Doctors, Doctors Everywhere!

Hi all.  Yes, we still live and breathe!  Finished with the Doctor's for now with Mom except the speech therapy once a week.  It is going well.  It does not make Mom talk anymore but helps with her understanding, pronunciation, and communication in general.  We also practice at home a couple of times a week by finishing phrases, describing pictures, etc... 

We saw Mom's FTD Dr. last week and went over the brain scan and we all met with the Dr.  Its kinda cool because the Dr. takes Mom in by herself and runs her tests and scopes how Mom's overall happiness level is and then invites the rest of the family in without Mom to compare notes and answer questions.  So the prognosis is:  Mom is happy and content,  her orientation skills are doing well, and she is at a moderate stage of her disease if you figure in all aspects of her brain (some areas are good/others are not).  It was very interesting seeing the brain scan.  There are actually pieces of her frontal lobe missing where there was once brain mass.  The dark holes have gotten larger from the scan back in 2009.  No signs at all of Alzheimer's.  It is eerie to see just blank spots.

Anyway, where have I been.  I have been recuperating from major surgery from 3 weeks ago.  Feel great, but still not allowed to do anything for another week.  For the first two weeks, it was hard.  I was not suppose to do anything at all, not even drive.  Depending on others for my own needs is hard enough to swallow but also having to depend on others fully for Mom's care was even worse.  It seems no one can live up to my expectations as to how my Mom should be taken care of.  I can definitely feel for whatever nursing facility my Mom may end up at, because I am very demanding in the respect I want my Mom clean at all times.  And yes, I did things I should not have done but Mom's cleanliness is extremely important to me. 

So what did I learn from the experience?  Mom's cleanliness and needs are more important to me than they are to  Mom.  I learned to let go and let God /others do what I could not.  My husband and son stepped up to the plate without striking out.  My grandmother (Mom's Mom) gave up her fun time and bed to come help out with what she could.  I am grateful!

So there's where we are-how about you?  Be happy and hang tight!