Follow the Yellow Brick Road = Alzheimer's

I was reading the post from my online friend, Gail, who has battled with the diagnosis of Alzheimer's for about the same time as I have. In her post, she lamented the loss of friends, the dismissive attitude of physicians, and the feelings of being an outcast.

For some reason, I have not found this to be an issue at all. My friends don't seem to care and we laugh together when I can't remember something. My doctors ask me how things are going but still treat me with the same respect everyone deserves and we can still joke around and be just as comfortable as we ever were. In England, where Gail lives, they have something called and Admiral Nurse that visits and helps you through the rough spots. We don't have any such thing here. It is interesting how attitudes can be so different. If you're interested, click HERE for her post. 

It is kind of interesting, to me anyway, that nobody seems to care if my brain is dying, as it appears that Americans are more accepting. But, if I even mention that I use Tarot cards here in the middle of Texas people back away as if I have leprosy or am actually the devil himself. Now, that is proof that ignorance abounds.

My hubby believes that my brain is just finding and making new pathways as I still have to do all the banking, bills, cooking, and, well, everything. I still spend hours with my puzzles. I'm not sure if that's the difference. We have no help here. Nobody here things having Alzheimer's is any different than having an arm in a sling. Life goes on. I'm not dead and I refuse to life like I'm just marching towards it.

It has been proven that even in old age, the brain is still capable of creating new neurons. These pathways take about three months of practice.  "Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural pathways throughout life and in response to experiences. While the brain usually does this itself in response to injury or disease, when humans focus their attention enough, they can slowly rewire these pathways themselves." From: How to Rewire Your Brain.

Yes, I have bad days. Yes, I get angry at myself when I do ridiculous things. Yes, I get angry when I can't remember how to do something simple. But, I'm still smarter than I was when I was two, yes? I'm still smarter than my dog, yes? 

In an earlier post I talked about the three brothers, all diagnosed with Alzheimer's after death. Two died young, one lived to an old age. When they autopsied the last brother his brain was in worse shape than his siblings. The conclusion was that he never gave up and worked tirelessly on his math books that he wrote. I refuse to give in.  Or, follow the yellow brick road to get where you want to go.                 

For the photos: 

Hubby found another kitty that couldn't even stand up. He brought it in for me to care for until we could get it to the vet. It bit me hard a few times as it was starving, even though we leave plenty of food out for our barn kitties. Hard to eat when you can't walk. Anyway, we took it to the bet and it had severe neurological issues, and because it bit me, it had to be put down for rabies testing. Fortunately, no rabies, but it was so sad.

Little Loki thought he was going to have a new friend and even shared his favorite bunny with the newcomer. We had to throw the bunny out because the visitor was full of ear mites too.

I've learned my lesson. Barn cats stay in the barn and nature just has to take its course without my intervention in the future.  

(Still waiting for Blogger to figure out why nobody can find my blog. I suppose it's just not meant to be.)