Time Has Passed By - Happy New Year!

January 20, 2016

Hello! I have just noticed that time has passed by on here. I will write a quick update on Cindy/Mom.

Cindy is doing well. She is happy & content. Paul and I took her to a follow up 6 month doctor appointment this month. She received 2 shots and got her blood drawn. She is still not happy when going to the doctor's appointments, but she lightens up when the appointment is all over with. She always tells the doctor that she is "fine" after he asks how she is doing. A bone density test was ordered for her to do at this first visit. We haven't done that yet though. The doctor wants to see how she is doing compared to her last one done 2 years ago.

The blood test did come back and we went into the doctor's office for a 2nd visit this month. Her thyroid pill was adjusted in dosage and she started a new pill to help her triglyceride because her level is high. We were told that her triglyceride level could cause a stroke or heart attack. This was already a problem before, and this time we decided to start her up on the pill. The doctor also told us to start giving her fish oil. She will have more blood tests in 3 months to see where she is at with everything.

Everything else is going well for her health wise.

The biggest problem we see right now is her communication & finding words. We see a decline every day, with her vocabulary, where she can't say what she wants to right away, because the words don't come to her easily. One new word that I noticed, that she couldn't remember the name of is pizza. She called it a round thing. It's kind of shocking when words she knew a week ago or so, become hard for her to remember. She has a hard time telling stories and finding the words to say. She will describe words when she can't think of the word. Like for example: when thinking of stove, but she can't think of the word stove, she will say "the thing you cook on", instead of stove. I will also say words and she has no clue what the words are that I'm saying. This seems like a new thing to me and I just see her mind slowly drifting away more and more. She didn't know what a lint roller was. I was trying to find one at her house because I knew she had one there. I showed her what it was after I found it & she seemed interested to learn that's what that was. She also didn't know what rice krispie was. She has a rice krispie treat for her lunch every other day or so. I asked her if she had one for lunch and she said "rice krispie" like questioning and wondering what that was.

She had a great Christmas. Thank you for everyone remembering her and blessing her with a gift & love. She enjoyed each and every one of her gifts that she received. She enjoyed opening Linda's box of fun. Jean's banana bread, which she enjoyed in her lunches. Gifts from Paul's family, Jon and Nate's family. She enjoyed receiving a few Christmas cards, as well. Thank you everyone! She enjoys the simplest things. Each one of you brought a SMILE to her face! She can't express her appreciation, but I know she appreciated it. THANK YOU!

Here's to another year of being with my mom and having her make me smile everyday! Her birthday will be here before we know it in March! She keeps telling everyone she is turning 60 this year. She is in a rush to make it to 60. She really will only be 59 this year!

Thank you everyone for everything you do to help us with my mom. Anything small or big, we appreciate it so much!