Cindy's Life Updates with Frontotemporal Dementia: October 2014

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween from Cindy to you!

My mom had a fun Halloween surprise at the first part of October. She was surprised with a cemetery set up in her yard, spider webs on her railing, decorations on her door, and orange lights on her railing. My mom enjoyed seeing her decorations all month long.

She has tried to guess who could have possibly left this fun stuff in her yard and on her porch all month long. No one will confess to her. She will never know. It was sure fun to see how fun it was for her all month with these fun and exciting decorations.

My mom was able to see all of her kids & grand kids the week of Halloween or on Halloween. She had A LOT of fun with all of her kids & grand kids!

We hope you all had an exciting and spooky Halloween!

3 Month Doctor Visit Check Up

October 21, 2014

My mom had her 3 month check up visit at the doctor's last week. She has a new primary care doctor that she goes to now out at the new Draper hospital. My mom is liking this doctor, so far. Fingers are double crossed that it stays this way. :) This was her second time going to see this new doctor named Matthew Schellenburg.

The visit went well for my mom. She didn't mind the visit at all. We mentioned some concerns we had of my mom, while she sat their quietly. My mom told the doctor that she is doing fine and everything is good. The medicine is working. Our concern is her weight gain. We learned she has gained 60 pounds in a year. :(

My mom had some new blood work done. They have a nice little blood work office in the building to make it convenient.

The doctor also gave us a new prescription for my mom's osteoporosis that she has. I'm not sure if people know she has osteoporosis, but she does. She had a bone density test when she was going to doctor appointments by herself. She was recommended to take calcium vitamins with vitamin D back then. She is still recommended to take Calcium and Vitamin D along with a new prescription pill for her osteoporosis.

The blood test results have come in and everything was abnormal on the test. I know her blood sugar, cholesterol, and thyroid are all abnormal. There might be something else that I can't remember. We are going to see the doctor again on Monday to get a game plan on what to do for her abnormal test results.

We were also told that soon she may need 24 hr. care or supervision. We have been looking into a plan and options for her.

My mom is HAPPY and doing well considering everything that is going on.

Thank you for your prayers and kindness towards her. I love watching the kindness and tenderness people give her.

APPOINTMENT UPDATE:

We took my mom to the doctor's on October 27th. The biggest concern for the doctor on my mom is her triglycerides. The average triglyceride number on tests is anywhere up to 150. My mom's number is at 648. It is considered very high and she can be at risk for strokes and heart attacks. The doctor says there is only something you can do for long term on this which would be taking a pill and would possibly bring a long side effects. We are going to see how eating healthier for the next 3 months will help those numbers and we will go from there. Right now, my mom isn't doing any treatment for her triglycerides.

Her thyroid number was off a little bit so the doctor gave us a new prescription to adjust the thyroid pill.

My mom still said at the doctor's that she is fine and she doesn't want to take anymore pills.

Fishing Trip in Jackson Hole

October 03, 2014

Paul and I took my mom out fishing while on our vacation in Jackson Hole this summer. We fished at the Jackson Dam. We bought a 2 day fishing license.

My mom used all of her skills from when she was young, fishing with her dad. We didn't need to show her what to do. She already knew. She threw out her line really far and had fun reeling in her line. It was fun to watch her have fun fishing and enjoying the beauty that was surrounding us. She caught a few fish, but they got away before she could fully reel them in. It was windy and her line would snag a lot. We would help her unsnag the line.