I have reblogged this because I believe you have talked about some important issues, such as listening to your Mom when she asks the family to choose what they would like to take. How important it is for us who are living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia to be taken seriously in our wishes, because they come with love. This is such a beautifully written post, thank you for sharing it. Gill
As we packed my mother’s belongings, my sister and I found scissors everywhere… scissors we could never find when we needed them, of course. These are a sampling with which we awkwardly spelled out “MOM,” with a backdrop of the afghan I saved.
My husband noticed something was wrong.
At first I hesitated. Then I told him, “No, it’s stupid.”
“I can tell something is wrong, what is it?”
“You’re going to think this is stupid. Actually, it is stupid. Ridiculous… [long pause]
“… Last night, I dreamed of an afghan.”
Lest he think I meant an Afghan rather than the knitted blanket I envisioned, I hurriedly clarified:
“I have been thinking of the afghan I didn’t take from my mother’s house — and wishing I had. Last night, I dreamed that I got the afghan back; this morning, I awoke and found I hadn’t… It’s stupid. It’s…
It hasn’t stopped raining. No chance to walk round the marina where I live, but Tuesdays is Hydro Active (therapy) days at the Derby Royal Hospital in lovely warm water. We set off checking our post as we left and I was pleased to receive my new pedometer. I did thirty minutes of specific exercises in the pool to work the muscles and joints that have been complaining and asked if I could get weighed whilst I was there as I had no idea what my weight was. Young Olly one of the physios showed me to a room where I could weigh myself and we discussed what was the best way to go about losing weight when you are unable to do much exercise, and have IBS with specific dietary restrictions. Lovely guy, and really positive too with helpful information.
Afterwards, hubby and I go into town to do a bit of window shopping or real shopping so with my pedometer primed and clipped to my clothes we set off. After an excrutiating afternoon of walking round, we headed off home with two new Apple Mac Pro’s, and I found I had done nearly 9000 steps – not bad I thought.
Today I have clipped my pedometer on and have just been sorting things out in the boat; at 6′ wide and with only roughly 40′ to walk in I am not holding out much hope of many steps today! Not to worry, I have weighed my food and added it to my fitness app on my phone. Yesterday I had 800 calories including wine, so how the heck I am 13stone amazes me! I don’t think I will be eating much more today, just the usual salad or veg with a bit of meat. I think I may need to try and balance out some foods a bit more.
Next week at Hydro, I shall be weighing myself, after my pool exercises obviously and will have hopefully lost some weight. I have a few ‘love it’ clothes that I hope to get back in to 🙂
So much for trying to get fitter with a daily walk around the marina.
Day 3: today I feel exhausted and have no energy and realize that I cannot walk today. Thought I would have some lunch and perhaps then walk a little way, rather than doing it all. Made some lunch; a sandwich with Gluten Free bread, and promptly fell asleep, it is now 4:20pm and I have just woken up knowing that today I am unable to take that walk!
Maybe I did too much on the first two days, maybe I have to remember that I have fibromyalgia and that my Alzheimer’s also affects and limits what I can physically do sometimes. Damn them both! I am waiting for my pedometer to turn up in the post so that I can measure how well I do on the days I can.
I will show them as tomorrow I have hydrotherapy at Derby Royal Hospital and will exercise them both into submission in a nice hot pool.
There is no such thing as good days or bad days, it is just that some days I am able to do more than others.
I have been trying to lose weight which is hard when you don’t feel like you can walk far. So, I decided to be proactive with reducing my calories whilst increasing my exercise. Easy you say, not really because I have fibromyalgia as well as Alzheimer’s disease which both affect the ability to be active, but I decided that I could start slowly and build up. So, day one, I roughly calculated my calorie intake and walked around the marina at a brisk walk where I live. Day two, again keeping my calorie intake around 1000 kc, I walked further round the marina, coming back and falling asleep in the chair outside our boat on the pontoon! Feeling good about the exercise, and knowing that if I keep going I shall start to lose some weight and be fitter and healthier.
It seems that Coeliacs disease is on the rise, both here in the UK and in the US. I see that many say that it hasn’t got anything to do with ‘breeding wheat’, but could be that we eat more wheat based products: bread etc.
The number of people diagnosed in the UK with coeliac disease has increased fourfold between 1990 and 2011, a study suggests.
The autoimmune disease, triggered by a reaction to gluten – found in wheat, barley and rye – can cause severe symptoms.
It is treated by following a lifelong gluten-free diet.
Experts say they believe the increase is due to better diagnosis, rather than more people developing the condition.
Left untreated, coeliac disease can lead to infertility, osteoporosis and bowel cancer.
I am not a Coeliac, but I do have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and a fierce intolerance to gluten, and I wonder if intolerances have increased worldwide also?
Did I start to increase my consumption of bread or cake? No, I don’t think so I have never been a ‘heavy’ eater, and much prefer savoury to sweet things. Give me a tasty vegetable snack any day over sugary cake.
Is it because we have better diagnosis now?
The University of Nottingham research, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology and funded by the patient groups Coeliac UK and CORE, looked at the GP data from 1990 to 2011 to see how many cases had been diagnosed.
It found the rate increased from 5.2 per 100,000 in 1990 to 19.1 per 100,000 in 2011.
“ Quote
This is a diagnostic phenomenon, not an incidence phenomenon”
Dr Anthon EmmanuelConsultant gastroenterologist
Previous studies have suggested around 1% of the population would test positive for the condition – but the data from this study suggests only 0.25% are diagnosed.
Coeliac UK say this means many are unaware they have the condition.
So if the rise is due to better diagnosis, what is the reason for the intolerance/allergy in the first place? If we agree that we have too much wheat in our diets, not only would we need to cut out bread, pastry and cake products, we would need to look at all the ingredients used in food manufacture because it is used as a thickener and a filler in a lot of ready made foods and condiments.
How wheat has changed over hundreds of years is phenomenal in our desire to have disease free, weather tolerant, high yielding plants and bears no resemblance to the original. Does this manufactured wheat have a play in our gastrointestinal problems today?
I have no idea, I am not a scientist or a doctor, but I can read and form an opinion based on my own severe IBS problems. I am also aware of how many products include this ‘bred wheat’ in its ingredients.
This is a brilliant post, so well written and illustrated. Anyone who loves photography of urban decay should read this.
I so wish I could go urbexing from the inside of buildings instead of just wishing from the outside.
As we packed my mother’s belongings, my sister and I found scissors everywhere… scissors we could never find when we needed them, of course. These are a sampling with which we awkwardly spelled out “MOM,” with a backdrop of the afghan I saved. 
Handbagwarrior; verbal ramblings 
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