My Mom died this afternoon at 2 PM My sister and I were fortunate enough to be with her when she stepped fully into the afterlife We noticed her hands becoming cool and her skin color changing. Her breathing became shallower and shallower, and I knew she was on her way. She took a last breath and was gone.
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Godspeed from the Yellow Wall[paper
OT: The Allure of the Forever Stamp
On May 12 the price of a stamp is rising by one cent. (a 2.4 percent increase). Right now you have the opportunity to lock in the 41 cent price forever. Is there any doubt, given the cost of gasoline, that the price will be rising again soon? This might rank as one of the best investments opportunities for businesses in a long time.
The stamp is quite handsome as you can see.
The stamp is quite handsome as you can see.
Risky investments and rising prices seem to be everywhere these days For the past year, branches have been selling “The Forever Stamp” for 41 cents each “The stamp will be good for mailing one-ounce First-Class letters anytime in the future — regardless of price changes,” the agency promises. As the penny increase of May 12 nears, the forever deal is proving irresistible to millions of Americans, according to today’s news release: In the past several weeks, Postal Service customers have been buying Forever Stamps at a rate of about 30 million per day, bringing the amount sold to more than 6 billion since they were first offered. The Associated Press further detailed the climb, reporting forever stamp sales of $267,696,023 in March, $207,900,132 in February and $115,303,031 in January
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Playbook for Alzheimer's Caregivers
Follow the link to get your free copy.
“My wife Betty is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The minute I received the ‘Playbook,’ I sat down and read it word for word. What a huge blessing for me to find a straight forward, 'been there’ account of what lies ahead.
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Incontinence Drugs May Hurt Memory
Several years ago I refused to allow my mother to be medicated with depression drugs. Instead, I decided to work very closely with her to try to bring her out of her "funk". Exercise, a good diet, lots of patience and fostering a "secure environment" worked.
Later I discussed my mother's incontinence with her doctor. He told me he could "prescribe" something. With Alzheimer's as a variable in the equation I decided against it. I tired to get my mother to visit the toilet as often as possible. While this was very trying and difficult, I was eventually able to get her into a pattern of going even when she did not feel it was necessary.
It takes lots of patience and perseverance to accomplish these goals. I am not saying its easy. I do believe its possible to improve situations if you can get a new pattern of behavior established.
I did get lots of communication tips from The Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for Communicating with People with 'Alzheimer's-Type Dementia'
Later I discussed my mother's incontinence with her doctor. He told me he could "prescribe" something. With Alzheimer's as a variable in the equation I decided against it. I tired to get my mother to visit the toilet as often as possible. While this was very trying and difficult, I was eventually able to get her into a pattern of going even when she did not feel it was necessary.
It takes lots of patience and perseverance to accomplish these goals. I am not saying its easy. I do believe its possible to improve situations if you can get a new pattern of behavior established.
I did get lots of communication tips from The Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for Communicating with People with 'Alzheimer's-Type Dementia'
Book buzz: Pausch's Last Lecture is a good one
Professor delivers 'Lecture': Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture makes its debut at No. 2 on USA TODAY's Best-selling Books list, but Pausch, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, says sales aren't the reason he wrote the book. "I personally only cared about the first three copies, which are for my kids," he says. The book, written with Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Zaslow, builds on a "last lecture" Pausch gave in September at Carnegie Mellon. Many in the publishing world believe Lecture will be the next Tuesdays With Morrie, which became a publishing sensation. It, too, dealt with wisdom imparted by a dying professor. Hyperion has had nine printings; 2 million copies are in print. GALLERY: Pausch's life in photos
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Off Track: Save Your Favorite TV Show
Have some fun.
VOTE: Which shows do you want to see back next season?  clipped from www.zoomerang.com
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Etanercept (Enbrel) in Action, see Alzheimer's patient's memory come alive (Video)
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Statins that stave off Alzheimer's (Zocor)
"The strength of reduction of incidence of dementia with simvastatin (Zocor) is striking".
When I read this article in July, 2007, I asked the doctor to switch my mother from Lovastatin to Zocor. At that time, Zocor was more expensive but now it is also a generic.
In the previous article on this blog I mentioned this decision. You can read about the new research with Lovastatin in the post below this one.
I first published this article in July, 2007 at the Alzheimer's Reading Room.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that the statin, simvastatin, reduces the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease by almost 50 percent. This is the first study to suggest that statins might reduce the incidence of Parkinson’s disease. These findings, will be published in the July online open access journal BioMed Central.
Statins that stave off Alzheimer's
By Nicole Laskowski
Statins May Stave Off Alzheimer’s
What’s up:
If you’re taking a statin to reduce cholesterol, you may also be improving your chances of avoiding certain neurodegenerative diseases. New research from the School of Medicine indicates that simvastatin, a statin sold as Zocor, reduces the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease by almost 50 percent.
The researchers, led by Benjamin Wolozin, a MED professor of pharmacology, screened the Decision Support System database of the United States Veterans Affairs Medical System, looking for the effects of three statins — simvastatin, lovastatin, and atorvastatin — on the expected incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. His study of more than 700,000 subjects taking simvastatin showed that the drug reduced the incidence of both Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease by almost 50 percent. A study of people taking atorvastatin showed that the drug reduced the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease by almost 10 percent. Lovastatin was not shown to reduce the incidence of either disease.
Wolozin is unsure why simvastatin reduces the incidence of these diseases, but he suspects that because the statin blocks a cholesterol-producing enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, it may also affect the production of other chemicals. He notes that simvastatin reduces inflammation, and that it increases the production of some growth factors in the brain, which may make neurons more capable of resisting chronic degenerative disease.
What it means to you:
“If you are someone who is at risk for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, you should use simvastatin because it could slow the process,” said Wolozin. “Most people currently use atorvastatin, because it is effective at reducing vascular injury related to cardiovascular disease. If your major health risk is cardiovascular disease, you might want to stay with atorvastatin, but if your major health risk is neurodegenerative disease, you might consider switching to simvastatin.”
Word to the wise:
At the moment, researchers recognize a relationship between simvastatin and the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. They do not know how this relationship works. Be advised that statins may cause side effects such as headaches, nausea, rash, weakness, and muscle pain.
What’s next: Wolozin hopes to learn to determine how strong the relationship is between statins and degenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. He plans on studying how the drug slows the progression of symptoms by gathering data on when Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease patients, both on and off the drug, meet certain well-known markers of the diseases.
Simvastatin
zocor
statins
alzheimer's
caregivingLovastatin Shown To Slow Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease
This is a classic example of the Alzheimer's CareGiver conundrum. I switched my mother from Lovastatin to Zocor after reading a similar article pointing out the benefits of statins.
I'll put the article up on Zocor soon. Zocor did improve her cholesterol numbers.
High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease including stroke. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs have been developed by pharmaceutical companies in recent years. One class of these drugs, statins, has been found to reduce the incidence of stroke and progression of Alzheimer's disease when prophylactically administered.
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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My mother at the age of 85 was a real dynamo
She lived on her own, paid her own bills, and took care of herself.......
My mother at the age of 85 was a dynamo. She lived on her own, paid her own bills, and took care of herself. She had been doing this for more than ten years since the death of my father. She was on her own.
My mother was often spotted walking to the pool in her community. A tiny women the senior citizens all around her marveled. It seemed as if father time had forgotten about her. There was no limit to what she could do. Walk 20 blocks, no problem, you name it. Up at dawn and awake at midnight she was a real dynamo.
My mother was very funny, a real character. She made people laugh and smile. She read the newspaper daily, did the crossword puzzle and watched CNN. She had opinions on everything and wanted to know your opinion. She was a wonderful person: always welcoming people into her home. She was noted for all of my 50 years for her great Italian cooking. I remember as a kid that all of my friends really looked forward to staying over our house. Donuts, spaghetti and meatballs you name it. Ravioli anyone? My mother was and is a real character.
Me? I was there with my mother when my fathered "passed away'; this was when I really started thinking about her longevity, her health. I was thinking about her for years knowing that someday she had to live with one of us (I have a brother and sister). As the years flew by I started to think about it more and more. She just kept going ang going without a health problem of any kind. Rarely a minor illness. But, I knew in my mind that sooner or later father time was going to catch up with her.
At times, my brother, sister and I had discussions about putting my mother into some kind of "facility". To be honest, to be honest now, I knew I would never be able to do it. While I had only mentioned it to a few people, I had made a promise to my father not long before he died. I promised him no matter what, I would take care of his wife of 55 years, my mother, our love, Dorothy. It was not a promise I made haphazardly. It seemed as natural to me as breathing. I already knew in my mind and my heart, I was the one.
I knew the day would come. I just didn't know when. Or how.
Maybe I Should Have Known
I became a CareGiver by accident. It all started back in late 2003...
after a series of strange occurrences by my mother. I guess I should have known when my mother ran her car over an abutment and scraped off the entire side of her car on a tree. Me, more than 1000 miles away, I was told the car was not that bad. Two days later and on the scene, I found out the car was totaled. Fortunately, my tiny five foot tall, 87 year old mother was just fine. At least that is what she and all the doctors told me. While I accepted it at the time I just knew something was not right. This is where the story about my mother begins and me. Later, I said to myself, "I should have known".
If somehow you found us, welcome. Please feel free to say 'hi". If you are a caregiver or if you believe you have something to add please feel free to do so. If you have comments make them.
This is our story.
Bobby
Coffee Cuts Risks of Brain Disorders
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The Beginning of Good-bye
This blog reveals the personal travails of an Alzheimer's caregiver and her mother. If you go back in time and read the posts you will be moved by the heartfelt writing. So real, so personal.
For those of us walking down the same path, the writing on this blog is both educational and heart wrenching. For me it has done two important things, it has let me know what I am facing and that I am not alone.
This writing has often brought tears to my eyes but never more then at this moment.
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