One Week of Cooking With Coconut Oil

Cooking Simply

Last Friday my husband started on coconut oil. It was put in breakfast oatmeal all week. The coconut taste is so pleasant. Several nights I had to be gone and I put a little cup of that coconut oatmeal left over from breakfast with his dinner that he heated up.

I spread it on his sandwiches--especially delicious with BLT sandwiches. However, he did not usually get much oil at lunch and we ate out several lunches.

For dinner I put it in hamburger stroganoff and we had that two nights. He and I like salads with chicken or beef. Several nights I sauteed meat in coconut oil to serve in the salad. Then I dumped the coconut oil in his salad.

I had ordered the liquid MCT from Vitacost in NC (800-793-2601) last Friday and it came in the mail yesterday. So this morning I made a batch of pancakes with it, using 1/4 of it for the liquid instead of the milk. It was great and I have left-overs in the freezer for other breakfast pancakes that I can easily toast.

I have a new Swedish cookbook, a gift from family. I plan to put it in soup recipes from that book. There are great salmon recipes in that cookbook, but he doesn't like salmon. (Maybe, I can try it anyway sometime.)

Happy Husband

Tuesday was the last day my husband worked before retiring. He wasn't sure he would like retirement. Thought he would want to get a job in August. But he loves it so far! Of course it is great for me because I am semi-retired. I have felt like I am on vacation with him. Tuesday we went to a senior karaoke to celebrate his retirement. This week we have gone to the gym. He walked 2/3 of a mile on the treatmill. We went to two malls. We have seen two movies. He was interested in reviewing what all we did on Wednesday, his first day of retirement. Could it be that some short-term memory is improving? This morning his blood presure was 120/76. His agitated state is quite a bit toned down. He is patient when he tells me to turn off lights when I leave a room.

Thank you, Lord! You are blessing us!

Adustments

I am self-conscious in my own home now. I realize that when I don't follow these procedures, Sweetheart gets confused or frustrated. Then I get tense. As I wrote earlier on this blog, I am in training as a caregiver.

From experience with my Sweetheart's demenia I have learned to write things down. Pictured is the visor on his car. It is a small white board. I can write on this. He also is very dependent on the calendar and crosses out the days.

A nurse who works with Alzheimer's patients also told me:

• Give him one idea at a time.



• Use short sentences.



• Continue routines.



• Learn habits now such as GPS for the car. Maybe I should buy this birthday gift for him early so he can practice using it to get home.

The nurse said that patients light up when the loved one who sees them often comes to visit.

Coconut Oil and MTC

Thursday

I got a clue. Coconut Oil. It and MCT oil help dementia. Have it in oatmeal or salad dressing, Dr. Mary Newport says. Her husband has been using it for a year now and he has improved dramatically. Side effects might be diarrhea, so you need to start slowly.

So I e-mailed her and she wrote back:

My husband is doing very well with the oil. Thank you for asking! I have a website now with a lot of information on it that may help you out with this - www.coconutketones.com . There is a research group on Cortez about a mile east of the Suncoast, called Meridien Research - 597-8839. They have several studies going now for Alzheimer's and may be able to evaluate him further. Also, the Johnny Byrd Institute in Tampa at USF could do a complete evaluation - 813-974-4355. There are several causes of dementia, such as hypothyroidism that are treatable, so you may want to have him checked out thoroughly. Please let me know how it goes! Take care-
Dr. Mary Newport
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/dr-mary-newport-coconut-oil-alzheimers-cure-episode-240/

http://www.coastcoconutfarms.com/download/Article_on_Coconut_Oil_and_Alzheimers.pdf

Friday Morning

I explained to Sweetheart why we would be having oatmeal with coconut oil for breakfast. He loves it with non-fat milk, walnuts and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. He leaves his badge at home and I bring it to him; counting today he works only three more days before retirement. On the trip I listen to Dr. Newport's interview on my iPod. Check it out. "Dr. Mary Newport On Coconut Oil As An Alzheimer's Cure", 3/30/09, on "The Livin La Vida Low-Carb Show" from iTunes. Inspiring! Coconut oil and MCT are supposed to help MD and weight loss and other conditions.

Gentle Intervention

Friday Night

I couldn't have told him and gotten the same response. We went to dinner with our pastor and his wife. Gentle marriage counseling over pizza. Pastor skillfully told my husband that he has a handicap and that maybe no one will hire him at his age in this economy with his handicap of dementia. He would be a liablity to any company. The intervention was not ugly, and my husband seemed to accept what Pastor said to him in the midst of other stories and jokes. Yes, he will need to find things to do with his time--what scares my hubby. He might hang out at our church one day during the week, for example.

The Pastor's wife also said privately to me to not push him. Aha! This is how it works. Let him come up with ideas of what to do with his time, she said.

Sweetheart could take this reality better from our Pastor who married us, than from my suggestions. Of course we will need to trust God for our needs, but He has never let us down in the past.

But will he remember what our pastor said to him?

Monday at the Doctor's

Basically his doctor said he was doing well, all his lab results were good. No medcation was changed. He took an EKG while there and he will have a carotid artery test later this month. Come back in three months. His doctor said he would be a good greeter at Wal-Mart or a supermarket bagger if he choose to work. She had thought he should have retired some time ago with his handicap. Sweetheart seems more able to accept retirement now, but still it will be an adjustment.

Sent to My E-mail This Morning

My grandfather worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone.

When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen in one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $50 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. "It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this."

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather's small church in Chicago.The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage.

"But most of all," the missionary said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top." The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued, "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter, my grandfather, realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking Him! Perhaps it is something we ought to try more often, "Thank you, God for not allowing my car to start this morning." He may have been saving your life from a car accident.

May God bless your day today. Look for the perfect mistakes. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans8:28)

--Unknown Author/Known God

My Husband Resigns

He said that he told Vince he was giving two weeks notice. He calls me all day to talk about this and I become this memory. His resignation paper is in his pocket when he comes home. I ask him if his work made a copy of this. He can't remember. I say I will type up another notice.

He wants another job. I am not sure he can get another job. Not in this economy and with dementia. I wonder if he will accept retiring. I wonder how the Lord will supply our needs.

Please pray, folks.

Clothes and Errands

So I notice that Sweetheart wears brown pants and a maroon sports jacket to church several
Sundays in a row. I mention that we need to prepare Saturday night for what we wear on Sunday. Good idea for me also.

We have two errands this morning--take his car to Firestone and then go in my car to his doctor for routine blood work in preparation for his doctor's appointment next week. So Sweetheart dresses up in his brown slacks and a grey jacket. Now this is warm Flordia. He has asked several times where we are going. I am dressed very casually.

Without me he would he would have difficulty getting from Firestone to his doctor--maybe four miles in downtown Plant City. I hope to get him a global navigational system for his car--saw one at Sam's the other day. My friend 's husband has similar issues and uses this system in his car so he can find his way around. I remind myself to save for this for his birthday in December. Then he will need training in using this system. I have notes for him on the remote control usage.

We go to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Buddy Freddy's. We talk about getting ready for church on Saturday night instead of Sunday morning at the last minute. He asks again what I am doing today.

"Remember, Sweetheart, I am going to my writer's group at 10 AM. " He asks me several times what is happening today. We get home and he notices that the front lawn needs to be mowed. Good for him!

We might have a date later today to a movie, which we will enjoy, but he won't remember the plot. He is watching a taped movie now, loves it, but won't remember later what it is about.

My sweetheart is happy. That is cool. But I seriously wonder how long he can work and I work only part-time to manage everything. The Lord has promised to supply our needs.

Dear Lord, the future is in Your hands. Give us your peace. Amen.