It's Been Rather Crazy.

Hi to all,

Sorry I haven't written in a while but things have been kinda wild lately. I went to Washington, DC to attend the Alz Action Forum. The conference was great. We went on Capital Hill to make our Voices heard. I spoke with Senators and Congressman and asked/demanded that they co-sponsor the new bills on Alzheimer's disease/related dementia's and all the other legislation that's been presented in the Senate and in the house. If any of you are interested in these bills please go to alz.org. Then, e-mail your Senators and Congressman/woman to so-sponsor them! Please, speak and e-mail everyone you know!! These bills have to pass! It's not only about the people with AD/other dementia's, it's about people with our condition bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid!

I came home thoroughly exhausted because we were up from 5 am until 11 pm most nights. It was great but tiring. It was wonderful to see some old faces and meet new ones. We were fired up and ready to go!

Upon arriving home, I found Mom had declined. Poor Linda had done a great job taking care of not only Mom but Dad and Michael as well. She, also, took care of my animals white dog and orange cat. She really had her hands full but she did a great job!!! Thanks, Lin.

Over this past weekend, we had quite a scare with Mom. While putting her to bed Linda and Dad noticed a sharp decline and trouble breathing. They called me and I went downstairs to see what was going on. I could hear Mom breathing from the door. Almost sounded like the "death rattle." We re-positioned her on her side, put on her oxygen on and I gave her some atropine drops from the hospice emergency kit. We waited a while then we decided to call the on-call RN for some help/advice. Greg called back (I used to work with Greg). Said he'd call Dr. D for an order for some IM Lasix. (Mom's lungs were full). Greg came later and gave Mom the lasix. It seemed to take a while to help. Linda & I stayed up to see if Mom got better and, also, to see if we needed to change her from the lasix. Later, things seem to calm down and Mom was resting more comfortable so we went to bed.

Mom is still extremely weak. I can barely understand a word she says. I called Dr. D with Hospice and he is coming to see Mom tomorrow AM. I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything or that something else should be done to make Mom more comfortable.

We're all a little stressed these days. Aimee and Eric are coming to visit this Saturday. Mom seems happy about their visit. Gives her and all of us something to look forward to!

As for me, well, I am tired but so is the rest of my family. I'll just do the best I can to keep up and help.

Peace and Hope,

LCC