Husband Gets the Global Navigational System

Friday--GNS is programmed for hubby. When he leaves the house, he says "Okay, where am I going again?" He calls on the way and asks what is he doing?

"Practice run, sweetheart," I say.

He comes back to the house and we try it again. It works this time! He makes it to downtown Plant City and home again quite proud of himself. He loves this device. We call the lady who speaks on the GNS "Miss Garmin".

Monday, three days later. I will be gone all day and not able to media mail a book at the post office. I arrange for him to do this. He had forgotten when I called at noon. He is able to make it to the post office and back home. This time he only has to call my cell once.

Tuesday. The lawn repair shop calls while I am gone. It is complicated to get there and back. My sweetheart hitches up the trailer and uses "Miss Garmin" to go get it and return home. I call him during the day and he doesn't mention that he has retrieved the riding lawn mower. When I return home the front lawn has been mowed!

Pumpkin Coconut Oil Stew

(Oatmeal is standard fair for breakfast and I put coconut oil in it. My big container of Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil is pictured. )




Cut up pumpkin and fill crock pot as pictured. Add:

• Water


• Can of diced tomatoes
  
• 2 T. allspice


• 3/4 cup onion soup mix
  
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
  

Cook on high in crock pot for four hours. It passed the husband test.

Soul and Spirit in Another Land

My husband still has humor. I was disturbed that he and my pastor threw things at each other while he pastor was teaching an afternoon class yesterday. Then I became grateful that my husband can still show humor and interact with others. Furthermore my pastor took the lead in the chinanagans with my husband. I want to concentrate on what he can do--play pool with him, go on outings. Laugh.

Linda Fisher writes a blog noted here under links. Mrs. Fisher has been there as her husband Jim has passed away after his battle with Alzheimer's. She mentions a book by Bell and Toxel, The Best Friend's Approach Alzheimer's Care. Linda writes:

It is important to minister to the soul and spirit as well as the physical needs when a person faces the challenges of dementia. Bell and Troxel liken Alzheimer’s disease to a long trip in a foreign land where we can’t speak the language, know the customs, or understand how to use the phone. When caring for a person with dementia we must concentrate on what they can do rather than what they cannot do. Can they still enjoy a walk? A drive? A cup of coffee where they can watch birds gather at a feeder?

Interest in Games

My dear husband participated in a game this afternoon at church for our Reformation Party.

When we got home we played three games of pool. I am not as skilled as he is, but I finally won a game at the end. He was very pleased with me and I am very pleased he likes to play games now. We will try to play some other games--excellent for his reasoning I am thinking.

When he retired, he wasn't interested. Now with four months of coconut oil he is interested in a lot. Every day he works in the yard also.

The Struggles of Someone With Dementia

I told my sweetheart twice that I would be home between 8 and 9 PM on Wednesday. I was home as expected by what I had told him, but I had not written the time on the calendar. Then I forgot to turn my cell phone back on and when I finally did there were frantic messages there left on that cell phone every two minutes! Apparently even the dog was waiting by the living room window for me. I must remember to write things on the calendar.

I make sense of life for my husband. When I don't make sense to him it is frustrating for both of us.

Lately my husband has been going to his computer. Maybe this is a good sign as he exhibited little interest in his computer in previous months. When he is interested in going to a movie, he goes to that link; then he is often disappointed when we go to the movie he selected. The movie doesn't make sense in the end to him. He prefers old movies on TV I believe.

Who is our plumber? he wanted to know as he looked on his computer. He used to handle all that information and now I do--the woman not trained for such situations. I made no sense to him about plumbers--I couldn't give him one name of a plumber. He was extremely frustrated that I didn't know. I did know the carpenter, the electrician and the vacuum cleaner repairman as I have dealt with them in the last two years. But plumber? There are a half a dozen plumbers in the Outlook on his computer! He scolded me that I was supposed to know. Life is confusing for him, just when I think he has stabilized or made a little progress because of coconut oil.

My sweetheart was barbecuing outside the other night. The Webber grill fell down and the steak fell on the ground. Today it is on its legs again, but he couldn't explain why or what happened.

I want to learn to use the riding lawn mower in case one day he can't use it. However, I don't want to take his capabilities away from him. He is very proud of using it to mow our front lawn and two back yard lawns. Each day he does something in the garden and it is starting to show.

Doctor Visit--Coconut Oil Look Promising

When my husband went to his doctor this week, she was very pleased. His blood pressure was the lowest she has seen. He took the memory test and scored a whole point better than he did last December. His dementia is not making him go downhill at all! We think the difference is the coconut oil.

I have seen he has more initiative lately. He has completed two carpentry projects and gets out in the yard to work.

Thank the Lord!

Research on Dementia and Alzheimer's

I get this e-mail newsletter from Vitacost.com where I buy the MCT coconut oil. Here is what research found:

• Smokers are 70% more likely to develop dementia than nonsmokers.
• Those with high blood pressure are 60% more likely.
• Those with diabetes are twice as likely. (Even moderate weigh loss helps prevent type 2 diabetes.)

I also read Dr. David Snowdon's classic Alzheimer's study Aging With Grace. In this book he studies nuns over many years and has access to their early records. He also emphasizes cardiovascula health and avoiding smoking. He finds that a positive attitude early in life was a characteristic of those who did not get dementia.

One of my favorite quotes from Snowdon's book is from Sister Laura. She says, "Do you know what my worst fear was? That I was going to forget Jesus. I finally realized that I may not remember Him, but He will remember me." (p. 120)