Posted 8/30/21
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel –Joshua 8:30a
Good Monday to you all! I have been living Mondays for 10 days consecutively now, but finally tomorrow I get to flip the calendar to Tuesday and get to leave my quarantine. Finally. It seems like 100 days and not 10 days. No running, barely leaving my room, sign… I have had plenty of time on the internet keeping up with the disaster preparedness aspects of my job. Even that has tended to be tied to the pandemic. No escape from the craziness… So what have I learned and what does it have to do with dementia? Here are a few thoughts:
- The pandemic misinformation is incredible. All sides have stunk when it comes to misinformation, and they seem to feed off each other. Sprinkle in desperation and pretty soon canards are accepted hook, line, and sinker Every. Stinking. Day. It slays me. Here is how it plays out: Big Mouth A says the vaccine is good. News Watcher A sees what Big Mouth A says and draws an automatic opinion…the vaccine is bad. He/she quickly hits TikTok or BuzzFeed or another pillar of news in society and finds others to share a sound chamber with…and they sit in their little silo and complain, adding as much ammo and anger as they can. In the end, they, like the military with shiny new toys, needs to try out said verbal toys…and we all hear over and over about the millions killed by the vaccine in the nation of
AtlantisIndia. Anyone who disagrees are (insert expletive here) or misinformed. Oh, but the flip side are just as bad. They are even better with the ad hominems. In the meantime, most common sense folks, struggling with discernment because of a fact-based and not a think-for-yourself-based public school system and overwhelmed with false info, just pick something and get back to their Netflix binge. It is everywhere…and, in the meantime, hundreds of thousands die. Oh, and the same spiral applies to Dementia sources too. I currently have dozens and dozens of “cures” on my cure spreadsheet. Dozens of vitamins, other supplements, therapies, drugs, and the like…all false. Folks, mostly out of one or both of two things: love for folks with dementia/hatred of “big pharma”/government/Trump/Biden…share this info with me with TikTokian zeal. I politely say I will research it….and I do. When I discover that it is tied to one specific doctor (wh is making a killing or selling a book) or a cause like pot legalization, I just add it to my list and move on…nothing to see here. In the meantime, millions die. - Brain fog.-I have a bit of a brain fog. (Insert joke here…) It is a challenge to not think as clearly as “normal”. Just a reminder too…the day of my Covid onset I had just taken a pretty substantial battery of cognition tests to see if I have any signs of dementia…and I did not. 🙂 Then, a mere 240 hours later, my brain has to work harder to remember thanks than it should. Concentration less strong. Frustrating… Is it the same as dementia? Not even a little, but it does help me start to get my mind wrapped around the condition…
- Aloneness isn’t only about proximity.– I have been banished to my room for 10 stinkin’ days. I have left a handful of times with a mask covering my face on food raiding parties…but the rest of the time I have been sitting in bed. I wonder if this banishment doesn’t relating to the beforementioned brain fog. Regardless, it stinks. I am sad and less than. I can hear family on the other side of the wall…and they talk to me…but I am still alone. Dementia is worse… Even when those were able to be there all of the time were, the connection is still broken. The dementia demon stands at the guard over connection. We are created by a loving God to connect and when we do not, it is terrible for us.
- Time still ticks the same, but not all time feels the same– There are 86.400 seconds in a day. Some feel longer than others…I hate every second Covid and dementia still exist. Things can be done for each…let’s get to work.
#EndALZ
Update- My sister had a nice visit with mom. She squeezed my sister’s had a few times seeming to try to connect. I was happy to hear of this and look forward to getting to visit again. I am thankful to be out of the Covid timeframe and hope to see her again next week.
This is my Walk Team link: https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=14596&pg=personal&px=14575499
Donate and/or join if you can and feel led. 🙂