I met with Georgette for lunch today. It was a lot of fun. I expected the physical therapist to arrive between 12:30 and 12:45 like she usually does, but she didn't. She called at 1:30 while we were about to eat lunch so she came later today around 4:30. What a near miss that one was. I am glad she was able to fit Mom in today. Mom did really well with her exercises today. She even joked with Lori. It was amazing. She didn't do all of her step exercise on the right foot, she seemed to get confused with that today, but she did everything else just fine.

It has been a good day, not a whole lot going on in my head today, it seems kind of stuffy. I think I may be getting a cold. My throat is a bit sore and my head and nose are a bit stuffy. Rather annoying. I hope I don't get one because I don't want Mom to get it too. I don't think she would fight off a cold very well. She isn't really stronger enough.

It is really nice out again. It is supposed to stay nice until it gets hot this weekend. Supposedly, though when it is 90 degrees this weekend, there will be no humidity. I hope not. That gives me a headache. Speaking of headaches, I have a doozy right now. It was so bad this afternoon, but I am out of my pain pills. They should be at the pharmacy refilled right now as I called in the prescription last week. It needed a doctor's approval though so that always take some time. I could really use my pills right about now. I think we will head to bed early tonight. Mom sees a new doctor tomorrow for her sore. I hope they can do something about it.

I hope you are having a good day.

It is really pretty outside today with the blue sky and white puffy clouds. It is a bit cooler than it has been, but I don't mind. I like the temperature better than the 80 degrees and the 90 degrees. My head doesn't ache as much with this weather.

Mom is in the living room taking a bit of a nap. I had one too, but only for about an hour where as she is still sleeping two hours later. That is fine. She needs the rest. We had to get up earlier today and I think she woke up from pain in her back early. She doesn't sleep in the middle of the bed enough so sometimes her legs fall over the side of the bed and that hurts her back. I am going to get a body pillow to put behind her so she isn't really laying on her back which she shouldn't do with a pressure sore anyways. I can alternate sides every night for her.

I only have Charlie today, Zach rescheduled because he has a really bad headache. He is coming tomorrow. Works for me. We are also meeting Georgette for a late lunch tomorrow. It will be fun.

Kathy is supposed to be checking her schedule for the rest of the summer to see when a good time for us to come and visit will be. Mom and I are planning (okay, I am planning) to stay at a hotel with a pool so the kids can come and swim while we all visit together. It should be fun. Mom loves watching the kids play. I don't know when my older brother Richard is coming for a visit yet. Sometime in July.

Mom has to see a general surgeon now for her pressure sore. I don't know if there is anything that can be done about it, but Dr. Gradolph wants us to see one so we will. I will be making the appointment today. She has gained 5 pounds now since she has been home. I am so excited about that. I don't know how she did it, and I don't really care because she did. That is all that counts. She gained 5 pounds. She now weighs 86 pounds. I also will be getting her a donut type cushion to sit on where ever we go because that will help with the pressure on her bottom. Poor thing, she is so tiny, she is just a little bitty thing. She is only about 5 feet 3 1/2 inches tall, although she is curved over a bit more than she used to be so she isn't much taller than me now and I am 5 feet 1/2 inch tall.

It has been a good day so far. I hope this finds you doing well too.

Two regular links to check out!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2

www.heathmattersshow.com

It's Monday! Ugh, and I am tired. We had such a full weekend it was wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful.

The nurse was here early for Mom. She called to say she was on her way while we were at Tim Horton's. Oops! So I bagged our stuff and we headed back home. We got here just before she pulled in. Talk about great timing! She said Mom's pressure sore is doing better but we need to follow up with the Doctor. So I will call this afternoon for an appointment this week. Poor thing, as if she needed something else to deal with, right? She is not eating well this afternoon like she did yesterday. She ate her donut but isn't eating her muffin. She takes a bite, puts it down, forgets about it, then I remind her and we start again. She is just distracted for some reason today. I am excited about her eating dinner though because Michelle sent us home with left overs!!! Yup!!!! Isn't that great??? I think so. I also need to go to the store to get her Ensure with protein today because we are out. We will do that after Frank's lesson or Callie's, depending on who is last for a lesson. I know Patty had said something about making Frank's lesson earlier, but I haven't heard from her yet. Whatever works best for her, works best for us. That is what I told her.

Other than 3 lessons and a trip to the store, not much going on today. I was going to clean off the table, but I think other than looking for bills that need to be paid, that will be the extent of my cleaning off the table. Emptying the bills will help, just won't totally clear it all.

I emailed Kathy today to ask her when a good time for us to visit would be. I figured it would be easier if she just told us when to come rather than the other way around because she is the one with the kids who have camps and such, and we don't. Our schedule is so much more flexible than hers. Other than teaching, physical therapy, and the nurse visit, we are pretty open for visiting.

Mom is being very careful of where she puts her water on the table now. She nearly tipped it over awhile ago and now she is being completely careful. It is kind of funny to watch. She is at least eating her muffin again. Sometimes she provides some rather interesting entertainment.

Aggie is having a make up lesson today for the one she missed on Saturday. She and her friend, Elena, went to Lansing to give a surprise birthday party to one of their friends. It worked out rather well for me as we were so tired after the wedding I slept in until noon and that is when her lesson usually is. Lily missed hers too because she was so tired from the wedding. It was such a good night. Looking at Lily made me realize how much she has grown. I remember her as a 3 year old, and then her 6th birthday party, the first time she went to a movie with me and her sisters, the first time she went with me alone, and I could go on. She is now 12 and it just amazes me how fast she grew. Rather rudely, I might add, I don't like how fast she has grown, I want her to stay little a while longer. I just get used to one age and then, bam! it's changed to another. She will be in 7th grade this year. I remember her starting kindergarten! It seems like yesterday.

Callie and Frank are having lessons today too. Both are doing really well. It is a lot of fun teaching them. Callie and I giggle a lot during lessons, we can't help it. We get our work done, but we do giggle a lot. Frank is playing such amazing music that it is awesome to hear and hard to believe how good he is at times. He always gives me the low down on whether or not it will sound good though, depending on his practice before lessons. Sometimes, he is right and it isn't quite ready to be finished, but other times he is wrong. He should be finished with the Mozart piece today, I am hoping anyway because he needs to focus on his competition songs in the next few weeks. Competition is about 3 weeks away. We won't be going because Mom can't sit in a car for 6 hours. I just don't see how she can. Maybe I am wrong, and she would be fine, but I can't really take the chance to find out. Maybe she would be fine on the way there, but what if she isn't on the way home? Too much uncertainty to find out. Frank will do fine there, he has competed before and his dad is going with him. It will be a good Dad/Son weekend for them. I just have to remember to give him a note saying he can pick up his score sheets.

It is beautiful looking out, a bit on the warm and humid side, but hey, it's Michigan and what can you do? I hope this finds you doing well and having a great start to the week!

I am so tired. We spent the day at my Uncle John's house with his family. My younger brother, Andrew, was there with his new girl friend, Angela. She is very nice and her father has Alzheimer's too, so she totally understands Mom. A very important detail to me. She was very kind to Mom. Andrew served Mom her dinner and I was thinking, oh my, that is way too much food, she is never going to eat it. Well, she did, every last bit. I couldn't believe it. She even had fruit and ice cream after. I mean, man, how awesome is that? She ate her whole dinner, something she has not done for 4 months. I have to give her 1/2 of cup here, 1/2 of cup there, and beg her to eat that and then finish it off with an ensure drink. Not today, she ate the whole thing. Michelle, my Uncle's girl friend, gave us enough left overs for 2 days. The last time we were there in May, Mom ate pretty well too, but not as good as she did today. We were all very impressed about it. I think this week I am going to get a roast and cook it in the slow cooker so it will be very tender and then cut it up into meals and try serving that to her to see if that helps her eating at all. All I know, is I thought this wasn't going to be a good eating day because she at 1/2 of her cheeseburger for lunch and it turned out to be fantastic. We had a really good day there, we really did. Michelle and Jayson (my small 3 year old cousin - who is so adorable) will be coming to visit us soon too. I can't wait, that will be awesome too.

I am so tired right now though. I can't think of anything else to say except it was a great weekend. Started off with a great wedding, then a nice and relaxing Saturday, and then another great day at my Uncle's. I like these kind of weekends. I hope we have more soon. Maybe when Richard is in town we will take him to my Uncle's too. That would be great. I just don't know when Richard is coming. My niece turns 11 this week. Oh my, it is hard to believe, I remember when she was born. Such a tiny thing she was. I fell in love with her at first sight. Same with my nephew. Both are the joys in my life, I just don't get to see them very often as they live in Seattle and I don't.

I hope your day and weekend was as great as ours was! See you tomorrow!

Yesterday was a very full day for us. An absolutely wonderful day filled with family and friends, and some new friends. It started like every other day for us. We got up, went to Tim Horton's, ate brunch and then came home. Mom's physical therapist, Lori, arrived about 12:45 pm for a 1/2 hour of exercise for mom. She is doing pretty well although she doesn't have the attention span to always finish the exercise. She does some leg exercises and then she walks a bit to show Lori how her walking is doing, and lastly, her stepping exercises. I am to work on her stepping exercises with her too, to make her stronger. Lori wants Mom walking as much as she can. She wasn't really pleased that Mom was going to be pushed in a wheel chair for the wedding. Her opinion is that Mom can walk and should walk as much as she can. There will come a time when she can't, and then you use a wheel chair, but not until that time.

A bit after Lori left, Tillie and Maia arrived. Tillie was coming to the wedding with us to help with Mom. We sat around and talked a bit before it was time to get dressed for the wedding. Maia's boyfriend, Mark, came to pick her up. He called a few hours earlier because he was worried about her. Maia was coming over with her Mom and they always shop first. Hey, why not, it is fun! They stopped at their regular places. I don't particularly care for shopping so I am always glad they go before they get here. Sometimes, I like to go, but not very often. I can't walk very well or very far and shopping is difficult for me. I do like to go and shop at Walmart's because they have scooters I can ride. We don't go very much because we don't need anymore stuff. We are in the process of downsizing our stuff, so shopping for more would defeat the purpose.

At about 4:30 it was time to dress for the wedding. Mom had a pretty blouse with a nice pair of pants and a jacket to wear. The wedding ceremony would be in es garden, but the reception would be indoors, so I had to make sure she would be warm in the reception. I wore nice dress pants and a nice top which I, of course, managed to get food on during dinner. I was very upset with myself as it was a really nice, expensive top. Tillie wore a skirt with a top and a jacket. Mom looked very pretty in her little outfit. We rarely have a chance to get dressed up these days. We just don't really go anywhere to dress up at.

We arrived at the wedding about 6:00 or so, maybe a few minutes before. We waited inside for a few minutes before we went out to the garden to be seated for the wedding. Once we were seated it was only a few minutes before the wedding began. I have only been to religious wedding ceremonies before so it was interesting to see a non religious wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. Then we went in to the reception. It was a great dinner, amazing choices for the buffet dinner. Difficult to choose, let me tell you. The staff at Addison Oaks were great, one of the managers came over and asked if I wanted a staff person to help get Mom's food. How cool is that? Mom stayed in her chair and I and the waiter went to the buffet line to get Mom's food. Tillie stayed with Mom while I was gone and then she went to get her food. Mom and Tillie stayed until the bride/groom dances and the parent dances were done. Tillie was unfamiliar with the area and wanted to get back to my house before dark. I stayed until about 10:30 pm. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Tillie got lost on the way home so we both got home about the same time. Mom was having a hard time getting in and out of Tillie's van. She isn't used to climbing into a vehicle and Tillie has a van, so of course, the seat sits up higher than mine does. It freaked Mom out getting in and out. Mom couldn't walk very well to the door, she almost fell on the stairs, so poor Tillie, had to practically carry Mom in the house. I felt bad for Tillie, but even more for Mom, she must have been very scared to do what she did. We should have all gone home at the same time with Mom in my car and she probably would have been fine. After I got home we sat and talked until about 1 am. I got Mom into bed pretty quickly, she went up the stairs pretty well considering how tired she was. Only had a bit of a problem at the top of the stairs, which sometimes happens when she is tired. I got her into her pjs and to bed rather quickly, I was pleased with how easy it went. Then I headed to bed.

Tillie had to leave early this morning to help Maia pick up some furniture in storage. She is moving into a new house later this week. So, we didn't see her this morning as we got up at about noon. I was so tired. After we got dressed and had brunch, we came home to relax. I fell asleep and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. I guess I was a bit tired. I don't know how much Mom slept because she was awake when I woke up to make us dinner. We have had a very relaxing day, with mostly filled with sleeping to recovering from the big day yesterday. Tomorrow we will be going to my Uncle John's. It should be a fun day. We are leaving around noon or so, after we are finished Tim Horton's. We won't be staying too late though as we both get tired rather easy and it is a 1 1/2 hours drive.

We have had a couple of good days. I have had a bit of a bad headache for a couple days now, I hope it is gone tomorrow. I hope your day is good too.

It was a good day today with only 1 small blemish. When one is going to knit with a friend, remember to bring the knitting! Yeah, what can I say, I was so excited about visiting today, I left the project at home.

We woke up a bit late today, noon again. I have been so exhausted this week, I don't know if it is the heat or what, but boy, have I been tired. Mom was awake already, just lying in her bed quietly as usual. She is not a loud person in general and with the Alzheimer's, even quieter. She just sits or lies quietly waiting for me to get up. When we went to leave for Tim Horton's, we ran into our neighbors, Richie and Amy, who were working outside in their yard. It was a brief visit as Mom was having a weepy morning. She cried through a bit of the brief visit. Then we were off. She did much better when we sat with our friend, Rosemary. Mom ate really well this morning. I was pleased. However, at dinner, she didn't eat much. She drank pretty well at Heather's house this afternoon. After several tries of a water bottle for Mom, we found one. Heather had an extra one with a straw that Mom seemed to do well with, so she gave it to us. How sweet was that? So now Mom has a nice new water bottle that we can take everywhere with us. We picked up Heather from the car repair store. She has to get the van fixed after the incident on Monday with the tire on the freeway. What an awful thing to have happen. Boy, who knew a tire could cause so much damage. Hope she gets it fixed rather soon as she does need the van to transport the small children to their activities. Mom did pretty well at the visit today. She started by sitting on the love seat but moved to the piano bench as she was getting uncomfortable. She seemed to enjoy sitting next to Callie on the piano bench. Mom likes Heather's two children a lot. I can tell because they make her smile when they play and Mom likes to watch them. She has improved a lot since she came home last week.

I picked up Elyse's wedding present today. I looked at picture frames but they didn't have any ones that really jumped out at me that said this is it! So, I quickly abandoned that idea and went with a gift certificate for a restaurant. I will sign the card and put in the gift cards tonight. I hope they like it. I am excited about the wedding, I think Mom is to some extent. She doesn't really remember what Elyse looks like, but she does remember who she is. She hasn't seen her in a few years. I hope everything is going well at the rehearsal tonight.

I haven't cleared the table yet. I will have to do it after I empty the garbage in the kitchen and do mine and Mom's hair. We have to get it done tonight because tomorrow afternoon will be rather busy with Mom physical therapy and Tillie arriving. I will get it done eventually, I have to because there is no where for Tillie to sit at the table if I don't, plus I need to find a few bills to pay. Once I move the bills from the side of the table and organize them a bit better, it will be alright. Besides, Mom keeps playing with the pile in the middle of the table. She has already brought it down once this week. She gets to hear me say, leave that alone it will fall. I have a couple of books to move out of the pile and that should help. I also have some laundry to do, I hate doing laundry. I keep putting off that job. I have some laundry to do for Mom.

When we got home from Heather's house, a baby bird fell out of the nest that is on top of our outdoor light. The bird is so tiny and somewhat fluffy looking. I moved it out of the way so no one will step on it. I hope the Mommy bird takes her back into the nest. She needs to live.

I hope the day has been good for you as it was for us.

It was a rather lazy day in the house today. The physical therapist came to work with Mom this afternoon. She did a few exercises with her and then had her walk a bit. All in all she was here for about 1/2 hour. The nurse came after that. She checked Mom out. She put a pad on Mom to help with the sore she now has. With the newest weight loss of Mom, she got a sore. I was not happy about that. As if she needs something else to go wrong. She took it all in stride and tries to eat and drink as much as she can. I have to make sure she eats protein because that is what heals the sore.

We both took naps after the nurse left. I am so tired today it is unbelievable. At least I can sleep in tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. Friday is the wedding. I can't wait for that. I have to clean off the table tomorrow. I have bills that have to be paid. In the worry about Mom I forgot to pay the house payment. I will be taking care of that tomorrow that is for sure. Can't get behind on our house payment. We are meeting my friend, Georgette for lunch next week. I think that will be so fun. She is a lot of fun and always filled with great stories about what is going on in her life. She has been and is a great friend and supporter. She supports me so much in keeping Mom home as long as possible. She agrees with me that Mom can be home for a very long time and that the house can be fit to meet Mom's needs. She likes Mom a lot too, which is good. Mom does really well when we meet friends for lunch or tea.

It is rather hot and humid today so we are hiding in the house today. We did go out for our brunch as usual. It was crazy because we got there right before a big downpour of rain and left just after it ended. Talk about good timing. We didn't get wet at all. One thing weird happened while we were there. This young man, teenager, got a bagel to eat and then proceeded to ask an older gentleman and a woman to loan him $12 for his cell phone bill. Both, naturally, declined. He didn't ask us but I would have said no too. It was just too strange. It did break up the early afternoon though. What a strange incident.

We had an earthquake today!!!! Yup, I felt it. The center was near Ottawa, Canada, which is a ways away from us, but we felt the effects. I thought I was dreaming, but it turns out I wasn't! We have had them before but very few of which I am glad because I wouldn't enjoy them on a regular basis.

I hope this finds you doing well.

It is absolutely beautiful out today. The sun is shining and there is a cool breeze. I had the windows down in the car for our short drive. Mom seemed to enjoy it too. I woke up rather late this morning, noon. I was so tired last night and we didn't go to bed until 11 pm so by the time I got Mom into bed and me ready for bed, it was 11:30 before I got in. I am a 12 hour sleeper. I tend to wake up several times a night from the pain so sometimes I have to get up and walk to the bathroom and back or sometimes just getting out of bed reduces the pain. It makes for a terrible night sleep, but hey, when you have FMS, what can you do? I am tired still so I think I will make it an early night for the two of us, maybe around 9 pm like we used to do all the time. Mom, of course, was awake way before me. I didn't move her legs more into the center of the bed last night so she woke up with them over the side of the bed. I don't like that because it causes her pain. She didn't want me to move her legs over last night, she was really afraid of me doing that so I didn't. Well, I will have to, whether or not she is afraid because the results cause her way too much pain and we can't have that. That is just unacceptable. She is sitting in the dining room with me right now instead of the living room. She has the beginning of a pressure sore on her tailbone so I don't want her sitting in there much today. The nurse is coming tomorrow and she will look at Mom for me. I called her today and asked her to do that tomorrow. I didn't want to forget, and you know how fibro fog is. My luck, I would totally forget until she was gone. Not acceptable, best to call ahead and ask, so I did. Mom, surprisingly, is still awake and not sleeping. She often is asleep at this time of day. Maybe she got enough sleep last night, it is possible. It would be nice if one of us could get a good night's sleep. She has been eating and drinking very good for the last couple of days. She ate all her dinner last night and the night before. She also has finished her milk and most of her water, not to mention an ensure. Overall, I think she is doing much better. She has stopped being nervous now so I think she is used to being home again even though she doesn't remember the nursing home. I still haven't totally figured out how to get Mom to gain the 11 pounds she lost in the nursing home. She just doesn't eat that much. I try to give her good, high calorie foods, but she will only eat so much.

I have 2 lessons today, Zachary and Charlie. Zachary is a singer and Charlie plays tenor saxophone. Both are pretty good students although at times I wonder how much they each practice. Callie and the Muglia girls are by far the best practicers I have. All 4 girls practice everyday. The Muglia girls even have to be told to stop practicing at times because they practice so much. Now they have a piano so they practice even more. Their mom got it at an estate sale a few streets away from them. The girls have wanted a real piano for several years now and I am glad they are finally able to get one. I won't have any more lessons after today until Saturday. I have lessons on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday. I wish it was everyday, but right now this is how it is. I am hoping for a few more students come fall. I didn't get any response to the ads I put in the paper. I am rather disappointed with that. I had hoped for at least 2 new students. It is just tough in our area right now, economically speaking. I am thankful for the students I have. Speaking of students, I need to update my bookkeeping book. I haven't done that since Mom went into the hospital. Oops. I guess I better dig it out of the center of the table and fix it. I will be sorry if I don't at the end of the year when I have to go back and fix it. It is best to do it daily.

Mom is falling asleep now. It is kinda funny to watch. She keeps trying to fight closing her eyes just like a small child would do. She is rather fun to watch at times.

Well, I hope this finds you doing well. So far, it has been a nice day for us. It will be even better when I am teaching this afternoon.

I had 2 lessons today. Callie tried to get here in time for her lesson from camp, but her mom drove over a tire on the way home and it knocked out the power steering pump in the car so she had to go straight to the car repair place. From the post on Face Book, it seems Callie had a great day at goal ball camp. She loves that sport. I hope to see her play someday. She is very good.

Frank is doing pretty good with his competition pieces. His pop piece is almost ready, but his test list piece isn't quite ready yet. I hope by the beginning of the month it will be ready. He has about 4 weeks before competition. Knowing him as I do, he will be practicing a lot between now and then. He has most of his pop song memorized and some of the test list song. He is almost done with the Mozart piece too. He is not playing that for competition.

Bob is almost done with All I Ask of You and coming along very well with A Whole New World. He will be on vacation next week so he won't be having a lesson. I hope he and Maggie have a great time on their cruise. They are going to Venice and a few other places. I can't wait to see the pictures.

Mom is doing better today. She drank all her milk and some water. She ate okay, not great, but okay. The nurse came today. The one that came on Friday was a fill in, Sherri is going to be the regular nurse. She said that Mom's dehydration could have been the result of the urinary tract infection she had. That would make good sense because Mom was not feeling very well a couple of days before I took her into ER. I had no warning that she was that sick though. I hope to at least have a better idea if it happens again. She is doing well now. She is drinking her water without being reminded this evening, so I am very happy about that. She also keeps trying to pull papers out of the pile of papers in the middle of the table. I will sort the pile tomorrow. I have a few bills that have to be paid this week. I also have to go to the Secretary of State this week and show them the pay off letter from the car. I didn't know you had to do that when you pay off a car. Of course, I don't remember ever really paying off a car before purchasing a new car. I don't need to purchase a new car right now. My little focus will serve us well for a few years. It only has about 45,000 miles on it and it is 4 years old. Much better than the car I had before it. That one was a piece of junk. I had to put a new engine in it at 50,000 miles, among other things. This little car has not had any problems with it, I hope none in the near future. She gets us from point A to point B quite nicely.

It was a beautiful day outside, sun shining, and not too hot. I made dinner again tonight. Mom ate all that I gave her. I bought some different stuff this time, more Italian food than usual. I was in the mood for Italian food this week instead of the usual frozen dinners. Mom seemed to like the change, although I am not sure she noticed it was different food than usual. It took a while, but I got her to eat her whole serving. I was very pleased with her today. She only cried 2 times today. Once at Tim Horton's and once before dinner so all in all, a very good day for us. Her anxiety medicine seems to have kicked in and she is much more calm and at ease now. I think she is sleeping a bit better too. She wakes up before I do, so I don't know what time she gets up. The last few days when she woke up she would sit on her bed and wait for me to get up. She could be there for hours for all I know. I put her to bed when I go to bed, around 10 pm. I don't know how long it takes her to get to sleep because I am in my room in bed. She seems to be awake and not too tired when I get up. She has been taking a little nap in the afternoon though, which is something she has been doing for a while now. She gets tired rather easy now. I try to make sure we are home around 2 pm so she can sleep for an hour or so. That way she doesn't fall asleep at the table during dinner or after dinner. We watch a lot of the Hallmark Channel at night. They have Touched By an Angel followed by a nice movie with a happy ending. Mom seems to enjoy them. They are alright, but if she likes them, we will watch. I have to be careful what we watch on TV because sometimes she thinks the shows are real and happening right now. I don't watch any Law and Orders anymore because they scare her too much. I watch a marathon of SVU when she was in the nursing home. I did enjoy watching the episodes even though I have seen all of them before. I haven't seen the last two seasons of the regular Law and Order and the SVU, although I have seen many seasons before.

It has been a good day for us. I hope for you too.

Two regular links to check out!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2

www.heathmattersshow.com

Happy Father's Day!!!! We had a relaxing type day. I had Katie's lesson this morning and then we went to Tim Horton's and then grocery shopping. I think next time I will get Carolyn to watch Mom while I go shopping, although she did really well. The store is big and I ride in a scooter so that leaves Mom to walk around the store. She did good and didn't complain about being tired until we were almost done. We were in the cashier's line to pay when she mentioned she was tired. Once the groceries were put away we both put our feet up in the living room and fell asleep. I think we both slept about 3 hours. I think we were both pretty tired. I am still tired. Grocery shopping is an exhausting adventure to me so I am not surprised that I slept so long. We will both be heading for bed early. At least we both get to sleep in tomorrow! yeah! My first lesson tomorrow is at 3 pm. I was going to get Olive Garden to go but since we grocery shopped I just cooked up something quick. Mom doesn't eat very much so cooking for her is a piece of cake because she doesn't eat a full serving of anything. I got some simple foods that she likes so cooking for the next few weeks will be easy.

We have an exciting week ahead of us. I will finish cleaning off the dining room table. Yes, I know, I was supposed to finish that before Mom came home last week. It didn't really happen. I did take off most of the books that were all over the table, but the bills are still in piles. I will be paying them this week. There are a few that are due. I don't want to pay late notices. I have possibly 3 lessons tomorrow, depending on if Callie is back from camp in time for her lesson. She has a fun filled week of camp this week so I am not anticipating seeing her. I hope to so I can hear all about it and give her her lesson, but it is one of those, if she arrives, she's there, otherwise she is in traffic coming home. I really hope she has a fun time. She is such a neat young person. Frank should be finishing up some music this week and we are working hard on his competition music. It is about a month away from competition now. He is working hard on the music now that school is out.

I tried on the new shoes today, they are a bit tight, but with thin socks they should be alright. They are really cute too so that is a good thing. I am almost ready for the wedding. I just have to do some laundry so I have clothes to wear on Friday. I have Mom's outfit all ready too. I have new slippers for her with new socks. She will be looking cute.

It has been a good day, I hope your day was good too. I tried to call the big brother to wish him happy father's day, but I had to leave a message.

What a fun afternoon!!!! First up was Lily's lesson. She is singing "Look to the Rainbow" and "Loch Lamond" and doing a good job at both. She is also auditioning for her summer music theatre play "Aida" so we worked on her audition material. I love that musical. Mom and I saw several years ago and it was simply amazing! Just amazing! The music was fantastic! Mom loved it. I bought the CD to it and practically wore it out in my car. I forgot to find it for Lily so she could hear some of the music before Tuesday's audition. I will find it this week so she can hear it.

After Lily's lesson was Zachary's graduation party. Mom did real well there. She only teared up a few times which is better than she has done and it was mostly while she was eating which is when she normally does it. We ended up staying almost 3 hours, I was surprised at the time when we got back into the car. We met some of Zach's parents friends and they were really nice. I also got to have a long chat with Zach's older brother, Alex. I haven't spoken to him in a long long time. It was great to catch up with him. He is an actor and a singer. We had to get Zach's present on the way because I fell asleep yesterday afternoon so I didn't get to it on my list of things to do yesterday. We took care of it though. I got him 2 movies that he wanted. I asked him on Tuesday at his lesson what he wanted so he called me with a list. I like to give gifts instead of money because they are more fun to me and it is something different too. He told me which movies he wanted and we got him 2 of them. I like that he gave me a choice.

One thing I have noticed since Mom has been home is that she says random things that don't make a lot of sense at times. This is new, well, fairly new. She would do this occasionally before, but now it is more frequent. She is also afraid of doing something wrong, very afraid. She cries because she thinks she is doing something wrong, I tell she is doing good and isn't doing anything wrong, then she is okay. But this happens all day long. I hope it ends soon because this is upsetting her and I don't like that. The couple we sat with at the party were very nice to her. Most people are. I have only had a few people stare at me like why is she out and not at home or in a home, but overall people are very nice and treat her well. We have more doors held open for us then ever. It is so nice because it really makes it easier for me to steer Mom if the door is held open.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. I don't know what me and Mom are doing. I was going to take her out for Father's Day, but I am not sure. She sort of can feed herself, but not very well. She eats more if I feed her and I don't know about feeding her at a restaurant, although I fed her at the party and no one said anything to me about it. I am hoping she gets better at feeding herself, but I am not sure she will. Overall, she is much better than she was on Wednesday when I picked her up. Everyday is a bit better. We have everything planned for the wedding we are going to on Friday next week. I am excited about it. Mom was until the nursing home. She still smiles about it when I mention it to her, but it is a more vacant smile than before. She, once again, is worried about money. Do we have enough for this, for that. Can we pay for this. This hasn't happened for a few months and now it is back. I hope this leaves again soon, I don't want her to worry about money, that is my job. I worry enough about it, she doesn't need to worry.

I hope your day was as great as ours. The sun is out, with a nice cool breeze and no rain at this point. It can rain now, we are inside again.

I finished the bridesmaid and the maid of honor dresses. The wedding is only next week. The visiting nurse and the visiting physical therapist were here this afternoon to evaluate Mom. Outside of perhaps getting a bit stronger there isn't much else that the physical therapist can do for Mom. I mean, she can't learn any new behaviors, so what is the point? She needs help to get dressed, and pretty much everything. She isn't eating very much and she is drinking a bit. She does usually drink a sip or two when I ask. The therapist was please with how Mom goes up and down the stairs. We showed her around the house so we had to go upstairs. I have to get Mom a toilet frame for each of the bathrooms so she has bars to hold on to when she needs it. I will pick them up when we go shopping on Sunday. We don't have any plans except Katie's lesson for Sunday. Mom still gets upset a bit easy, but not as much as she did yesterday. Everyday is getting better, I think. We shall see.

I am rather tired today. I took a wee nap after the physical therapist left. Both Mom and I slept. I slept for about 2 1/2 hours, so did she. Not much else happening in our house today. Tomorrow is Lily's lesson and Zachary's graduation party. I have to stop and get his gift on the way. He gave me some ideas so I know what to get him.

I hope your day was good too.

It is knitting today. First time in about 3 or so weeks between my schedule, Mom, and my friend, Heather's schedule, we just haven't connected. Today we will. Tomorrow a nurse from the home care will be coming to see Mom. We won't be going to sewing because I have some sewing I have got to do before Saturday, so I am doing some today and finishing up tomorrow.

It is a good day so far. Mom got up pretty well, although she said she was tired and wanted to sleep more but since I had a doctor's appointment for a blood test, we had to get up. She is in the living room sleeping right now. After the appointment we went to our usual, Tim Horton's, and our friend, Rosemary was there. She watched Mom while I went and got our food. Mom did pretty well, she ate some soup and then ate her donut. She cried a bit every so often while we were there. She cries really easy right now, I think because she is so afraid of being left alone. It will take time for her to relax, I think. She is back on her anxiety medicine now that she is home. Rosemary lent me a book about Historical mysteries. I can't wait to dive into it. I love reading. I may read some out loud to Mom. She likes that.

So far today is a good day for the both of us. She looks like she had a good sleep, although she is tired. Tomorrow she can have a good sleep in, we both can. I do want to do some grocery shopping soon, we are out of a lot of food. Right now, she is too tired to go with me, but I figure maybe this weekend she will be okay for shopping a bit. We have a bit of frozen dinners left and enough ensure for a few days. I will be bringing an ensure with us so she has a lot to drink. So far, she has drank about 1/4 of an ensure and about 3/4 of the 1/2 pint of milk. That is a lot for her. As it gets hotter this weekend, I will be upping how much she drinks. She doesn't need another episode of dehydration. That would definitely be bad.

Pain is regular today, not too bad. My head is just it's normal headache, not extra like a few days ago. My arm is alright. I can move it more than I could a month ago so I think it is unfreezing itself. Yeah! I hope it completely unfreezes itself. I can sleep on that side for a bit at night now so my other side doesn't get as sore.

It is beautiful out today. I have the drapes in the living room open so Mom can look out and see the sunshine. I also have the drapes in the dining room open for the same reason. It is nice and sunny out with very few clouds. I hope this finds you doing well too!

Mom is home! I am soooooo happy about that. I picked her up at 10 am. I quickly packed her suitcase and went down to laundry to pick up her other clothes. I have some laundry to do for her, but that is okay. I will do it, tomorrow! She hasn't had her anxiety medicine for the entire time she was in the nursing home. I found that out today. No wonder she was so miserable and crying all the time. She was scared and nervous the entire time she was there. I don't know how long it will take until she feels comfortable again. She has really gone down in the last month with everything that has happened to her. I have put the new plan in place. We both fell asleep this afternoon though for about 3 1/2 hours. We both are rather exhausted. I don't know how she is going to do when it is time to go to bed, but we will go up together and I will put her to bed. I plan to sit with her as long as it is necessary. She still cries easy right now. She did pretty well at Tim Horton's this morning and the little restaurant for dinner. Mom hasn't eaten very well, but I figure it will take a few days before she is comfortable enough to eat a bit more again. Her appetite isn't very good to begin with. She did eat 1/2 her donut this morning and she ate a bit of mashed potatoes and soup. I brought the left overs home for tomorrow's dinner. I am so glad she is home although she is nervous.

Pain is a bit higher, not sure why today. I am feeling better now that Mom is home. I should sleep better tonight!

I can't wait until tomorrow!!! Mom comes home. How exciting. She looked a bit happy about coming home but then she got nervous and cried. Poor thing doesn't know if she is coming or going these days. I hope after a few days at home she will even herself out. She ate pretty good for lunch. yeah, they think I am going to puree all her food. That isn't going to happen right now. I cut up her food into small pieces and she does just fine with them. I will be clearing off the dining room table this evening since she will be arriving tomorrow. I want it cleared so she won't pull any piles down. She tries to be so helpful, unfortunately, she pulls from the bottom of the piles not the top so everything crashes down. I am pretty tired today although I am not so sure why. I went to bed okay last night so I really shouldn't be extra tired. I am excited about tomorrow and a bit nervous too since she hasn't been home in 3 1/2 weeks and won't really know where everything is. I hope everything goes okay once Mom is home. She should hopefully cry less since she will be with me, that is the hope. She is very dependent on me and this has been hard for the both of us. She saw the doctor and they don't think anything is wrong with her ear or her throat, not that they can find. I will keep an eye on it and see what happens. She had an ear ache during lunch again but she was very nervous and crying a lot too. I actually wasn't the one feeding her since she wouldn't eat for me, a nurse assistant came over and she got Mom to eat some. Mom wouldn't drink anything though which is normal for her there. I will be putting my plan in action so we shall see how successful I will be.

I have 2 students later today, in about an hour so I am happy about that. After that I will be clearing the table before I eat dinner. I am going to grocery shop tomorrow with Mom so she can tell me what she wants. Pain level is alright for a change. It isn't too hot or muggy out right now so that is probably why. It is supposed to rain tonight though, so my head may get bad with that, but right now it is alright.

I hope you are having a good day.

1 1/2 days until Mom is home!!!!! I can't wait!!!!! Today has been a pretty good day so far. I won't be able to see Mom until tomorrow because of both our schedules. When I am not teaching she is in therapy or bed so that ends the plans on visiting today. However, I will make it for lunch tomorrow and then by 9:20 on Wednesday ready to take her home. I know she was supposed to see the doctor again this morning. I will find out what he said tomorrow. It would be nice if he gave her something for the pain in her throat and ear that they keep ignoring. If it keeps up, I plan to take her to our doctor to find out what is going on. I am hoping once she is home it stops and she can relax again because she will be with me. Just because the doctors can't find out what is wrong doesn't mean she isn't in pain! Look how many doctors and years it took to find out what was wrong with me. Mom never gave up on that and I won't give up on her.

On to better news. The Muglia family will be getting a piano! A real piano! The girls are so excited about it. It will go in the living room where the big keyboard used to be. The found it at an Estate sale and the person they bought it from knows someone who can transport it to their house. I am so excited for them. The three older girls (there are 8 children in the family now) love playing piano and I love teaching them. I also teach them sewing on Friday. They are excited to see Mom as she hasn't been at sewing for a few weeks. They are such a nice family, really nice and caring.

I hope to pick up a few more books this afternoon at the used bookstore. I have pretty much read everything that is left in the house. I have spent the last 3 1/2 weeks reading when I am not teaching or sleeping or sewing. I have a bit of sewing to do this week too. I will have Emily's and Lily's dresses ready for Saturday. I just love sewing. It is something that Mom and I used to do together. Now she watches me and sometimes gives me advice. She can remember a bit about sewing so that is good. Originally it was supposed to be the two of us teaching the Muglia's but with Mom's memory, it is really just me. I don't mind. Time flies when I am there. The girls have each made 3 items. Hannah has made 2 tops and 1 skirt. Lydia and Natalie have made 2 skirts and 1 top. I don't know what they will start on next but we will be using wool material. I have several boxes for them to choose from. I will also be finishing Sarah's skirt this week for her. It won't take too much time since she is so little. (she is five)

Pain isn't so bad so far today. I am a bit more tired than usual because I went to bed late again last night. I need to stop reading before I go to bed because I don't know what time it is when I am reading and often it is past midnight when I stop. Not recommended for a girl who is exhausted all the time. I plan to head for bed early tonight so I am more rested when I see Mom tomorrow. I have to go to bed early tomorrow night as I will be picking Mom up rather early. I don't mind since I'd rather pick her up early than late. She is anxious to get home.

I hope you are having a good day!

another link of the week!!!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2/

Mom is doing a bit better today than yesterday, although she is still in pain. She will see the doctor tomorrow. I can't wait until Wednesday!!!!!!!! I just can't. As long as everything is okay, she is coming home Wednesday. She ate 2/3 of her lunch today and had 2/3 of the ensure cup they gave her. That was pretty good for her. Mom was pretty tired by the time I left, I had a bad headache again. Partly from the stress, the other part from the weather. This episode has been so hard on the both of us. Donna thinks part of her ear problem could be clenching her teeth, that is a good possibility. She does clench when she is nervous and she has been a nervous wreck for 3 weeks now since she hasn't been home. She admits to being very nervous. She doesn't understand why. I do. It's because she isn't with me and home, but starting Wednesday, she will be with me and will be home. Her physical therapy is going well and so is the occupational therapy. I only cried a little bit when I was with her today. I think after she comes home it will be easier on the both of us. I have read so many books since she has been gone though, oh my. I read most of the time. I don't want to watch the TV show DVDs we have until she can watch them with me. I enjoy her company especially when we do things together like go to a show or watch TV. Sometimes I read out loud to her too. All depends on what our moods are. 2 1/2 more days!!!!

My head is real bad today, like I said. My arm is a bit sorer than usual too. I think I am extra sore because I am so tense right now. I took a pain pill so I hope that helps with the pain. It is going to rain again here. That's what it looks like outside.

I hope you are having a good day. My days will improve as soon as Wednesday arrives.

Just got back from visiting Mom for her dinner. She didn't eat very much. She is in so much pain she couldn't eat. I nearly lost it there when I was trying to feed her. It hurt her throat so much that I almost starting wailing myself. I did lose it when I got home. I am having a difficult time handling her in pain. She is in so much pain and has been for over a week now. Why aren't they doing something about it? Obviously, Tylenol is not working very well. She doesn't understand what is going on as it is, let's just add pain on top of her confusion. Yeah, great, sounds fun doesn't it? I keep telling myself, 3 1/2 days, just 3 1/2 days, that is all we have to survive and then she will be home with me. This is killing me, just as it is her. She calls for me all the time and cries most of the time. Some of it is from pain, like tonight, and some is from fear. She is scared to death and doesn't understand what is going on. If we didn't need her medicine, I would have pulled her out 2 weeks ago, but we need her medicine. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, Wednesday! I can't wait until Wednesday. I will see her for lunch tomorrow and then I won't see her on Monday because of teaching, but I will see her on Tuesday and then I will be picking her up on Wednesday. I think she is getting dehydrated again, because of the head and throat pain. I really hope not. They don't seem to think her pain is any big deal though because they aren't calling in the doctor. So we wait until Monday when she sees the doctor again. I hope she isn't dehydrated and that it is just what is left over from the dehydration, but you never know with Mom. I just don't want a set back that will keep her there longer. I want her home where I can watch her around the clock. She needs to be with me, then she will improve.

My head is very sore today because of the upsets I have had. My whole body aches and I am really tired too. Crying tires me out a lot. Mom asked if I was upset when we got back to her room and I said yes. She tried to pat my shoulder. Isn't that sweet? That nearly set me off too. Today is not my day, I am hopeful that tomorrow will be better. I hope your day went better than mine.

Here is another link of the week. Check it out!!!!

www.healthmattersshow.com

Mom saw the dentist today at the nursing center. They had to give her something for anxiety because she was so upset. I should have told the lady last night on the phone that they had my permission, but I didn't think of it. They called today and of course, I said yes. Her teeth are in pretty good condition considering her age and the fact she has them all. She has one new cavity that is pretty bad, and 1 filling has come out. We will get those taken care of as soon as possible. Thanks to my 2 friends who gave suggestions on dentists. I very much appreciate that. Mom ate 1/2 of her dinner which is good for her. She even drank 1/2 of the 1/2 pint of milk, first time in 3 weeks since she has drank that much milk. I was so pleased with her even though it is difficult to get her to eat and drink. It takes about an hour for her to eat, with a pit stop thrown in. After dinner they usually put her to bed because she is so tired after a long day. She doesn't get time to take much of a nap there because of the therapy in the morning and the therapy in the afternoon. I would much rather her be put to bed early than no therapy or less therapy that is for sure. 5 more days and she comes home, although it really is 4 1/2 because she gets out so early on the 16th. I still haven't touched the dining room table. He he he. I will work on it this weekend. I have just been rather lazy about it but it will get done before she comes home. I plan to get a nice spring/summer bouquet of flowers for her homecoming. It will have been 3 1/2 weeks since she has been home and she deserves some flowers. I plan to go out to dinner with her too, but that will wait until the weekend. She needs to rest up a bit before we go out.

I had sewing class with my girls today! Lydia finished her skirt and Natalie is almost done. I have to take the flounce off again (2nd time) because she put it on backwards. I told her I would take it apart and finish it off sometime next week. I also plan on finishing Emily's and Lily's dresses this weekend. So all in all, a lot of sewing next week! It's nice to have plans to be busy. I will also be able to have knitting next week which is something I have not had in about 3 weeks. Mom will be with me, she loves visiting while my friend and I knit even though she sometimes falls asleep during the visit. Mom gets so tired so easy now that I have to be careful with her. Outside of sewing and 2 lessons, I have no real plans this weekend. I have 1 lesson on Saturday and 1 lesson on Sunday, so perfect for me. I haven't had any response to the ads I put in the newspaper. I am rather disappointed with it, but I tried. There must be a good reason I don't have any new students right now. I just have to wait to find out why and I am not a very patient person. Who knows what God plans? Not me, I am just waiting for the answer. He has been faithful so far in my life, I just have to be faithful now.

Pain is not so bad today, thank goodness for that and my head is not as bad as it was. It is still above normal, but not like it was the last 3 days. yeah! My arm is getting better too, I can even lay on that side of my body at night for a bit now, whereas a month ago I still couldn't. I am pleased that the arm is getting better and less frozen. Maybe by the end of summer, it will be completely healed. We shall see! I hope this finds you having a good day. Mine was good and enjoyable. It is getting hot now, supposed to be very hot and humid tomorrow. I will be hiding inside tomorrow during that weather!

So I took Mom to the ENT this afternoon. A rather waste of time. She doesn't have a growth in her ear after all! Thank goodness for that. She may have TMJ, from what I read and where Mom says the pain is at, it is very likely she has that. The nursing home's dentist will look at her for that. If they don't look at her before she goes home, I will have to find a dentist and make an appointment. We don't really have the money for a dentist, but if that is what she needs, then that is what she gets. I think she does need to go to the dentist anyways since it has been years since she has gone. We will wait and see what happens between now and Wednesday. Only 6 more days until the little person comes home! Yeah!!!!

She is still in a lot of pain, her throat is better, but her ear is bad. She didn't eat much breakfast because of the pain, but I was able to get some lunch down her before the pain took over. I talked to the nurse and asked her to give Mom the pain pills closer to dinner so maybe that will help her. I won't be there until dinner tomorrow and Saturday.

I am so tired today and my head is sore again. I need a nap. I think I will go and take one shortly. I got up at the regular time today, but I don't know exactly why I am so tired except I have had a bad headache for 3 days now. I am very sick of this headache, totally sick of it.

I hope your day is better than mine.

I had lunch with my friend, Wendy, from high school. It was fun. I really enjoy getting together with her and chatting. She has to set her alarm on the phone or we would continue to chat and her little boy won't get picked up from school. That would be bad. I am sure he would like to come home. She has one more week of this school stuff and then summer vacation! I know she and the family are looking forward to it.

I saw Mom, as usual, this afternoon for lunch. She was checked by the doctor today for her earache and her throat. She has a growth in her ear so tomorrow I will be taking her to the ENT doctor. The first one I called, she couldn't get in until June 29 so when I was telling Wendy, she gave me the name of another doctor. I called him when I got home and we have an appointment for tomorrow! How cool is that. So after lunch tomorrow, I will take her to the doctor. It will be the first time she has ridden in a car for 2 weeks. Too bad I have to take her back, but I do until the 16th when she comes home for good. I can't wait. 7 more days. Oh, I found her clothes down in the laundry at the home. They are now marked. There is just one t-shirt that is in the laundry now that needs to be marked. I will get it tomorrow. So we are all set on her clothes now.

She didn't eat very much for breakfast or lunch because of the pain in her ear and throat. I think her throat is just raw from the dehydration. They took out the IV this morning. I hope they are going in and asking her to drink every hour or so. They said they would be. I don't know how much she will handle today though with the pain that she is in. I don't like seeing her in pain. I hope this growth thing is easy to deal with because she certainly doesn't need anything more to happen to her. She doesn't understand what is happening now much less if there is something bad about this growth. What could they do for her? But I will be hopeful and find out tomorrow. I am asking for pain pills for her though because she is in extreme pain from this growth. Tylenol just isn't cutting it for her.

Today is a tiring day. I had a really bad headache last night when I went to bad. The type that the tummy had to join right on in. I finally fell asleep but I am so tired today because I didn't sleep that well from the pain. I am going to bed early tonight that is for sure. In a few minutes Oprah will be on. I hope it isn't one I have already seen, that would not be fun. I haven't seen very many for the last few months because of teaching. I don't mind. If I had the choice between TV and teaching, we all know I would pick teaching.

It has turned into a nice day today. I enjoyed the visit with my friend and I do like spending time with Mom even if she does cry a lot. She will be better when she gets home and when she gets something for the pain. I hope you are having a good day.

Mom is in a lot of pain this morning. She couldn't eat her breakfast because her throat is just so raw. I tried to give her some lunch but she ate what she could, she is just in so much pain. I almost broke down and cried with her. They had given her a pain pill 2 hours before that so she can't get another for another 2 hours. Poor thing. I know what it is like to sit or lie in pain. It is awful. This whole new episode is breaking my heart. I don't like seeing her in pain. It is so hard for her to express herself that all she does is cry because of the pain. I hope they are giving her some pain medicine now as it is past 2:00. If it is like last time the pain should be lessening by tomorrow. But still, that is 4 days in pain for her. She should be able to eat better by Thursday, if it is anything like the last episode. So far, no need to send her back to the hospital. Thank goodness for that. She is confused on where she is enough.

I got her discharge papers this morning. She will be discharged on June 16 at about 10 in the morning. I will be there by 9:30 so we can have everything packed and ready to go. We are looking at 8 more days of this for her. So far all her blood tests have come out okay. Her urine test should be back this afternoon so they will know more about the urinary tract infection. She is almost done with the medicine for that. At least this way I will get whatever medicine she needs if the infection isn't gone, unlike if I take her out early. I can do this, it is only 8 more days away. She so wants to be home too. She asks everyday when does she get to go home. I just don't want her in pain. Her therapy seems to be working out well. Today is bath day but because she is on an IV, she couldn't do a regular shower so it is a sponge type bath for the little Mom today. At least she will be clean and spiffy smelling. Tomorrow I have to go down to the laundry because 1 of Mom's outfits is missing. I don't think it was marked so I will have that taken care of then. It is her favorite outfit, her Disney sweat pants and sweat jacket. She looks so adorable in it.

I have a bad headache today but I think partly because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I am going to be going into the living room for a brief nap before Frank's lesson. I think the other reason is the extra stress I am under because of Mom and the latest episode. I am just not taking this in stride, I don't know how to. I know these things are going to happen to her. She doesn't eat or drink enough but once she is home I can put my new plan in place and maybe this won't happen for a long while again. At least I know how she behaves when this happens. I wish I could prevent it from happening. My arm is really sore too, I think I am sore almost everywhere today. I hope tomorrow is better.

I hope your day is going well. Mine probably won't be good until Mom is home, safe and sound, with me.

Mom is dehydrated again and this time at the home. The doctor saw her this morning and had them start an IV on her immediately. She was complaining about a sore throat on Saturday and Sunday but the doctor isn't there on the weekends so she had to wait until today to see him. The doctor also ordered blood tests for her because he doesn't like how she is looking. I am not surprised, she doesn't look good at all right now because of the dehydration. I am not sure if they will send her to the hospital or not, the nurse didn't know. When Mom comes home this weekend this episode should be over if it goes the same way the other episode did. 7 more days until she is home. I plan to carry a drink for her wherever we go no matter what we will be doing. I got my backpack out so that I fit an ensure in there when we go somewhere. I also have the little cooler in the back seat of the car for extra ensures if we are going somewhere for any length of time. I plan on trying to get her to drink every hour she is awake, even if it is only a sip. That will be better than nothing. She is in pain and I asked them to give her something for it, so I am hoping they did. Dehydration is very painful for her. It also gives her a bad headache which she had when I left for teaching. I will check on her tomorrow at lunch. I hope she will be doing much better.

I finished pinning Lily and Emily's dresses this afternoon. I am just waiting for them to come and try them on again so I can press them and then make the hems. I called and let them know it was done. Lily said probably on Saturday they will be here for the fitting. I said no problem! I can finish the dresses Saturday or Sunday and they will be ready in time for the wedding. Mom's problem has thrown a loop into my schedule, but that is okay, we still have time.

Bob had his lesson today and Calli should be here any minute. After that I plan to go grocery shopping as we are out of a few things. It will be weird going to Walmart without Mom but I will at least be able to go as fast as I want on the cart. That will be fun. I need to get a few things for the week and I plan to do the big shopping before Mom comes home so that she won't have to go with me.

Pain is higher today because of the extra stress worrying about Mom and her dehydration. I am just not happy this happened again so soon. She needs to be reminded all the time about drinking and they are just not doing it. I don't understand how anyone can expect a woman in stage 6 of Alzheimer's to remember to drink all by herself. She barely remembers about the bathroom all by herself. I will see her tomorrow and see how she is doing then. I will check on the tests they did on her today then too.

I hope this finds you doing much better than I am right now. Have a great day!!!!

here is one of the links of the week:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2/

8 more days! I can't wait. Almost a week away and Mom will be here, back where she belongs. I saw her for lunch and she was crying through most of it. The nurses assistant said it was a crying day for her. She cried through out breakfast too. She just wants to come home. She doesn't understand why she is not home or with me. The nurse assistant also said she couldn't understand why she was still so confused as the infection is getting better. I told her that the confusion isn't going to get better because Mom has Alzheimer's. She was surprised. She didn't know that. Now, why wouldn't the nurse assistants not know mom has Alzheimer's? Anyways, Mom's throat is bothering her again today so I told the nurse I wanted her looked at. So tomorrow morning the doctor will look at Mom's throat and ears. It may be just a cold coming on, or it could be dehydration as she drinks even less there than she does here, or at least from what I have seen. I can't wait until she gets home, I just can't wait. This has been so hard on the little Mom. I won't do this again to her that is for sure.

I will be working on the girls dresses after I finish up here. Emily and Lily need to have one more fitting before I cut and sew the hem of the dress. I will be pinning it in place this afternoon. Then I will message their dad and let him know so when the girls are available this week they can come for a fitting. Lily will need her shoes though. I want to make sure it is right. I should have done Emily's 3 weeks ago when I first got the dress but I didn't. I didn't anticipate that Mom would become ill and not have time to do the dress. I won't procrastinate like this again. I want to be finished pinning by dinner time. I have ordered the shoes I need for the wedding today. I meant to do that last month but I forgot. Sometimes my fibro fog is so annoying. I have known for months that I need new shoes, but I forget about it unless it is in the middle of the night or another time that is not convenient to order them. But I have them done now and that is what counts.

Pain is normal, surprising for such an upsetting day. I am upset today and hope I will feel better tomorrow. I think I will go to bed early tonight to make tomorrow come faster. I have 6 lessons tomorrow! How cool is that? I think it is pretty cool and I am excited about it. I hope this finds you doing well and having a great day.

9 more days until the little Mom comes home! I saw her for dinner today. She is looking rather tired and she said her throat was hurting her. I hope that is not a sign of dehydration again. Poor thing doesn't need another episode so soon after the first one. Although, if the doctor wants physical therapy for her again, they are doing it at home. She did say she doesn't like not being with me. I told her it was only for a few more days and she calms down but she is a bit more confused that usual. I think it is because she is really not sure where she is and doesn't understand where I am. She is probably in bed by now as she gets real tired about this time there. No afternoon nap like we have here at home for her. She doesn't make much sense some of the time when I visit her right now. I am hoping that clears up when we are home. I just can't wait until next weekend when she is discharged! I just can't wait. This week has gone by pretty quick which is a good thing and next week promises to be a bit busy too. Thank God for that! I don't like having too much time on my hands when I am waiting for something. I have almost finished all 6 books that I bought Tuesday or Wednesday. I will get more on Monday. I will be bringing some old ones that I don't want anymore back for trade. It makes the books cheaper to buy.

It has been a good day despite no mom here. I took a wee nap after Lily's lesson today. We had Lily's fitting for her today. I pinned her one strap and the top will be okay with the tighter strap, it straightens it out nicely. She should have her shoes this week. Speaking of shoes, I actually need to look at the catalog and order some because I don't have any for the wedding. I don't have any dress shoes and I don't want to wear tennis shoes, they are so not appropriate for a wedding (or any other place where dress shoes are expected) I have very wide feet unfortunately so I have to order my shoes special. I will be looking on the website tonight and ordering them. I hate shopping for shoes, well, I actually hate shopping in general, not just for shoes.

Lily's lesson went well. She finished up 2 songs and will start 2 more next week, possibly, depending on how much time we need to spend on her audition material. She is trying out for summer music theatre class. The musical they are doing is Aida. I love Aida. It is an amazing musical and the music!!!! Oh, it is the best. The music is written by Elton John and the lyrics by Tim Rice and they did a wonderful job. I have the CD somewhere. I haven't seen it since I closed the store, although I know it came home with me, I just don't know which box it is in. I haven't heard any school doing that play yet though. We will have to get tickets right away when they go on sale. Mom really liked the play too. She just loved it and we would listen to the soundtrack in my car when we would go places. Musicals are one of the things Mom and I have in common, one of many. We have many of the same tastes in a lot of things, it is quite scary, my brothers used to tease me and say Mom and I were one person. Really, we aren't, we are two separate people with very similar tastes. I can't wait to see Lily in her first musical. She will be so cute. Of course, it isn't like I am biased or anything, nah, not at all! I don't just think she is an amazing young person, which of course, you know I do think she is pretty amazing. It is wonderful to watch her grow. I have been lucky, I have been able to be a part of some pretty fantastic kids along the way with teaching. One of them should be in Seattle right now. I just realized that. Debbie should be there. I can't wait to hear how her trip went! She was planning some nifty stops along the way.

Pain is normal for the day including the arm and head for a change. I would venture a guess that if my blood pressure was taken now, it would be my normal, low and not high like on Thursday. I am calmly reading, sewing, watching a bit of TV, laundry, and some other light household chores this weekend, unlike all last week and the week before where I was a bit upset. I am calm now. I am used to this with Mom not being here and am calmly counting down the days until she is home.

I hope this finds you doing really well, enjoying your weekend and your family. Family makes everything great, at least mine does!

Mom is doing alright. She didn't really cry to much when I was there this evening. She barely ate dinner though and passed up a snack at bedtime. Usually after dinner she falls asleep so they change her and put her into bed. I stayed for a couple of hours today. Mom was in better spirits so I think her infection must be clearing up. She is still a bit more confused than usual because of the infection, but that is normal for this situation. I am counting down the days until she comes home. I think I write that every night. Hmm, maybe I should stop doing that. I am getting calmer and calmer over this situation. I am sleeping a bit better now than I was last week. One more week, just one more week, that is what I keep telling myself. My pain level hasn't come completely back to normal yet, but I figure by the end of the week it should. My head isn't too bad, but it is more than the normal pain I have. My arm was a bit sore last night and this morning, but now it has calmed down.

I haven't cleared the table yet nor have I started Emily's dress. I will be working on the dress this weekend. I need help getting the sewing machine out of the trunk and I am sure Ross will do it for me tomorrow. I will get all my tools out tomorrow after I swiffer the floor. I don't want the floor dirty in case the dress accidentally reaches it. I don't remember how full the dress it and I don't want any dirt on it. I plan to do the dress in the afternoon before I go to help with Mom's dinner. I'd bring her a donut, but she didn't eat the last two I brought her. Oh yeah, speaking of food, the are switching Mom to pureed food because at lunch she spit out all the food that wasn't pureed. I guess she just couldn't swallow it then. She ate her little carrots okay and the couple of bits of pizza but she scarfed down the mashed potatoes. She loves potatoes, just loves them.

I may go to a movie on Sunday. Not really sure yet, but I might. I don't have anything else to do on Sunday except perhaps a movie. I am going to see what Katie is up too this weekend. I haven't seen her in forever it seems. Wednesday, I am meeting my friend, Wendy for tea at Tim Horton's after I am finished with Mom's lunch. We are meeting at 1:30. It should be so much fun.

I know have finished 5 out of the 6 used books I bought. I may have to take a quick run tomorrow for some more. I haven't been to the storage unit yet to check what books are there. If it doesn't rain Sunday, I will go. I need something to read for next week, the last week before Momma comes home.

It is raining out now. It was pretty nice most of the day, it is a bit cooler but still in the mid 70's, so it was nice weather out, before the rain I mean. It started about 5 minutes before I left from visiting Mom. I was going to leave a few minutes before I did, but I was chatting with Mom and didn't realize the time. She was starting to fall asleep. Silly me to get caught in the rain. At least the downpour (the 5 whole minute downpour) was mostly over so I didn't get soaked.

I hope this finds you doing well and not getting totally soaked in the rain!

new interesting website for us fibro type people!!!

www.healthmattersshow.com

check it out! thanks!

I haven't seen Mom today, I had a doctor appointment and I have a lesson so I won't make any meals with her today. I did speak to the social worker. She called to give me an update on Mom. She is making progress with her physical and occupational therapy, so yeah! to Mom on that one. She also checked into why Mom cries, apparently she cries when I am there. So now what do I do? I can't not visit her, but I make her cry when I do because when I am not there she doesn't think about coming home anymore. She is used to there now. I won't be able to see her today because of my schedule, however I am planning to see her for dinner tomorrow. I will also find out then how her infection is coming along. I know the doctor ordered more blood work yesterday about this issue. My blood pressure was a bit high at the doctors today. I explained why I was so stressed, she said to try and relax about that whole thing. Easier said than done that is for sure. Also, I gained the 2 pounds I had lost. Yuck on that. My weight is going in the wrong direction again. I will do something about that. I am counting down the days until Mom is here with me. I miss her. I am trying to enjoy my time away from her, but it is hard as I take care of her all day everyday. There are some things I don't miss though, I will freely admit that. I don't miss helping her with the bathroom and getting ready for the day or the night. That I don't miss. I miss her during the daytime, you know, how she is during the day. That is what I miss. I don't miss the work part of it at all. I did enjoy telling the nurse assistant that Mom had to go to the bathroom and I didn't have to help with it! It was a relief not to do that. But, still, I do miss her a lot. I am getting used to being on my own and today, to my relief, I found that I am not lonely. I was the last week and the first part of this week. I am enjoying being on my own today. So yeah! for me! I have a link to look at later today after my lesson about a dog. I haven't decided that yet, I need to inspect our house a bit more to see if it is dog or cat ready. I think a pet would be good for me and Mom. She loves animals, but is sometimes afraid of bigger dogs than the smaller ones. I think it would be good therapy for her, but I need to inspect our house and check our funds to see we will be okay.

I talked to Richard, the big brother!, yesterday. I was so excited when he answered the phone. He is going to come and visit us before July after Mom comes home. She will be pleased to see him. I told him she knows who he is and everything, so I think he is happy about that. He is imagining a time when she won't know who he is. I think this last episode with Mom and the hospital had him thinking about her a lot. I told him flat out that last Wednesday when I called him I thought she was dying. Now she isn't. I gave him the scoop on her. He said he would call this weekend, I won't hold my breath because he is very busy but I would love to talk more with him! I haven't been able to get a hold of Andrew, the little brother, yet. I gave up trying. He is just too difficult to get a hold of. I spoke with Richard about what I needed to talk to him about and we made the decision for mom. I tried my hardest with Andrew but he will just have to respect the decision we made. I know he will. Mom comes home in 11 days. I am counting them. I have 11 more peaceful filled days in the Paxton residence before the chaos begins again!

I am looking forward for the rest of the week's lessons and sewing. I haven't been to sewing in 3 weeks. I will be working on Emily's dress this evening after dinner and Frank's lesson. She should be ready for her last fitting on Saturday or early next week, which ever fits the busy girl's schedule. I will also be starting Lily's dress next week so both will be done in time for the wedding even with the craziness of the schedule of visiting Mom.

Pain is back to the normal including the arm and head today. I am a bit more tired than usual as I couldn't sleep last night, don't really know why. I wasn't in more pain than usual, but I did get up a bit earlier than normal because of the doctor appointment and the few errands I had to run before the appointment. I will be heading for bed a bit early I think tonight. I am enjoying reading and working on the computer. I hope this finds you doing well.

So I found out part of the reason Mom is so teary-eyed. Her urinary tract infection is still really bad. They can't seem to get it under control so that is making her emotions go a little wacky. I was glad to discover that because I was about to take her home because she was so miserable. Well, I can't because she needs the medicine and the watchful eye of nurses 24/7 until this thing is cleared up. She cried a bit during lunch because she thought she was getting her shirt dirty with food. I quickly pointed out that she had an apron (okay - a bib) on and she didn't get any food on that either. Then she said, Oh, okay and was fine. The nurse also said she isn't eating much either because she just isn't feeling well. She ate even less today that yesterday. I am now fine with where she is because I know if they don't get it under control they will send her back to Beaumont for further medicines and doctors and such. I hope the tests they do today will be better and she some improvement. Poor thing, she doesn't need this on top of everything else. She is doing fine during physical therapy, yes, they sometimes have to convince her to go. But she will go and then she is fine. She is very tired but I don't think as tired as she was yesterday or the day before. She hasn't also said that her eyes are sore which is a good sign that she is getting some sleep. I still miss her but seeing her everyday is a big help. I am starting to enjoy the peace and quiet around here. I still haven't done everything I said I would do while she is gone, but there is still 12 days left to this. I have been reading a bit more, although I do read with Mom here. She reads her books and I read mine. It is nice quiet time for us.

My friend, Heather, has suggested perhaps I look into getting a dog or a cat. It sounds like a pretty good idea. I will be thinking about that while Mom is temporarily away. It would be good company for both of us, especially when I am by myself. My only real concern right now is that our house isn't exactly where I want it to be, organized-wise. There are still rooms that need to be uncluttered. I will pray about it and think some more.

I am not so stressed now that I know the infection is causing Mom so much emotional ups and downs. I know that some of the tears are because she misses me, but not all of them and she is doing pretty well. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment right before lunch so I won't be able to see her for lunch. I have a lesson right before dinner, so it is iffy if I make it to her dinner. We shall see tomorrow, lunch is definitely out, but not possibly dinner. I plan to visit her sometime tomorrow. Friday is sewing and I am so looking forward to that! It has been 3 weeks since we did sewing and the girls are almost done.

Calli had her lesson today. She is doing so well. She finished learning a song and is learning a new one. I love listening to her play. Her brother, Acer, was here too. He hasn't been to a lesson in a few weeks, although I see him for knitting, I miss the little guy when he isn't here for Calli's lesson. He likes to play with the violins. Heather brought up the dulcimer for him to play with today too. I love how both kids love music and all different instruments. It is so fun to watch and listen. Bob had his lesson today too. He is almost done with one of his songs. His music is so much more complicated now that it takes weeks to learn it and polish it up. He made a few mistakes as he played today, but he knows where they are and will have them fixed by next week. We are also doing a bit of jazz exercises for him too. They are so fun.

Pain is not as high as yesterday, although I do still more of a headache than usual. Kind of annoying, but what can you do? It rained mostly today, which is probably what caused the bigger headache, that and the extra stress. I have just come to the conclusion that I am a control freak when it comes to care with my mother. I have to be in charge and it is hard for me not to be in charge. I am working on that fault and am praying about it a lot this week. I am working on letting it go and let others take care of her. She is in a good place so it isn't like I have to worry about that. They are very well cared for. I just like to be in charge and that is it.

I hope this finds you doing well and having some sunshine!!!!!!

I haven't posted this in a few weeks. Sorry, please check it out. the new online magazine of the national fibromyaglia association!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2/

Happy June everyone!

Mom is having a sad day today. Apparently she cried through her physical therapy session this morning. She worked out on the machines and did exercises this morning. I was glad to hear that. Made me feel much better than yesterday about my decision to place her temporarily. She has occupational therapy this evening. She ate pretty well for her at lunch. I encouraged her to feed herself and she did do it through most of it. I only fed her a bit when I knew she could fit a bit more in. She did pretty well by herself, so yes, she still has that skill! Yeah! She hasn't forgotten how to eat. I got there before she was finished with therapy so I waited in the lounge for her. She gave me a big smile when she saw me. I knew then she was having a crying day. She has them here at home too, it is just part of the disease, a non-pleasant part, but a part of it. When Mom forgets something she thinks she should know she cries. I am used to it by now. Her anxiety medicine has helped with the tears too, she doesn't cry as much as she used to. I messaged my cousin, Cathy, through face book yesterday and she gave me some suggestions on what to do. Since Mom had a full session of physical therapy today, I am happier with the nursing center. They are very nice there and the staff is caring, it just isn't home to Mom. She didn't ask to come home today so that is a step in the right direction. I let her know that in 12 days she was coming home and she smiled. I only stayed about an hour because after her big morning and lunch she was tired. I wanted her to get some sleep before her occupational therapy session this afternoon. I don't know what type of things they do but it helps her and that is what counts.

I went to the used bookstore after I left Mom, I got 6 new (well, used) books by my favorite authors. I donated about 17 boxes of books 2 summers ago and have been sad I did that ever since because now I have the time to read. I am not feeling really well today. My head and tummy aren't happy campers, but I took medicine and will rest in the living room before my wonderful lessons. I have 2 this afternoon. I can't wait. Without Mom here, I live for teaching. 12 days and counting!

It is really nice out, after my lessons I am going to put my scooter together and go for a scoot. Then when I get home I will charge it because it will probably need it. At least now the automatic garage door opener works. We got that situation fixed last fall and by end of summer, my lovely, little car will be in the garage for the winter!!!!! How cool is that?? She has never been in the garage since I got her in December of 2006, but by then she will be. No more uncovering the little girl of snow! yeah! I am a bit excited about this. The garage will be emptied! I can't wait.

I hope this finds you having a good day and enjoying the nice weather outside!