Wow five years have passed!

Hi everyone. It's been a long time, but today is a great day to begin blogging again.

Exactly 5 years, to the date, mom has lived with us. Today is the five year anniversary of my stepfathers passing. It also marks the day that mom joined our household. The last time I posted was approximately 3 years ago. So much has happened and so much has changed in that short amount of time. Mom is in the end stage of her frontal lobe dementia. What does that mean? It means she is still capable of understanding what's going on (with a much longer reaction time), but is mute and bedbound. I can only imagine what it is like to be locked up inside of your own brain and not able to get out. If I was in my brain alone I would be in the insane asylum LOL. Mom also has major muscle rigidity in her upper body so she cannot write or use her hands. She cannot bend her arms, nor turn her head from side to side, or lift her head up. She is under hospice care and of course I continue to care for her 24/7. I still have an aide which allows me to at least go to the grocery store, medical appointments, and care for my grandmother.

It's all about keeping mom clean and comfortable and out of pain at this point. Mom still has her great facial expressions but her muscles in her face are also stiffening so her facial expressions are more rigid. All in all, for her condition, she seems happy and comfortable. She is very loved. The aide's I have had through the years have been loving and kind, hospice is very caring, and of course she gets much love from the family.

Caregiving for an FTD patient is very demanding and challenging from the onset of the disease and through all its progressions. There are a lot of stages we have journeyed through over the last five years that I will be blogging about. My next blog will start back three years ago and come back to the present. I hope you all will join mom and I as we journey back and simultaneously journey on. As I have often said in previous blogs humor is all important and above all gratitude is a necessity.

Until next time, be happy and hang tight!