Different things

I'm going to the doctor today to get the staples out of my knee. It looks pretty ugly, but I guess I am progressing o.k. Physical therapy will take awhile but I'll get there eventually.

It's been so nice out that I'm planning to at least get some fresh air in the next couple of days just by sitting outside. Even if I can't walk, I can at least enjoy the beautiful weather.

Today, the head of the nuclear regulatory commission was on tv discussing the radiation situation in Japan. I'm not sure I could have told you this gentleman's name, as he doesn't get much press and that is probably a good thing. But I had to laugh, as my son Alan was looking at colleges he was saying that he either wanted to be "head of the nuclear regulatory commission, or write speeches for the president". Go figure. He turned out to be an attorney -- not sure where that fits into this but I'm sure he is rolling his eyes if he reads this!

New Facts and Figures are out

I haven't had a chance to read this yet, but the Alzheimer's Association has just released their annual Facts and Figures -- you can get it http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_facts_and_figures.asp

Also, it's Alzheimer's Day at the Georgia State Capitol. Hope all goes well -- wish I could be there -- but certainly am there in spirit.

rehab

has started on my knee. The day after I got home from the hospital the physical therapist was there and they are back today -- ten visits by the end of the month. I go back on thursday to get the staples out of my knee. I'll feel better doing therapy after I get them out, as when I feel something kind of "pulling" I'm not sure if it the incision/staples or just normal.

Friends have been great to bring over meals to help my husband out. I really appreciate them for doing that. Now, if I could just get some folks to volunteer to come clean my house! Why is it that whenever you are sick or incapacitated that your house always looks messier -- or maybe it is just me. But, I mopped and cleaned the kitchen floor before I went into the hospital and it is already dirty. Ralph use to complain it was me spilling coffee and food in the kitchen that made it dirty -- but now I know that is definitely not the case since I haven't been in the kitchen! Oh well -- having a dirty kitchen floor is the least of my worries!

The weather is beautiful here. Wish I could go out and enjoy it. My allergies are so bad that I'm afraid if I even go out and sit in it at this point it wouldn't be good. But, before the week is out I know I will have to get out -- I don't want to be cooped up all day long every day!

Home from the hospital

Thanks for everyone's well wishes -- I'm home from the hospital with a new knee. Surgery went well, glad to be home. I have a big scar, but hopefully, the result will be worth it! More soon. Kris

PS Thanks for the note from Tamar's class at UGA -- I apreciate it!

Classy

What a classy lady Maria Shriver is. After the Shriver Report came out, she was nice enough to send me a hand written note, thanking me for my contribution. I sent a condolence letter to her after her father passed away from Alzheimer's not too long ago. Then, yesterday, in the mail I receive a handout that was given out at the funeral for her father, as well as a personal note. How thoughtful of her. Thanks to her for helping move our cause forward. I would love to meet her one day.

Nasvhille

I'm in Nashville with friends for the women's SEC basketball tournament. One day, when the UGA women weren't playing my friends took a little side trip and I found myself alone in Nashville. Lots of things within walking distance from the hotel, so no problem. Except......the little problem I have about crossing streets by myself. I know, it sounds silly and stupid. But, if you think about it, we don't cross the street by foot much anymore. We pull up to the grocery, or the bank or wherever we are going and then walk into the business. Or at least, that is the way I usually do it. I don't find myself having to walk too far on the streets in Athens. So, I ventured out into the streets of downtown Nashville and came to my first cross walk. I panicked. I forgot that this is a problem for me......mainly because I don't usually do this and normally I have someone with me. The problem is that there are too many conflicting signals for my brain to decipher. Thwe blinking cross walk sign, the traffic signals and traffic noise don't move smoothly through my brain. They collide into a huge mass of confusion for me. I don't trust the other people walking (because I don't know them) and that people walk when they are not suppose to. I didn't want to turn back the block or so that I had walked from the hotel so I thought I would venture on and see what I could do by myself. Sometimes, I am just determined to do it come hell or high water! I stood at the corner for a good while before deciding to move. I only went across the street when there were absolutely no cars coming. This, by the way, was after the lights had cycled maybe three times. I'm sure if there was someone watching me they were thinking this lady is a lunatic.

Down the next block I saw an officer and thought I could ask for his assistance at the next block -- which I did. All the while thinking, what happens if this police officer is not here when I come back? I always try to think of a contingency plan -- and it is so odd that I can usually come up with something to work (for now anyway) but I can't figure out how to get across the street! Anyway, this officer was very friendly. I explained my situation to him and he told me that in the direction I was going there were police officers on every corner because of the high volume of people in town --- thank you Nashville! I ran into one officer that was on a segue way and he helped me for several blocks. After walking around for an hour or so, I made my way back to the hotel with help from mainly the men in blue. But, I haven't ventured out alone to walk since then. I have stayed in a pack with my friends and they help me get by.

Just another adventure in the life of someone with Alzheimer's.

Babies

One of my best friends from Illinois duaghter will be having a baby soon. I can't believe she is going to be a mother. She and her husband will make excellent parents, but I guess I just get to feeling old and sentimental when I think about it. I remember when my friend first found out she was pregnant with her daughter -- its a long and funny story but it was over thirty years ago and it seems like just yesterday. Anyway -- my best and all my love to Rachel, Mark and the new baby soon to be here.

And, two of my favorite friends -- I like to think of them as my surrogate sons, announced recently that they and their wives are soon expecting a baby. Their due dates are just weeks apart and it will be truly amazing seeing these guys go from husbands to dads -- but they will be great. I'm so happy for them.

On another note, I spoke to another pyschology class on campus at UGA this week about Alzheimer's. The professor gave me some questions that her students had the last time I spoke to give me an idea of some of the their thoughts. They were certainly interesting and I will try to keep them in mind the next time I speak to a group. Thanks Tamar for having me and best of luck to you in your studies!

Next week, I'm going to get a new knee! Yes, it's time for it. I'll be in the hospital for a few days and then recuperating for a few months. I'm not looking forward to the rehab time, but I'm glad to get it over with. I'll try to be better about blogging in the next week or so, as I'll be MIA for awhile after that. The one thing that had concerned me was going under anesthesia, as that from what I understand, can be an issue for those diagnosed with Alzheimer's. However, it appears they will be doing an epidural for the procedure so hopefully that will be much better.

Oh -- and after I get back on line, I'm going to try to be better about posting on a regular basis even if the words don't come out like they should! I have many friends that have blogs that keep on task by coming up with weekly "issues" of their blogs by calling them, "Truthful Tuesday" or "Wacky Wednesday thoughts" -- you get it. I'll just have to try to come up with something clever -- and I'm all for suggestions.

Finally

After several years of emailing, and corresponding, I finally got to meet Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice and Left Neglected. If you have been reading this blog for long, you know how I have raved about her books. Still Alice deals with Alzheimer's disease and that is how I first became aware of Lisa. Her second book which just came out deals with a neurological condition called Left Neglect. It is a very interesting disorder and almost hard to believe. But, her book certainly describes it well. Lisa was at a Book Festival in Savannah Georgia and I took the opportunity to go hear her speak. She was gracious enough to give me some of her free time while she was there and I so appreciate it. I'm glad we finally got to meet in person after being "cyber friends" for so long. Hope all went well with the rest of the festival Lisa and thanks again for sharing your time with me!

Mazda Miata

Everyone that knows me, knows that a red Mazda Miata is my dream car. My daughter in law sent me this photo of my son in a red Mazda Miata at the DC car show. This is so wrong -- it should be me in that driver's seat!

Blogs and Friends

I've been looking at some blogs lately of people I know and I feel so inadequate after reading theirs. They all sound intelligent, well thought out and put together. Mine, on the other hand, are disconnected and jump around from thought to thought. I find that I want my friends to write more so I can read more. I'm not amazed by what they right, I guess I'm amazed at how effortless it probably is for them (and maybe it's not, but they've fooled me). It seems they put lots and lots of thought into what they are going to write so it really has a story -- with a beginning, middle and end. I used to fuss at my son when he was writing for school projects about having the beginning, middle and end. Now I can't seem to find those things myself. So, I appreciate all those that still read this blog, because a lot of times I do just ramble......without structure.....random thoughts that pop into my head -- have to write them quickly or they pop out just as fast. Having said all of this, I want to share an experience I had yesterday and you may have to weave it all together, but it means a lot to me.



Yesterday was one of those days where it was cold and rainy. A day where you wanted to stay inside and read a book or take a nap. But, I had plans to go out and meet some old friends for lunch. I met these ladies thirty years ago. That's shortly after we moved to the south. My husband had been transferred and when he transferred many of the same people he worked with up north transferred along with him. So when he went to work here, it was kind of like working where we used to live, because although he was in a different building, he was doing the same thing and working with the same people.

I, on the other hand, was the new wife, moving to a small town, had no job and knew no one. So, we joined a small community country club -- and when you think of country club, I'm sure you are not thinking of this one -- no white table cloths, no exclusive parties, no high initiation fees, no valet parking, no waiting list to join. It was an affordable one for what we wanted to do --which was mainly play tennis. There was a golf course and a swimming pool, but our main focus at the time was to play tennis. We paid our modest amount of money to join and bought basically the "tennis package" which allowed us to make reservations for a court and play about as much tennis as we wanted.

We slowly began to meet other people that played tennis and before I knew it I was on a tennis team. Then, I was on two tennis teams. Then I was playing in some socials....and you get the drift. The ladies that I played with became my newest best friends. It was my "community" at the time. I didn't realize what an important part of my life these people would become. We seemed to live at the tennis courts and traveled together for matches. As we each had children, we started bringing them to the courts where the bigger ones would watch the smaller ones. We came from different backgrounds, different counties and different cultures. But we were all a family on the tennis court -- even though we liked some strong but friendly competition.



Over the years, one by one we stopped playing tennis, or we stopped playing in league play. We all had our reasons, whether it be family, injuries, returning to work or whatever. But, those 25-30 people that became my community back then, still surface from time to time and we picked up where we left off.



That's a long way of saying, that yesterday, I met two of these ladies for lunch. One I had not seen in probably twenty years, the other, I have just recently gotten back in touch with and renewed that friendship. It was great catching up with both of them and I realized how lucky I was (or am) to have these women in my life. It didn't seem like we missed a beat in picking up our conversation -- like we were talking over the tennis net. Although we have lost touch over the years, they (and all my tennis buddies) are people I know that I could pick up the phone and ask for help if I needed it. We all need friends like that. I hope they consider me to be just as an important friend to them. I thank them for being in my life.



I can remember times my son and I would be out shopping and I would run into one of my tennis friends and introduce Alan. Many times he would turn to me and say "Mom, is there anyone you haven't played tennis with?" It always made me smile. I would reply "Of course, there is -- but this lady was a friend of mine, too". They were all friends and "my family" as well.



We all have our own little communities and they change the way we look at things. Sometimes we forget that our friends help shape who we are. I'm glad I have the friends I have....even if I don't see them as often as I should.