alzheimers news-ptcgsd

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-PTCGSD

we all know what ptsd stands for
post traumatic stress disorder

well
ptcgsd stands for post traumatic caregivers stress disorder

if you want to know what its like to have this caregiver disorder that i have called
ptcgsd
then
take the time to read this latest blog by karen garner a wife mother excaregiver of an early onset alzheimers husband who died almost 3 years ago

i followed her blog for close to 5 years
it oozed with pain and with love

he a late 40s early 50s dad
healthy athletic military guy
struck at this young age with the disease we expect to see only in older folks
he with a young wife and two young kids

i started reading her blog not long after i was diagnosed
it was painful to read
all i could think was im not far behind him am i

he continue to worsen
all the grief she laid out for all of us to read see and feel

i somehow feel guilty at times when i think of him and her and their family and i think of my younger brother and his family and how he was struck so young also
its just not fair

i feel like i have had a reprieve that i wasnt expecting
but i am glad and gracious to have been given

is it fate
is it my healthy living
is it my medicine
is it this monthly infusion i am receiving now for two years
i dont know
but
although i do feel guilty sometimes
its this guilt and wanting to see my family age that motivates me

so
if you want to know what post traumatic caregivers stress disorder is like
take the time to click here on her last blog
read it
then
you will understand what those caregivers are going through when its all over with
well
its never all over with
is it
it stays with them forever

please dont forget them

when its my wife she and my families time
remember them

here is the link to karen garners latest missing jim confessions of an alzheimers wife blog
called
missing jim continues

warning
if you read through her last 5 years of blogs you will need a larger box of kleenex


update
i received my for sure not placebo aducanumab infusion #3 yesterday
combine that with what i think was not placebo infusions before
then i am closing in on a full two years of infusions of this experimental drug that may slow down the disease some

lets put disease off as long as we can

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n garden news-fruta citrica

SB COUNTRY N GARDEN NEWS-FRUTA CITRICA

for years in texas i tried to grow citrus where we lived at the country n 40 miles north of austin texas
the winter temps sometimes would drop down to the mid teens
and
occasionally would be in the single digits
these temps are not compatible with growing fruta citrica

so i would get a citrus that would withstand mid twenties temps
put them in large pots
move them indoors to my small greenhouse with its heaters
then
move them out in the spring when things got warmer
my wife she would whine and complain when i would ask her to help me move them

even when i did all this they just didnt produce much fruit

so
when we moved to santa barbara i was amazed at all the citrus around here
just a few steps from our door is lemons and oranges
we could pick what we want

then
at the garden where i garden they have well over twenty citrus
many i dont even know what they are
but they sure taste good

i was determined to grow a citrus on my patio
so
i spent some time talking with the person that planted and cares for the citrus fruit at the communtiy garden
i did a google search also on how to grow them in pots

now
my favorite citrus is
the satsuma

so
i chose a dwarf satsuma tree that i got from a local nursery
i spent time talking to the workers there on what to do to grow these

a friend gave me a container she got off the street
i filled it with a high quality potting soil
remember put a $5 plant in a $50 hole rule
then
planted it

i thoroughly water it once a week
more when it gets hot
i placed it in the corner of our patio where it gets sun most of the day

each month i use this organic fertilizer with all its goodies
then
twice a month i water it with this fish emulsion seaweed mixture

i was greatly rewarded for the care i gave this plant over the last year
it has produced so far 20+ satsumas

when you pick them they just tear off the plant
they easily are peeled

i took one to ms b last night to see if she approves
she was busy playing with her bouncy ball
then
she wandered over
picked it up
ate all of it
later
she walked back over and said
can i have another one

yes
sweetie i said
you can eat all 15 of them if you want
as i looked guiltily down at my feet
i ate the other 5 already

so
i approve them
my wife she approves them
and
the most important test is
ms b highly approves them

so
these are two reasons we moved here
to grow satsumas
to make ms b happy

the organicgreen doctor

my last trip home

MY LAST TRIP HOME

no this isnt about our friends book last trip home
her last trip home was more disturbing
here is the link to my blog on her book
i titled the blog my last trip home

so now i have two blogs with the same title
her story
my story

mine
well its just the opposite direction of her

i have 7 siblings
one my brother joe died a few years ago with alzheimers disease
the remaining 6 siblings live from the lower ozarks in arkansas down into texas to san antonio
a trip of about 600 miles total
their age ranges from 64 to 78
all are retired
like my wife she and i
we mainly only visited with my siblings

my recent blogs on alzheimers disease and how it may eventually affect me and my siblings made me realize that we my wife she and i need to seize this moment while we can
while we are healthy and able
to visit my siblings
i realize that now was the time

now we have a family reunion each year in the summer
my wife she and i had to miss this year because mr h had to be delivered early and was eventually in the hospital so long
we also wanted to wait to visit the bros and sises when mr h had stabilized
well
mr h stabilized quite well right now
so it was go we did

we made my last trip home

now i dont mean this is really my last trip home
since we plan to return to see everyone as long as we are physically able

what i mean is
i wanted to extract a good visit with each sibling and their spouses
really visit without entering those areas that we shouldnt go to
but
you know a really good visit
you know when that happens
well
it happened at every stop along the way

as we left each home
my wife she and i looked at each other
you know
that was really a good visit wasnt it

no we didnt run around and go places since we have seen over the years all we want to see of the area
all we wanted to do was visit

i guess
what im trying to say is
if i never got to go back home to visit family again
and
this one was the last one i ever got to do
then
i am happy
quite happy
quite content

this
my last trip home
was the best one

the organicgreen doctor