29 Jul 2012
It has been a few days since posting so thought I'd play catchup. Chris overall, has been doing very well. We continue to have the bladder and bowel control problem but I think, as of right now, I've got a handle on it.  We have fallen into a routine with it and it works.....as of now. Today has been such a nice day. It started the same as it does every day; wake up Chris, got him cleaned up and changed, fix Chris breakfast, go out and water the garden, clean the garden up, fix Barneys food and change his water, then I put flea drops on him, Jim and I burnt the trash, and I made an awesome meal of stuffed shells, and spinach noodles with rosa sauce and feta cheese and spinach sausage. It was so good! Also made garlic cheese bread and had a delicious bottle of wine. It was a great meal! Jim said it was better than any Italian restaurant he's been to and trust me, Jim LOVES italian food! Chris' Risperdal that he takes makes him shake but other than that, all the medication is doing exactly what it is supose to do-Thank you God! Tomorrow is physical therapy with Mom and also Thurs and then it's done. Her shoulder is so much better now. The therapy has really helped her. Also, things have been going really good with Mom. We are getting along real well and not as much stress and tension between us. I think a big part of it is that I have distanced myself and look at her as an old woman that needs my help and I'm trying to not take things so personally anymore.  This too seems to be working right now. Things change; they always do, but so far...all is well. Well as can be expected!

21 Jul 2012
It is the early hours 12:27am and I just got done bathing Chris and getting him all cleaned up from yet another incredible  is mess of poop everywhere. It was so bad this time that while I was trying to clean him up, I just wanted to sit down and quit. I really thought to myself "I can't do this!" Poor Chris, he can't clean himself and I pushed through it and got it done. Man, it was so hard this time. My back is worn out and I know that I am whining but I can't help it. I am exhausted and worn out and so down at the moment. The last few days Chris has been so vague about everything. He has good moments but there are alot of moments when he just sits there confused. I feel so bad for him. He is tired and so am I. I don't know; I just don't have the mental strength for this right now. I better go to bed and start fresh in the morning. After all, tomorrow is another day! Thank you Scarlet.

14 Jul 2012
Things have been going pretty smooth lately. Mom's arm was still hurting her so she is now taking physical theray for it. Monday, wednesday, and friday each week. Talk about running all the time; plus Chris had a doctors appt too. The therapy seems to be helping Mom. We actually have been having nice times together with not too many upsets. Thank you God!!! Chris does get alittle confused that we are going over there every other day. He's so afraid that I will leave him there. I reassure him but he still asks me every time. His bladder control problem still is an issue. The doctor said that risperdal blocks the part of the brain that alerts him to when he needs to go. It also is causing him to shake some. However, the hallucinations have almost stopped. He still gets upset when he gets confused about things but I do believe that the medication is helping. He has been so happy and giggily lately. That makes me so happy when I hear him laugh. Our little cat, Orville, has been sleeping with Chris every night. Chris loves that. Chris and Orville are buddies and they play with a string and I can hear Chris talking to Orville. It is so funny. Chris just talks to him so seriously like he would to anyone else. The only bad thing is that Chris keeps forgeting who I am. He corrects himself pretty quickly but still it just grabs at my heart each time it happens. I wonder if that is normal for the alzheimers patient forgets the caregiver? I remember my Dad being so hard on my Mom and us when he was in the nursing home. He accused us of trying to kill him. They say that the patient is always the hardest on the one's closest to them. Maybe it is the same with alzheimers.

8 Jul 2012
Back from a great trip to Georgia and North Carolina. Jim, Chris and I had so much fun. Jim had a great birthday on the 3rd. Chris did very good. He is having terrible problems now with his bladder so there has been lots of wet clothes and lots of changing pads. His confusion was not real bad during the trip but when we were coming home, he did get confused as to who I was. He then told me how sorry he was that he couldn't remember me. :( Those things really break my heart but I know that it will be happening more and more as time goes by. All and all it was a great trip except Jim got sick; a nasty cold and then I got it. So far Chris doesn't have it. I hope he doesn't get it because I don't know what he could take for it because of the Aricept, Risperdal, and Topamax that he is on. Chris got to see Andy and Barneys patrol car and we got pictures of him sitting in it and standing beside it. He was so excited!! He loves Andy Griffith Show so much and he thought that was really something seeing the car. We also got to spend the day with the guy that played the boy playing the banjo in the movie Deliverance. How cool is that? He was a real nice guy and we took him to lunch and went sightseeing with him. We got lots and lots of pictures. Tomorrow we are taking Mom to physical therapy for her arm. I hope that it helps her. She has been in so much pain. Hopefully I won't lose this blog as they keep talking about the big virus to hit computers Monday. Guess we will see.