoriented.  She could not figure out what to do.  I think that the stress from all the traveling is the problem.

After a few days the condition improved.

July 14, 2009 

We had scheduled a one-week outing in our 5^th wheel RV with the Puget Pullers but we could not get reservations at the campground.  For the last two days Sharon has been preparing to pack even though I have told her that we would not be going on the trip.

August 12, 2009 

Took the truck in for servicing today.  Sharon followed in the car just in case it was going to take a long time, then she could bring me home.  The service would be only ½ hour so Sharon said she would like to drive over to Tacoma and go to TJ Max.  She also said that she was beginning to be afraid of driving.  Not of getting lost, but just afraid.

August 23, 2009 

Did you take the dogs out?

I usually take the dogs out for a walk in the evenings.  Today is Sunday and Sharon usually watches “60 Minutes”.  I took them out just before the program started and was gone for about 40 minutes.  When I returned, I told her where we had gone and what had happened.

Five minutes she asked me if I had taken the dogs out.

Birthdays

Today is my brother Bob’s birthday, and also our friend Dianna Lewis’s birthday.  I called Bob and we talked for a while and then I let Sharon talk to him.  One-half hour later Sharon asked if we had called Bob for his birthday.  I said yes, and also told her that she had talked to him.  “I did” she replied?  She also asked if we had called Bob and Dianna 3 or 4 times later that night.

September 3, 2009

We spent the last week at the ocean in Westport with our friends the Thornock’s.  For the most part, things went OK.  Today Mike and some of his friends took a day trip down to Westport and called us to let us know that they had arrived.  We drove up to Westport and visited with them for about ½ hour. 

Later in the day, we were walking the beach and I commented on something that Mike had said during our visit.  Sharon did not recall seeing or talking to Mike.  She could not even remember that he had come down.

September 14, 2009

Today we visited Dr. Patterson for some prescription renewals.  We talked about any new medications for Alzheimer’s.  He recommended a new drug called Namenda.  Namenda is used for treating a more advanced stage of Alzheimer’s than Sharon has, but since there were no ill effects from taking it, he recommended that we try it.  Get a jump on the need.

October 25, 2009

Returned from WA on the 23^rd.  Today noticed Sharon has a half-smile; the right side of her face does not respond symmetrically with her left side.  Reviewed pictures taken a few days earlier and the condition was not evident.

Today Sharon noticed that when she purses her lips together to blot her lipstick, the right side does not respond fully like the left.

October 27, 2009

Visited Dr. Bedosky for Sharon’s face droop.  He felt it was Bells Palsy rather than a stroke.  Prescribed Prednisone and follow-up appointment with neurologist Dr. Pande.

November 10, 2009

Sharon’s friend Faythe called today and told us that her daughter Jill had drowned in a snorkeling accident while in Costa Rica.

November 12, 2009

Visited Dr. Pande for Bells Palsy follow-up visit for evaluation of Bells Palsy vs. stroke as requested by Dr Bedosky.

Dr. examined Sharon and did some visual and physical tests.  He said that there was very little residual of the occurrence.  Her right eye still showed some small effect.  He thought it was more like Bells-Palsy than a stroke

Dr. Pande also talked about Alzheimer’s.  He noted that Sharon was on Aricept and Namenda.  He said that Namenda is used more in confirmed cases of Alzheimer’s.  He asked if Sharon had had any neurological tests to confirm Alzheimer’s.  No.  He noted that tests showed that 90% of confirmed ALZ patients have a familial connection with the disease.  That would be more than just her mother.  More like grandparents, aunts or uncles, brothers or sisters, etc.  Sharon’s case would more resemble a case of MCI, Mild Cognitive Impairment.  Sharon’s current dosage of Aricept is 5mg; this could be upped to 10mg, and discontinue the Namenda.  (Check with Dr. Patterson)

November 13, 2009 

Reviewed over comments and requests made by Dr. Pande.  I had written up a paper on what he had done and said during the visit. 

Sharon could not focus.  Seven times she asked me where the paper I had written up for her was.  Lots of stress in her life at the moment.

2010

January 29, 2010 

Two weeks ago, Sharon, Queen Mum Sharon, started to put together a Red Hat outing she had proposed.  It would be an evening at Barleen’s Arizona Opry.

First of all she polled the entire RH group to see if they wanted to go.  All were in agreement.  She then called Barleen’s to make reservations.  She made reservations for 13 people.  Next, she had to get commitments and information to all the Red Hat girls.  From there things became stressful.  Two days later, she could not remember notifying the girls to see who would want to go, so she did it all over again.  This time she made a list.  A few days later she could not find the list, and panic began to set in.  Had she made the reservations?  Who had responded that they would like to go? 

We had a Mariola Ct. B-Day party and all the Red Hat girls were in attendance.  She asked each one if they were going.  The next day she wasn’t sure who had said that they would be going.

As the outing date approached, some of the girls said they did not know what time to meet, how much it would be, and what about carpooling, Stress and tension set in; lists could not be found, had she covered all the bases, had she asked our next door neighbor?

Then the stress related headaches started. For three days she had excruciating pain in a stabbing headache’  I made up a new letter to all the girls, stating all the details about the outing, and sent it out, but there was still the nagging worry that someone had been left out.

The night of the outing, all went smoothly and the girls had a great time.  Everything is back to normal again. 

February 8, 2010

We went into see Dr Morone for a neurological evaluation for Sharon today.  Dr. Pande had recommended we do so to establish a baseline for medical and medication purposes. 

The tests consisted of three hours of verbal and written testing.  I was not involved in the testing so I do not know much about it other than the evaluation by Dr. Morone.  Some tests consisted of the good Dr. reading a list of seven words.  Five minutes later she would repeat the words and ask Sharon which ones were familiar.  This would continue two more times.  The first time Sharon could remember about three words, but after that she could recall none of them.  There were many other tests given.

The evaluation concluded that she had what is called MCI, Mild Cognitive Impairment.  This is a condition characterized by a memory deficit beyond that expected for age, which is not sufficient to impair day-to-day activities.

She said that it was not a form of Alzheimer’s, and just because her mother had Alzheimer’s, did not mean that Sharon would get it.  Sharon’s mother was not officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as the only way for an accurate diagnosis is through an autopsy.  She did however have all the symptoms, and she spent her last years in an Alzheimer’s facility.

May 5, 2010 

I found a piece of paper on which Sharon had figured out her age; 2010 minus 1941, and she came up with 58.  I told her she should check her math.  She redid the math and questioned “I’m 68”?  Yep, I said.  “Oh shit”!

August 3, 2010 

Sharon, sunglasses, and stairs do not mix.  Sharon fell down while stepping off a stair into thin air today.  I looked around and she was struggling like a turtle on its back trying to get up.  Mike was there and quickly helped her to her feet.  She bruised her hip, but otherwise was unhurt. Later on that night while we were walking the dogs, she looked at her scraped hand and asked “How did I do this”?  I told her that she had fallen.  “I did?  ….when”?

September 17, 2010 

Sharon, sunglasses, and stairs do not mix.  Sharon fell down while stepping off a stair into thin air today.  I looked around and she was struggling like a turtle on its back trying to get up.  We were visiting the BC, Canada temple when she just walked off the curb into nothing.  She skinned up her knee but was otherwise unhurt.  It turned out to be a positive experience though.  The temple was closed for construction but they let us in to clean up.  We talked with the temple president and had a good experience.

September 18, 2010

Received “Deal Breaker” letter from Deborah.  After reading the letter to Sharon, things did not go well.  There was confusion, frustration and anger. The next few days were filled with stress.

September 20, 2010

Sharon has been confused all day.  I had called Dr Paterson about the results of a colonoscopy Sharon had had two weeks ago.  Dr. was out for another week and message was left for him to call back. I told Sharon of the call and outcome.  Sharon had a message to call Dr. Patterson on her calendar.  Five times that day she would tell me that we had to call Dr. Patterson to get results from the test.

September 23, 2010

Weather has been cold and damp.  Sharon wants to go back to AZ.  Bro. Goering came over tonight and asked us if we would sell our house to him, if they were able to sell their house first.  With no hesitation Sharon said “yes”. She loved her mother’s home, but now is willing to move on.

September 24 2010 

We have an appointment to go to the temple to do sealing’s tonight.  All day Sharon has been asking “Who is going to pick us up”.  “Where are we going”. What will we be doing”?  over, and over, and over.

2011

January 14, 2011 

All going well for the most part.  Sharon often repeats the questions she asks; is it because I don’t answer her right away? 
She takes offense when other ladies in the neighborhood patronize her, when they try to make things easier for her.

She is holding her own.  Most of their concerns are inaccurate.

Sharon’s is suffering from a voice impairment called Spasmodic Dysphonia.  Every six month she needs a shot of Botox to help relax her vocal cords so that she does not have to force her words out.  For the last nine months she has noticed that her voice has not diminished in capacity.  Perhaps she may not need to continue the shots.  It is believed that the malady is caused by a buildup of stress.  (NOTE 2015 – This reference to Sharon getting a Botox shot for her voice was the last shot she has had.  Her voice has been strong ever since.)

February 4, 2011 

The temperatures have dropped to below freezing here in AZ this last week; 21 degrees last night.  I suspect the cold weather might have something to do with it, but Sharon has been having a hard time of things lately; tiredness, confusion, forgetting things. 

We went to a dermatologist the other day and she could not remember why we were going.  When we got there, she had to have help in telling him what problems she did have, even though every night she puts a salve on some sores that she wanted him to look at.

He gave her some facial wash and moisturizer, but she does not remember them and forgets to use them.

One of our friends, Don, has been sick so she called to see how everything was.  They were on the mend, but Sharon offered to bring dinner over to them tonight.  After the call, she would keep forgetting why she had called, and why she was taking over dinner if no one was sick.  She is going to make pork chops and rice, but she keeps trying to get the ingredients for stuffed green peppers.  It took us two trips to the store today to get all the ingredients.  But we had fun doing it.

She gets frustrated and asks “Why don’t you just put me away”? 

No way!

February 9, 2011

Visited Dr. Schultz for the one-year follow-up neurological evaluation testing (February 8, 2010).

In reviewing the testing Dr Schultz commented that the results were almost exactly the same as they were last year.  Poor in memory retention, but had good motor skills.   

February 12, 2011 

There were some people from the development walking up the back wash looking at the trees and shrubs; they had on suits. 

Sharon has been trying to drown a tree with vinegar (December 9, 2008) and she was afraid that they were coming to get her.  It is against MBV community regulations to trim or remove the trees behind us, something we do annually anyway, to maintain tree beauty and health.  For the next four days she was losing sleep worrying about “the men in the suits” and what they were going to do to her.  We have not heard anything from “the men in the suits” or from the office. 

February 20, 2011 

I had to go to the church building early this morning and help to set up chairs so I took the truck, and Sharon brought herself in the car.  After the meetings, I came home in the truck, and started to fix dinner.  After twenty minutes and no Sharon, I began to get a little concerned so I returned to the church building, and the car was still there.  I went inside and Sharon was waiting in the foyer.  When she saw me, she exclaimed “Where have you been?  I have been waiting for an hour”.  She had forgotten that she had driven to church by herself

Stopped driving in 2011

March 14, 2011 

Sharon and I, Mike and Sabine drove up to the temple together for a session.  When we were finished it was dark and Sabine and I were walking out to the car with Sharon and Mike following about 50 feet behind.  When they caught up to us at the car, they were both laughing.  “What’s up” I asked?  Mike looked at me and said “We were just saying goodbye to each other, expecting that we had each brought our own car”.  No hope.

March 21, 2011 

Multitasking is a thing of the past.  We have had two party invitations from the neighbors.  April 1st was a neighborhood Birthdays Party, April 14^th was a Red Hat get together.  She kept getting the two mixed up.  She could not remember that she had previously responded to both of them.  She finally had to leave one announcement in the bedroom while she responded to the other while in the kitchen.

March 30, 2011

My brother Bob, his wife, and daughter Debbie are visiting us here in Mountainbrook from UT.  We went to a church Young Women’s Mexican Dinner on Friday.  Sharon became sick with stomach flu which she had for two days, then I was sick for two days, and now Bob has been sick for three days.  By the time I had gotten better, Sharon could not remember that she had ever been sick; I mean, she was at deaths doorstep. 
Yesterday four of us went out to lunch at The Spaghetti Factory.  Heavy meal and none of us finished more than half of their plate.  Today we went out to lunch and we only ordered appetizers.  Sharon thought I was withholding food from her.  This she will remember for months.

April 4, 2011

Last week Sharon had a gold crown come loose from her tooth.  We got an appointment with the dentist and he cleaned up the tooth, took an impression and temporarily glued the crown back on.  Today the crown came loose and fell out.  She exclaimed “Oh no. another crown fell off”.  I asked her if it wasn’t that the glued crown just hadn’t come loose.  “No” she said. “That crown was on the bottom tooth, and this crown came off of the upper tooth”.  I am not sure which tooth lost the original crown, but I suspect that it was the upper one.  At least I hope so. (Yes, it was the upper right, #21)

April 5, 2011 

Sharon and I went to the Mesa temple today specifically to complete the endowments for Sophia Ogurek, a family name given us by Sabine Hyde.  We had tried to complete the work twice before, but Sharon keeps leaving the name in her locker and then goes and gets another name. Third time’s a charm?  Nope.  She left the name in her purse, picked up another name, and when we were finished, she wanted to know how she could pick up the completed name slip. I told her that she had left the name slip in her purse, but she replied, “But I just finished doing the work for her”.

We went back to the temple on April 7^th, and with the help of our good friend Virginia Sterling, Sharon was able to keep hold of the name slip and she was able to complete the endowments for Sophia Ogurek.

April 12, 2011 

I was out working in the yard today when Sharon came out and said that she was going to give Jasper a bath.  She picked up his quivering body and proceeded back into the house.  A short while later I went into the house to retrieve a tool from the garage.  As I walked through the utility room, I found the utility room sink filled to within ¼ inch of overflowing and the water was still running.  I turned off the water, pulled the drain plug and called for Sharon.  She came in and said that she must have turned on the water, left to go get something and then forgot what she was doing.  Close call, but “all is well”.

April 16, 2011 

Received a letter from Deborah today requesting some genealogy records from us concerning the Ninke and Crays families.  Celcionna was gathering some information for a Young Women’s temple excursion doing baptisms for the dead.  That very day we pulled out our stash of genealogy records, which we had put together but not organized nor recorded.  Sharon would start sorting through various letters, documents and papers.  Every five minutes she would ask “Now who are we doing this for?  The Ninke’s or the Cray’s”. 

The next day the pile was left untouched, and the day after Sharon wanted to know what this mess was doing in the middle of the floor.  Perhaps we will leave the genealogy to a later generation.

 

                               

                               

April 27, 2011 

Too many activities.  We are going to a Lions Club picnic at Lost Dutchman’s Park tomorrow night and then Friday morning Sharon will attend a Red Hat breakfast and viewing of the royal wedding.  We have to bring food to both.  Even with the calendar, it is overload.  Sharon asks every fifteen minutes “what is happening”?  She can’t hold on to even the basics of the different events.  All will work out OK, but it is a stressful time.

May 3, 2011 

Sharon had an appointment today with Dr. Reddy for pain in her back.  We had visited Dr. Reddy before and he was familiar with the pains Sharon was having.  He subscribed three medications for the pain: Metaxalone, which can be taken 3 times daily; Tramadol, which can be taken every 6 to 8 hours, and may cause drowsiness; and a Flector patch, which is to be worn over the painful area.   She can only take one of the three medications at a time.

She was feeling pain tonight, so I asked her if she had taken any of the pain medications. She could not even remember picking up any medications.  I showed her where the medications were and told her that she might like to take the one which would cause drowsiness so that she could get a good night sleep.

Later I asked her if she had taken the medication.  “What medication” she asked?  I got out the med bottles and told her to pick which one she wanted.  She got out the Metaxalone.  She was going to take it when I asked her if she would rather take the Tramadol, which may help her to sleep.  “Great, I’ll take them both” she replied. 

I am now in charge of the medications.

May 12, 2011 

Traveling from AZ to WA on our way home for the summer.  The packing and getting ready for the trip is always a stressful time.  Even though we had extra time to pack and get ready it doesn’t seem to make much difference.  Our first day was just 250 miles.  We stayed two nights at the campground.  On the second day we were coming out of the office and Sharon looked at the truck and asked “Why do we have the truck here”?  She also thought that we were somewhere in eastern Washington instead of western Arizona. 

The next day we were at a campground in Kanaraville, Utah when she said that it had been a long time since she had been here in Orting, but she remembered the beautiful mountains and colors. 

May 14, 2011 

We are now in Bountiful, UT visiting with my brother Bob and his family.  While we were there, Bob’s oldest son, Scott, stopped by.  Sharon ran out to greet him.  Scott is a big guy and reminds her of our son Mike. She told Scott that she was afraid that she would not ever see him again.   Sharon had not received any Mother’s Day calls. Family has become very important to her lately.

May 22, 2011 

And the final question is….

.

There is no final question.  Any question worth asking is worth asking twice, three, four or more times. 

Today we were going to have baked potatoes with dinner.  We had four potatoes.  Sharon took two of them, cleaned them up and prepared them for baking in the microwave.  She took the potatoes out to put in the microwave, came back in and saw the two other potatoes sitting there on the counter and started to prepare them for baking.  Would you like to have a baked potato tonight she asked?

Grocery shopping.

Now there’s a trip.  Now you see her, now you don’t.  One minute we are walking and talking together, and when I turn around, she is off in another aisle searching for something else.  Don’t know what for, just searching.

 

May 23, 2011 

Now that’s serious;

“I’m always tired, I take naps during the day, which I never could do before, I don’t eat, I don’t have an appetite for food or chocolate” ……no chocolate?  Things really are serious.

These incidents have now become commonplace.  Questions are repeated every day, activities are forgotten or repeated.  She is not disoriented nor does she get lost. 

But there is levity in it all-

I said “I have to go brush my tooth”.  ……” You have a rusty tooth?” she replied.