I am happy to report that as a team,"henley's
heroes" raised $1,620.00 for the Alzheimer's Association's Memory Walk. The day began as a rainy, cold day, but as we began our second turn around the Restoration, the blue sky came through and it was sunny for the rest of the day. Courtney and her friends and Brandon and his friend had a great time. I don't think their friends really understood what a wonderful thing they were doing, because they were having so much fun. I was proud of everyone that walked with us and the support that we received.
The last few days I've been once again drawn to the reality of this disease. After Mike's hospitalizations earlier this year, I was always on edge for everything that I thought would be a problem. I became glued to the Alzheimer Association's Message Boards and read every post by anyone experiencing "end of life" issues for their loved one. After all, Mike had been given Last Rites back then and I had no idea what to expect. It was Courtney that finally got me to stop going to the Boards because I began to "imagine" things were happening with Mike. In the process though, I learned what happens to patients as they near the end. Right now, Mike is having issues with "glob" in his throat. He can still cough it up and clear his throat, but I begin to go into panic mode and worry about what will happen next.
This disease is ALWAYS UNPREDITABLE and never has a term such as roller coaster ever been closer to the truth. The families of Alzheimer patients are CONSTANTLY wondering what will be around the next turn. We can only live in the present and it becomes very difficult to plan anything for the future.
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