Posted 7/26/24
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -1 Cor 15:58
I just looked up and noticed that it had been a whopping 17 days since my last post 🙁
My game plan is to start posting more again now that my mom is basking in the dementia-free shores of heaven. I am going to be stepping up my mission to fight this syndrome of diseases to perhaps a new degree. Here is how:
My goals in the next year:
- Add a longitudinal study if feasible. I currently attend them at WashU (This September is my current one), Vanderbilt (just finished it last week for this 2 year stretch), and Emory (was a few months ago and will have the next one in 2 years). KU’s longitudinal starts 2 years older than I currently am, so I will have to look elsewhere. Perhaps Rush (Chicago?)
- Add a few more support groups (one men’s only, perhaps a few in churches)
- Write more here and elsewhere…Start dabbling with Amazon e-books either in short format or long.
- Continue all I do with SeniorAge and the Alzheimer’s Association (Advocacy, education, fundraising, my crazy June event). In fact, I am working with the help of my bride on a promotional video that involves the 90+ counties in the Alz group we cover.
- Research and perhaps start a non-profit as a side entity for what I do in traveling and research?
It has been a challenging month, to say the least. TLD/June Shark Jump, mom seizures, mom better due to Fetanol treatment, mom new/worse seizures, mom passing away, great services, my birthday, longitudinal study trip to Nashville (Vanderbilt) for a week, and coming back to SeniorAge to try to get caught back up. I am pretty tired.
Our trip to Nashville was part research and part fun as you will see by the pictures below. 🙂 We did some sightseeing and we stayed at a really cool VRBO outside of the hustle and bustle of Nashville. https://www.kellysjubilee.com/ We will return there in 2 years when the research resumes.
Thank you all for your million ways you have supported me! I am open to an topic ideas or series to discuss here although I have some 30 pieces in my draft folder now. 🙂
Many blessings to all of you!
-Mark and family
Update: She is still in heaven. 🙂 No more mom updates, another change in my little world…
(Interested in this year’s shirt? The shirt orders end this Sunday the 28th at Midnight. If you want a shirt, I will ship it to you for an extra $10 or deliver it to you for free if you are in SW Missouri. 🙂 417-955-2513 is my cell. 🙂 )
I am thinking about adding a Venmo for a travel fund for research travel (not vacay travel 😉 ). I would be willing to sacrifice the rest of my yearly vacation time for another study, but the costs of these are prohibitive. The ADRC usually pays a very small stipend to help a little, but it is far from covering the trip. Vanderbilt cost a couple thousand plus the vacation time and the they paid about $225 for the time. The stipend helps, but, unless you are the government and can print more $, the math isn’t great. 🙂 Would this be offensive? I would document the spending. As I mentioned, I will work on a non-profit status soon…
My June event page (until July 31st) :
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=17194&pg=personal&px=14575499
My Walk to End Alzheimer’s Page (Now until the next year’s Longest Day event starts) :
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=17740&pg=personal&px=14575499
I hate to always ask for money, but the other stuff alone is only part of the puzzle. 🙂 Thank you for your support, your prayer and your encouragement!