Dementia/Alzheimer's disease

What an insidious disease Alzheimer's disease is for millions of of people and particularly Utahans. A recent article in the Deseret News points out the growing numbers of people who are being afflicted with this debilitating disease.  "Interestingly, Utahans are being hit particularly hard because many have avoided alcohol and tobacco throughout their lives and are living longer.  Is dementia an ironic consequence of good health?

Utah has some of the lowest rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, it has low rates of obesity, tobacco use and alcoholism.  In Utah, the number of deaths attributed to Alzheimer's in Utah has more than doubled.  Utah ranks 9th in the nation for Alzheimer's deaths compared with 50th for cancer and 35th from heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, Utah is one of six states in which cases of the degenerative brain disease are predicted to rise 40% or more over the next seven years.  People who tend to have a more healthy lifestyle overall and that causes them to live longer here in Utah.  But the longer they live, the more of a risk we have for Alzheimer's. Grim statistics seem to bear this out:  One in 10 Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's.  After age 85, 1 in 3 of us do.  The average life expectancy in Utah is 80, one of the highest in the nation."

Enter my dear mother.  Age 90.  She is struggling with advanced dementia/Alzheimer's disease.  She can no longer care for herself.  She can't cook or clean (which was one of her many strengths), doesn't care about her own hygiene and appearance (which is shocking since she always took good care of herself), can no longer read (which she loved to do), sew (she was an amazing seamstress and quilt maker), manage money (she lost over $9,000 being scammed and didn't even realize it) , drive (believing that she still could and would still be driving today if not for intervention), converse, follow a conversation or contribute to it, know who her grandchildren are (especially those she doesn't see very often), know what is proper social decorum, interrupts conversations and interjects stories about herself, can't recite her childhood poems any longer, has a hard time following time, and doesn't like to watch moves anymore since she can't follow the story line.

So much of who she is and what she loved to do it gone.  It is tragic and hard to watch her struggle along.  My siblings and I decided at the end of April that it was time and that she could no longer live alone.  She has lost a lot of weight and wasn't eating and was alone too much of the time. She refused to live in any of our homes, and several of them wouldn't have been conducive anyway due to stairs and other challenges.  We made the difficult decision that is was time to move her into assisted living. My oldest sister found a new, lovely assisted living residence in the community and at the end of April, we broke the news to her that it was moving day.  She is very strong willed and has told us repeatedly that she would never move.  Never.  Under any circumstances.  She was going to stay in her home and go out on a gurney to the funeral home.  Well, that scenario would have been nice and it is what she wanted, but is just wasn't possible.  She tells anyone who will listen that from her neck down she is about 70 years old (which is true, her overall health is fine), but from her neck up she is 200 years old.  True. Sad. Statement.
We broke the news in the best way we could.  With love and concern.  We told her that we really and truly feel that this is what our dad would want us to do to take care of her.  She cried, swore, said she didn't want to go, and then we got her out on a drive while an amazing crew of family moved her furniture from her current home to her new home.  When she arrived two hours later, it was all set up. This is her former home:

to her present lovely home:

Now her days consist of three good meals a day (which are delicious!), watching lots and lots of her favorite TV shows recorded on her DVR, playing Bingo and going to some of the activities at her new home which include crafts, games, entertainment, and enjoying visits from family members who live in the area which are daily visits and sometimes more than once a day.  My sister and I who live out of town visit her on schedule. She can dress herself, bathroom herself mostly and control her TV remote. She has Sunday dinners in the homes of family and she has her cell phone to call when she needs help.  She also has a button around her neck to push whenever she needs anything and a CNA will arrive and help her.  She is safe and is being watched over.
Of course, she just wants to go be with our dad.  She doesn't want to be here anymore.  She knows her memory is bad, but she either doesn't realize how bad her disease is or how much it is affecting her ability to function, or she just doesn't want to admit it.  Whatever the case, we will continue to love her, to serve her and to make her final days or years as enjoyable as possible.  She is a dear mother to me and I love her so much.  She is so strong and willful and that is her blessing and her curse. It is terribly hard to see her in this state of being.  Alzheimer's is an insidious disease because it robs a person of their life, personality, memories, abilities, ability to think of others and their overall functionality in dealing with life.

All you ever wanted to know about knee replacement surgery

Back in 2010, I did this blog entry about my painful left knee.  I knew that some day I was going to have to face getting a total knee replacement.  I was able to stretch that waiting period into an extra three and a half years and the time finally arrived on February 6, 2014 for surgery.  Besides the bone spurs and the bone-on-bone osteoarthritis pain, I also had begun to to get a valgus knee deformity.  I had a nine degree bend in my knee that was only going to get worse with time, use and more wear and tear.  It would get harder to correct with the passage of even more time.  I finally made the decision to just move forward and schedule the surgery. 

I really dreaded this surgery.  My brother-in-law Dave had had his knee replaced last summer, and I knew the recovery process was going to be long and painful.  I also made the mistake of watching this knee replacement video on YouTube.  It's not for the faint of heart, but it is amazing to see how it is done. Knee replacement surgery is very brutal.  The surgeons aren't gentle and kind.  They get in there and cut, hammer, chisel and grind the bone, muscles and tendons.  They push and shove and wear protective gear while they are working because lot of "stuff" is flying around. It is MAJOR surgery and causes MAJOR pain since it involves bone, nerves, muscle and tendons.  The surgeon inserts titanium steel and plastic and he screws it to the bone, glues it and hammers it into place.  Fortunately, my surgeon was able to correct my valgus deformity and now my leg is straight again!

I did my homework and felt like I had found the right surgeon and the right replacement hardwear.  Given my valgus knee problem, I wasn't a candidate for a ConFormis knee (a custom made knee replacement.)   I got the Vanguard BioMet total knee replacement that looks like this:

 

Pre-surgery

Hours after surgery

Continual Perpetual Motion machine
 (CPM) that forced the knee to bend while
 in rehab and for two weeks at home

3 days after surgery

One week after surgery

two weeks after surgery

three weeks after surgery

6 1/2 weeks after surgery

Everyone who has had this surgery has told me that it takes about six months to a year before the new knee feels "normal."  I'm not there yet.  In fact, as this point (almost seven weeks from surgery) I'm still not glad I did it.  I hope that with time, more therapy and less pain, I will be glad I took this major step.  Here's hoping the bruising, the swelling and the stiffness become less with each passing day. I'm hopeful that my new knee will take me through the next 25-30 years and that I can get back to my regular routine, gait, and activity level.
Oh, and an interesting side note...the price tag (not including out-patient physical therapy) is $51,636 for the hospital, surgeons, anesthesiologists, in-patient rehab and home health care.  We'll get to meet our out-of-pocket deductible, again this year.  Thankfully, we have good health insurance through my husband's employment!

Down...but not out

I've thought about this post for several weeks now, and frankly, I haven't been anxious to write it. I can't think of a time in my life when I've been more down physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  It's been tough and it's involved different kinds of pain in very high doses.

First...the physical pain.  I had a total knee replacement on February 6.  Can I just say...OUCH!! I knew it would be very painful because I've already had two knee scopes and I know that knee pain is excruciating.  On a scale of 1 to 10, they say that breaking a femur is a 10.  Check.  Been there, done that.  Pain can go pretty high on that scale with a knee replacement.  They try and keep it at a 4 or 5, with narcotic pain killers but there is always pain. Constant, throbbing pain.   I don't do really well with high doses of pain killers which upset my stomach and don't stay in my system for long.  Then that exacerbates the situation.  I really struggled in the hospital and at the rehab center to keep the meds down until finally they found one that worked...my new friend Norco.  Percocet is not my friend and morphine just makes me feel discombobulated. Norco helped control the pain but it also killed my appetite. (So far I've lost about 8 pounds, which isn't all bad.)
After three days in the hospital, six days in an inpatient rehab center, I went home where my main man Rick helped me with my ice machine, CPM leg bending machine and every other need I had.  He asked me which was worse, chemo pain or knee pain.  My reply is that they are totally different kinds of discomfort.  The chemo pain makes you feel like you're going to die and the knee pain makes you feel like you want to die (that's a joke...sort of.)His wonderful sister Robyn came from California to help me for several days and she was a life saver.  Many friends came to the rescue and brought me food and good cheer.  My Mom came and helped me and at the three week mark after surgery, we headed to AZ to attend Lauren's baptism.  Still in pain... but no amount of pain could keep me from going.

Next, the emotional pain.  Jake's diagnosis on January 25 was the worst news.  It was like getting hit by a freight train. To see our sweet daughter and her wonderful husband face this trial with their little family was almost more that I could bear.  I H*A*T*E cancer.  It has taken too many of our family members and threatened to take several more.  Without going into a lot of detail, let's just say that I've cried a river of tears over this brain tumor diagnosis of our son who is more like our own son than an  in-law.  There must be something about being a parent and watching children struggle with challenges that just about takes that parent to the limit of endurance.   There is the helplessness of not bring able to shield and protect your child.  There was precious little I could do or say that would provide help and absolutely nothing I could do to  stop the parade of terribles they were experiencing. I couldn't stop crying and thinking about the consequences constantly.  Finally, on March 7, Rick gave me a priesthood blessing that calmed my troubled heart and helped to stop the flood gate of anguish I was feeling for Jordan and Jake and their four little children. We did all we could to help while we visited for four and a half days, but no amount of help was going to turn the tide on the reality of the situation.

Mentally, I've been down.  I shut down everything I normally do for that last six weeks while I recovered from surgery.  I canceled two dinners at our home with friends.  I canceled all the activities I normally do.  I haven't really gone anywhere or done much of anything.  I had a big stack of books I was going to read, but I haven't had the where-with-all to do much of anything but try and manage pain and go to physical therapy (and do my work remotely from home.)  I haven't been myself or done my regular routine and I miss it.  Being alone and staying inside just breeds more depression.  Rick went to AZ to help for 10 days and even though I was so happy he could go and help out, it was tough to be alone.  Luckily, visits from Janet, Lee and Jessica, Andy and Chelsea helped break up those days.

Spiritually, it's been discouraging.  You think you've built your reserves and that you'll be able to withstand the trials that come your way.  You know your faith is strong, but when sorely tested, you wonder if it is strong enough.  You try and make sense of suffering.  You try and look for solutions and ways to help ease the pain of loved ones and for yourself.  You once again examine the question of "why do bad things happen to good people?"  You try and make yourself do the things you know will help build spiritual strength.   You search for the comfort and peace promised in the scriptures and you turn to the only ONE who can help to carry the load.  You don't give up.  You pray for the strength to carry on and to overcome.  You recognize the source of anger, discouragement and fear and you work like hell to not let them take over.  You recognize, once again, that there is only one place to turn for help.  And you turn there, again, and again and again.  Because, what else can you do?

Ziggy all the way

With Ziggy headlining, former BYU players perform for NFL scouts at Pro Day : CougarBlue.com
check out this video to see Ziggy in action 

If you want to know what all the fuss is about, check out this article in Sport Illustrated to ready about Ziggy's story.  It's pretty amazing. 

We were on campus last night attending a banquet and we passed Ziggy in the hallway. He gave us a nod.  I thought Rick was going to pass out. That guy is B * I * G!!!

More products that I love

My mom introduced these little beauties to me.
 They are perfect for the two of us since we can't (shouldn't) eat a whole cake.

This product is a wonder.  Where have I been all these years?
  Walking around with stains on my clothes, that's where I've been.
 I'll give a shout out to my  DIL Courtney who enlarged my world.

Another product that I've heard about but never tried.
 Thanks again to Mother Mary for gifting me this for my B-day.
 I'm now stain free and fuzz free.

No home should be without one of this little wonders
 and thanks to Janet I'm the proud new owner of my own oven mat.
 Just put it on the lower rack of your oven and your clean up time will evaporate.
 Now I have a clean oven while walking around in my stain free clothes that are
 fuzz free while eating a delicious little cake for dessert that was baked in the microwave.
  Does it get any better than this??

Our beloved 26 year old dinosaur

When we moved into our first home, Rick's grandmother Pingree bought us a new washer and dryer.  It was January of 1986.  That Sears Kenmore grey colored washing machine has been washing our clothes for over 26 years!  It finally died a month ago and we got a new Kenmore to take its place.  We have no illusions that it will last as long.  Rick wanted to go with another one with an agitator, but he acquiesced and let me have this new beauty.   It's made of new technology with a computer controlled control panel and all the bells and whistles. It doesn't have an agitator in the middle of the washing tub.  How will it get the clothes clean??  I doubt it will go 26 years.  Just think about it.  Nations have risen and fallen during those 26 years.  Babies have been born and grown to adulthood.  Floppy disks have come and gone.  Big hair has been replace by flat hair.  Basketball shorts that were once short are now long.  We were just young parents with three small children.  Now those small children have their own small children.  RIP our old grey washing machine.  There won't be another one like you.  Thanks for keeping us presentable over the years. Grandma Maybe would be proud...use it up, wear it out, make do.

From white to black

After 17 years of almost daily use, these hardworking appliances decided it was time to call it quits. The oven in particular gave up the ghost and would shut off midway through baking time. This became particularly bothersome at Thanksgiving while trying to roast the turkey. A repairman determined that the needed part was no longer available, so what else could we do but move on? Bye, Bye whities.




Hello blackies! Welcome to these new shiny beauties. Because I have black rugs and other black accents in the room, I decided to skip stainless and go with black. I know I'm going to LOVE the ceramic solid top range. I hope they serve us as well as the old white appliances did.

12-11-11

Progress report to keep me motivated. MY FINAL REPORT!
11 in 11

1. visit 11 temples this year and do the the temple work for at least 22 of our departed ancestors - COMPLETED July 2011

• 1. Provo, Utah temple-10 sealings for couples and sons
• 2. Provo, Utah temple - 5 initiatory
• 3. Albuquerque, New Mexico temple - 5 initiatory
• 4. Mesa, Arizona temple - 1 endowment
• 5. Laie, Hawaii temple - 1 endowment
• 6. St. George, Utah temple - 1 endowment
• 7. Provo, Utah temple - 8 sealings for couples, 4 sons (Rick), 3 daughters
• 8. San Diego temple - 1 sealing for couples, 3 daughters
• 9. Provo, Utah temple - 14 baptisms for women, 14 confirmations
• 10. Provo, Utah temple - 3 sealings for couples, five sons (Rick), five daughters
• 11. Provo, Utah temple - 1 endowment
• 12. Provo, Utah temple - 2 sealings for couples, 8 sons
• 13. Provo, Utah temple 2 sealings for couples, 4 sons
• 14. Provo, Utah temple 1 endowment
• 15. Provo, UT temple 3 sealings for couples, 5 daughters
• 16. Provo, UT temple 1 endowment
• 17. Logan, UT temple 1 endowment
• 18. Provo, UT temple 1 endowment
  

2. lose 11 pounds - I'm sad to report that I didn't achieve this goal this year. Next year will be my year! This is the only goal I didn't achieve and it was by far the hardest after a very good effort.

3. read 11 books - COMPLETED September 2011

• 1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• 2. Heidi (a childhood favorite - loved reading it again)
• 3. Same Kind of Different as Me
• 4. The Forgotten Garden
• 5. Jane Eyre
• 6. The Book Thief
• 7. Believing Christ
• 8. The Hunger Games
• 9. Catching Fire
  
• 10. Mockingjay
  
• 11. Rebel (book on tape while driving through the south, which lasted 16 hours!)
• 12. Yale Avenue Kid, autobiography of VBR
• 13. A Child Called "It"
  

4. organize & label 11 of our family photo books - COMPLETED October 2011

• completed 4 books, starting in 1976 through 1982
• completed 7 books, starting in 2006-2011
  

5. visit 11 elderly people - COMPLETED August 2011

• 1. G.G. 2. G.D.E. 3. M. Y. 4. L. B. 5. V. B. R. 6. D. F. 7. A. E. 8. U. R. 8. A. L. 9. U. V. 10. L. C. 11. S. C. 12. P. P. R. 13. L. B.
  

6. sew 11 items and give them away - COMPLETED November 2011

• 1 skirt for Skippy, 1 blanket for Skippy, 1 skirt of Lauren, 1 skirt for Ellie, 1 skirt for Ada, 2 aprons for Skippy, 1 skirt for Skippy, 1 jumper for Kindergarten Lauren, bound 1 quilt for a friend, make five baby blankets for Courtney, make a tee-shirt quilt for Courtney's birthday

7. go with Rick to visit 11 new places - COMPLETED September 2011

• 1. drove around Utah Lake for the first time
• 2. North shore Oahu, Hawaii - including Waimea, Haleiwa & Sunset beach
  
• 3. Hike to Diamond head, Hawaii
• 4. West shore Oahu, Hawaii - including Waianae, Maili & Ko Olina bay
• 5. Legoland, California
• 6. PETCO stadium, San Diego California
• 7. Mississippi - Jackson, Oxford
• 8. Tennessee - Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville
• 9. Kentucky - Bowling Green
  
• 10. North Carolina - Great Smoky Mountains, Asheville
• 11. South Carolina - Spartanburg, Greenville
• 12. Georgia - Atlanta, Athens
• 13. Alabama - Birmingham
• 14. Arkansas - Little Rock
• 15. Texas - Keller, Austin

8. send birthday cards to 11 people I don't normally send to - COMPLETED October 2011

• 1. A. K. 2. A. K. 3. D. A. 4. D. R. 5. D. S. 6. G. G. 7. T. S. 8. D. G. 9. M. J. 10. L. C. R. 11. H.F. 12. S. C.
  

9. watch 11 old movies that I love but haven't seen for awhile - COMPLETED September 2011

• 1. Dances with Wolves
• 2. First Knight
• 3. Mama Mia
• 4. Groundhog Day
• 5. A River Runs Through It
• 6. October Sky
• 7. The Little Princess with Shirley Temple
• 8. Father of the Bride
• 9. Emma
• 10. Wuthering Heights
• 11. Fried Green Tomatoes
• 12. Gone With the Wind
• 13. Steel Magnolias
• 14. National Treasure
  

10. make 11 new recipes - COMPLETED November 2011

• 1. Lentil soup (won't be making this again - it wasn't a hit with the husband)
• 2. Ziti Primavera
• 3. Cinnamon rolls (new recipe)
• 4. Easter Dessert
• 5. oriental chicken in the crock pot
• 6. Grilled chicken southwestern salad (from Jordan)
• 7. Fast Easy Bread, cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, crescent rolls with Lindsey!!
• 8. Shirley J, using the Universal sauce for beef stroganoff & broccoli cheese soup
• 9. Southern cooking from Mary Mac's cookbook - fried chicken, fresh creamed corn, peach cobbler, peach pancakes
• 10. Carmel dip fondue with apples and bananas
  
• 11. Pesto on vine ripe tomatoes with fresh mozzarella cheese
• 12. Cube steak in gravy & mashed potatoes
  

11. invite 11 groups of people over for dinner - COMPLETED July 2011

• 1. Lacey & friends, Pat & Vern
• 2. Valentine dinner with the Mark & Colleen, Trent & Kelley
• 3. Cleofon group of women for luncheon
• 4. Ryan, Jill and Corbin C.
• 5. Dave's friends from college - Erick & Sam, Bryan & Kelly, Danny & Danielle, Kyle & Kayla
• 6. Cousin Margaret & family
• 7. Niece Syd & Adam, Danny & Danielle, Romney, Jesse
• 8. Ryan & Jill, Corbin & Loni (BBQ outside)
• 9. Denise, Lacey & family
• 10. Adam and Crissa
• 11. Lindsey R. and her four darling daughters, Corbin
• 12. 4th of July BBQ - 70 family and friends
• 13. Ben and Melissa
• 14. Mom, David, Diane, Syd, Adam, Bishop and Becca
• 15. Dustin, Daelynn, MacKinley, Lucy, Syd, Adam
• 16. Margie, Ann, Brian, Robyn, Doug, Deborah, Pat & Vern (for Pat's birthday dinner)
• 17. Jason B. his wife Shelley and their four boys
• 18. Mark, Colleen, Curtis, Heidi and Tyler
• 19. Richard
• 20. Harmon, Deborah, Emily, Gerald & Phillip
  
• 21. Courtney baby shower
• 22 Thanksgiving dinner for 15
  
• 23. Sofia and friends
• 24. Andy and friends (and sister Janet...not pictured)
  

Get creative & have some fun

We've had a very busy time these last three or four weeks. In no particular order, here are some fun things we've been doing. Jordan and her girls came to town on the 18th of June. She dropped the girls off and went off to girls camp with her ward in Idaho for five days. I went to girls camp with our ward a few days later and Andy took over as the chief baby sitter...he did a great job. Jake later arrive to attend the wedding of his sister and to stay for a week. Claire and R and baby Skippy arrived on the 29th and stayed til the morning of the 5th. We keep busy and had a great time with everyone over the 4th of July. We missed Dave and Courtney who are in North Carolina while Dave is completing an internship for his MBA.




This crew enjoyed an early morning hike to the "Y" on the mountain. They had planned to hike to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos, but there was still too much snow on it. Maybe next year. They also all ran either the 10K or the 5K before the Provo Grand Parade on the 4th of July. They did great in the race and came home with some prizes.
Some other activities including going to the Provo temple, to BYU campus and the Cougar eat for lunch, to the lovely garden wedding reception of Jake's sister Jen, to Trafalga for some mini-golf, go cart riding and batting cage hitting, to Bridal Veil Falls for a little hike and a picnic, and out to the backyard many times for some swimming, game playing and village ball. It was fun to be together and to fall into bed exhausted every night.

We broke out the red, white and blue fingernail polish and got all the girls ready to celebrate the 4th of July, from fingertips to toenails.

We finally finished assembling the tree bench and enjoyed sitting on it and swinging the girls in their various tree swings. "Swing me Grampy" was heard more than once by the little grand girls. They wanted to swing all the time, even while in their night gowns.
While in Logan to visit the extended family, I got to drive the new toy of my sister Ann and her husband Trace. It was a fun and windy ride up to see Porcupine reservoir.
Andy and five of his friends coached a little league boys baseball team this summer. It took them a ton of time to work with the boys in practices and games. They all learned a lot and had a good season. I was very proud of Andy for being so good to the boys and for learning the ups and downs of coaching and for taking it all in stride. They had a fun season and I think Andy and crew want to do it again next year.
Now that I'm serving with the Laurels (the 16-18 year old girls) in our ward, I made them some graduation from high school cards and treated them to some chocolate. They were a hit!


I went to Logan to visit my Mom and sisters and their families and to attend my sister Lee's 50th surprise birthday party given to her by her daughter and her family. It was fun to be there and to participate with her in the aging process. She was a good sport and we all had a great time. She looks wonderful for a 50 year old.