Posted some day in the middle of Christmas Vacation. (Scrambling sounds, looking for calendar). Ok, it is Wednesday, 12/29
The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” -Mark 12:29-31
Hi all. 🙂 I am still on vacation from writing and working through January 5th. I am about to finish the (running a) 5k per day of December Challenge. I do that in preparation for my June 2-day run. It will be insane. I may have legit bitten off more than I can chew…and I am a chewer, friend. I chew like a big dog. So, whether caregiving or preparing for a 2-day, 74 mile run donning a dad bod that looks like a plumber more than an athlete, you only have 3 options: you can give up, you can fail, or you can prepare and fight and find friends and helpers and give yourself the best chance possible of success while granting yourself sloppy KFC buckets o’grace. I am doing #3. Thank you soooooo much for the support, the prayer, and everything else you have done and will do.
I hate dementia. One on mom’s new friends in her nursing home is an innocent “stander”. Mr. D, despite seeing bad results over and over and over and over again insists on trying to stand up. What goes up frequently goes down. Everyone around knows it is going to happen. Here is how it plays out: Mr. D stands all wobbly like. Immediately, a chorus of requests to sit come from every nook and cranny. Ultimately these pleas either work….for 5 minutes…or they fail and he falls on the hardwood.
🙁 It is a terrible reality of brain injury and pathology (re: dementia, others). Mr.D was a doer, not unlike me. More pointed, he was a farmer and rancher. His body say I can still do this. His brain says otherwise. Every day, every fall, every failed attempt to ride the horses of the past bring this soldier one step closer to where mom is now. I hate this for him. I hate this for his daughter that visits. I hate this for family members who can’t bear to visit. We need to find a cure.
I have another 2-day clinical study in 2 weeks. There will be another muscle biopsy, more data gathering of various body stats, and lots of other activities. KU Med is a great research hospital. Statin drugs effect on muscles, brain, and pain are the research topic. I am still working on getting my nose under the Washington University tent such that I can help more there too. The more information that can be gathered and crunched, the faster Mr. D can stand with no wobble. If you want to join, look at Trial Match on the Alz.org family of websites…and share your experience. While the studies need folks in whatever group you are in, if you happen to be in underrepresented groups (most notably African American and Hispanic American), you are particularly needed.
If you want to make a year-end donation toward my June 2022 fundraising run, this is a great time to do it. Half goes to the Alzheimer’s Association and half goes to our local area agency on aging called SeniorAge. (SeniorAgeMo.org). My goal is to raise a tad over $10,000 and the numbers as of now are just trickling in. We’ll get there plus some, just like last year, but it will be hard. Another way you can indirectly help is,if you are going to make weight loss a priority for 2022 and are considering Weight Watchers (WW), holler and I will send you my referral link. You will get a great intro deal, I will get a month of visits, and I will donate $10 to this fundraiser effort. 🙂 I have lost 100plus since Covid moved into our neighborhood on this plan and you can succeed too. It doesn’t matter where you live. Email my at mark applegate@senioragemo.org or call/text me at 417-955-2513 and I will get you the details.
Off we go until next time. 🙂
Update: I have seen mom most every day. She is largely unresponsive, but I still feel like she knows I am there and I sure as shootin’ know she is there…so I continue to come. She is worth every visit. They did have a positive case this week, but they, to their credit, didn’t lock us out. They need us and we need them.
#EndALZ
#RunninTilImPurple
#TheLongestDay
I really am on vacation. This post was supposed to be short. 😉 The next ones will be.