YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN GOD IS GOING TO PULL THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER YOU

but, when He does, you just go with it using prayer, His strength and deep breaths (you, not God).

and it happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

i'm still reeling but i'm sure it will all settle down soon.

ah, heck, who am i kidding?

it won't settle down until my mother passes or gets to the point that she needs to return to a memory care facility.

But, it's okay. She's my mom.

long story short, my mom has early stage dementia.

i have four amazing brothers and sisters who have each taken a part of her care together up until the time that i arrived about 2 weeks ago. my mom lived in michigan. kalamazoo, specifically. she was diagnosed in this psychiatric hospital for geriatrics (love that my mom was in a psych hospital. special).

she was then moved to a memory care facility which was absolutely beautiful. had her own suite - it was huge - and an amazing staff. 

don't get the wrong idea - all of that beauty and good care comes at a price. 

You'd think if they were going to charge what they do, they'd lose the funeral drapes.

it was decided that she didn't need that much attention and after she had told three of my siblings that she wanted to live on the ranch with jan and the puppies (we have four rescue dogs), i got the phone call.

what am i supposed to say??

i said "yes", of course.

according to her O.T., she functions at the age of a 3 year old and needs constant supervision.

gre-a-a-a-a-a-a-t-t-t-t.

so, i drove up, spent two weeks, helped pack up everything she owns that she wanted to move to Texas - enough to fill a moving van partway - loaded her, her dog and her walker, etc. into the car and took off for Texas.

we're home. she's settling in.

keeps telling me she's taking a bus to kalamazoo for Christmas.

my mother on a bus?

horrors.

glad she doesn't know what she's saying. she'd freak.

here's a poem that i want you to read, especially if you are taking care of an early onset dementia patient.

it's an amazing read:

AN ALZHEIMER'S POEM

Do not ask me to remember

Don't try to make me understand

Let me rest and know you're with me

Kiss my cheek and hold my hand.

I'm confused beyond your concept

I am sad and sick and lost

All I know is that I need you

To be with me at all cost.

Do not lose your patience with me

Do not scold or curse or cry

I can't help the way I'm acting

Can't be different though I try.

Just remember that I need you

That the best of me is gone

Please don't fail to stand beside me

Love me until my life is done.

Amen.

AH, YES, 2011...........

My cousin, Melinda, forwarded me the email below. 
I have never made an email into a blog post,
but this was just too good to pass up.


My 2012 gift to you................heehee

As we prepare to depart the year 2011 and progress into the critical year 2012, I want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery. 

I no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, or have the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.
                                              
I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.                                                           

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking ones nose.

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I cant touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.

I can't have a drink in a bar because I'll wake up in a bathtub full of ice with my kidneys gone.

I can't eat at KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes, feet or feathers.

I can't use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer buy gas without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer doesn't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Fanta since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Cling Wrap in the microwave because it causes seven different types of cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face. Disfiguring me for life.

I no longer go to the movies because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS when I sit down.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda agents in disguise.

And I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore , and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big black snake could be lurking under the seat and cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can't ever pick up a .25 cent coin dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting to grab me as I bend over.

I no longer drive my car because buying gas from some companies supports Al Qaeda, and buying gas from all the others supports South American dictators.

I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the Violin Spider and my hand will fall off.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m tomorrow afternoon, and the fleas from 120 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's best friend's beautician . . . 

Was that fun?? 
Bet'cha grinned.......heehee


LOVE YA!! Jan

BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YOU SHOULD.

I have been waiting to write this post.

Waiting to know for sure

because it's so new.

It's just day's new.

But, I have some friends that

deserve not to have to wait

a minute longer to hear 

what God has orchestrated.

Friends that have been praying for us, supporting us,

loving us, caring for us.

Through all of my tears, 

uncontrollable sobbing,

despair,

fear and hard prayer,

God was always there.

And I knew that in my heart.

I have always known that God was there

supporting me even more 

than even my dearest friends.

That didn't mean that I couldn't be sad.

He doesn't expect us to go through life

smiling all of the time.

Just believing all of the time.

He was also working in

other's lives. 

(He's the ultimate multi-tasker).

He has been working in

the people's lives who were

working with my mom.

Doctors, nurses, caregivers,

my brothers and sisters.

He has blessed my mom with

the best care and the most wonderful

caregivers and children.

All working for what's best for mom.

Mom was settled in a most wonderful

memory care facility for dementia patients.

She has had doctors that changed her meds

for the better, and

children that have given up time

and money to protect mom and do what's

best for her.

I can't press that point enough.

Because, you see, a miracle has happened.

Remember that this all started with mom falling

asleep at the wheel because she hadn't slept

for seven days? 

That inability to sleep continued for two months.

She would sleep for a couple of hours

now and then, but never fully slept.

Her doctor was changed,

her meds were changed 

several times.

There's so much information that

I'm just going to leave it at that.

When mom was settled in the memory care

facility, her life took a dramatic turn.

She started sleeping.

Her sleep meds were changed by

a new doctor and the meds

worked. 

They worked.

They worked.

They worked.

Mom has slept every night since

December 6th.

Sleep deprivation postures 

dementia.

She has grown stronger

and more like my mom by the day.

She still has moments of confusion

(If you know me, 

you're thinking that it's genetic),

but SHE IS BACK.

PRAISE GOD.

PRAISE GOD.

PRAISE GOD.

It is her desire to live at the ranch 

with Frank, me and our "doggies".

So, I'm on my way to Kalamazoo 

to see my mom and

to bring her home.

Annette is flying up to drive

back with me.

When we made those plans

little did we know that we'd

be bringing my mom and her Sophie

back with us.

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your prayers, support, cards to mom 
and for your love,

Jan

"here i come, Sister"