CHRISTMAS EVE

 Madison, Ala.

Today was the first time in my life anyone wanted any of my paintings or colorings. So I handed her my ring binder of the completed colorings and she chose two colorings to take home and frame. My head is all swollen now. That is the first time anyone wanted any of my art work. 

Other than that it was a great day to get out and walk the grounds in the bright sunlight. And I did just that three times for about an hour and a half total time out side getting great OFM exercise. Other than that not much exciting happened. On the other hand I should be glad I am still alive for another Christmas with grand kids to hug.

That's about it folks. Good night and MERRY CHRISTMAS.

LENGTH OF LIFE DATA

 Madison, Alabama

Today  the OFM attended therapy today and got lots of information and had a great session of therapy. Here is the important part. Average Length of life left to live is with no disease according to the SSA is about 8.7 years.  But when you throw in the Dementia  and recalculate the number changes to 8 years of life left. Both estimates are supposedly plus or minus a year on the average. So that means no matter what happens with this Dementia or without it I will live a normal expected length of life. Just a bit differently though. So the OFM looks at that and sees that he needs to pick up the pace of living to get all he wants to do in his life before the Grim Reaper shows up to his worst fight ever. I must be very lucky to find out this and have the opportunity to do something with the information.

So folks Christmas is in the back yard coming fast so get busy trying to have way tooooooo much fun.  See you tomorrow.

TALKING TIME

 MADISON, ALABAMA

The day started with the dementia attack that started yesterday still giving me lots of trouble. I was hobbling along the halls next to the nice handrail in case my balance got too bad. It was not pretty but I did get some ambulating in.  My therapy time was spent,at my request,discussing my illness situation and my future. Allisson was very agreeable to us being sure we were on the same page as for as my treatments were going. The horrible fact is that the disease is a terminal disease  that cannot at this time be stopped but the time it takes to kill me can be lengthened by years by careful treatments. I am on the careful treatments list and responding well to them.

So I got the big picture painted so I now have some as clear as possible plans for my future. Some folks call me morbid but I like to know what is ahead and do what I can to accommodate the needed actions.  Now I know what and more or less when things will happen and that is very comforting.

Now back to todays events. After the therapy session I was still  in bad shape form the Dementia and having to have the hand rail very nearby. I kept on hobbling along the hall hand rails trying to get in some walking even though I could not get to aerobic speeds I needed to. Suddenly in the course of about a minute I went from hobbling to full brisk striding again an flew along the halls. Suddenly I was able to get into briskly striding without the handrail being needed and got in a full thirty minutes of aerobic and heart helping fast walking inside the building.  It is a bit too cold outside today for good walking out there. And I have been doing really well since then. So I plan to keep calling the episodes Dementia attacks. It is now 9.15 pm and I am still going strong. 

I do not know what the dickens is going on but you can be certain I will be pushing the envelope on fighting the unbeatable foe. OFM

DEMENTIA ATTACK

 Madison, Al.

I had a stage show to go to today that had my son running the sound/ lighting booth and his wife and two kids acting in the play. It turned out to be a marvelous two hours of fun, laughter and great singing. The down side was I started having a Dementia attack during the intermission.  It gave me some fits while watching the play but I hung out there to end up really enjoying the play very much. That was pretty much the whole days event.  I will definitely attend the next play.

After the play I was returned home just in good time for supper here at the assisted living place I live now (and probably will live until I drop dead). Here it is almost 8pm and now I am fairly recovered from the dementia attack. And there you have the story of my life for the day today. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Rough Morning

 Madison, Al.

This morning was rough with the Dementia kicking in for a few hours but by lunch I was back to decently normal.  I sure hope it stays gone tomorrow until after the play my friends Dan and Mary are taking me to see right after noon. My son, his wife and both grand kids are in on the production of this play. It should be a great event.

A little bit of art stuff was done and my lady friend across the hall showed me the very nice coloring she had just finished this afternoon. We talked about it and several other things for about an hour. She is coming along very well on her coloring.

On the exercise front, I got in two half hour walks today. one inside in the warm hallways and another one outside on the area side walks. It certainly felt very good to be outside for that walk for a change.

Meanwhile things are going decently in general and have not missed any meals.

I guess that is about all there is to talk about so have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

WALKING DAY

 MADISON, ALA.

Today was a nice day with a good amount of computer time chasing things to learn so my future plans can be reasonable for my condition. It is normal for my brain functioning to get worse slowly for about five years. However it is known that proper medical care/treatment can stretch that out noticeably. How long is noticeably? Nobody knows. So we are not counting on much happening.

Today at therapy I did the "chores" in quicker time than before and asked the lady what she thought it meant. She basically said it means we are doing right to get whatever betterness I end up with but no number . Those are my interpretations of our discussion. A LOT OF WE DO NOT KNOW TERRITORY OUT HERE.

Meanwhile I am feeling well and getting around very well with just joint sluggishness in the mornings. 

Today was a somewhat cold day but good sunshine. In the late morning I got out for a thirty minute outside quick march of the sidewalks I usually got to walk and it was wonderful. That helped my mood for the rest of the day.

Not much else of significance happened so I will quit blabbering for now. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

NORMAL DAYS HAPPENINGS

 Madison, Ala.

How about  a dose of a usual day for the OFM.  

The alarm goes off at 0600 so I can be ready for breakfast served usually a few minutes after 0700. My breakfast is  Cheerios and milk, three strips of perfectly cooked bacon served with hot tea. Many other items are available but this is my choice especially since the cook, a  skinny delightful fellow called Jay, cooks the bacon perfectly every morning . It is a wonderful breakfast of my FVORITE BREAKFAST.  Thank you JAY.

Next on the morning list is 30 minutes of walking the halls or sidewalks outside (depending on the weather) at my brisk pace that gets me into slightly aerobic breathing and blood pumping. Then I get back to my room and straighten it up for the day.  Lunch is served at 12:15 and supper at 5 pm. Mornings are usually spent cleaning and straightening my quarters.  The rest of the morning is free until lunch at noon. Frequently I do  coloring of pages from adult coloring books for a nice easy getting going start of my day. Lunch is taken care of by 1245 normally.  Mon-Wed-Friday I have my brain treatments about 02:30 so the dementia is kept at bay as much a possible. This gives my a lot of free time to visit, argue, discuss, mess around with the other folks here. When the weather permits, Betty (BettyR in the comments), and I sit out on the patio and discuss what ever one of us thinks up for about thirty minutes then head inside for her treatments and my treatments. After treatments I tend to do more coloring or something at least that important until supper at 0500. After supper is more free time to do more treatment homework or coloring or visiting etc.  The OFM usually targets bed time at 1000 pm.  It is normally a busy but not rushed day. Most of the patients just sit in their rooms and watch TV instead of doing the "homework" THAT THEY GET ASSIGNED.  Usually the home work is a 20 minute session of some physical exercise that will help them get better but that seldom happens. The  OFM gets told often to take it easier on himself since I TAKE THIS PREVENTION AN RECOVERY SERIOUSLY.

Well there you have it, a normal weekday here in paradise. Weekends are usually treatment free but the OFM STILL DOES HIS WALKING AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

There you have it a normal week in the assisted living  situation I in.   MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. 

MY COLORINGS

MADISON, ALABAMA

Today was fairly ordinary except for one little surprise. The assisted living place I live in head person, Betsy stopped me and asked to have a couple of my colorings to hang in the facility for folks to get to see them.  I said sure what type? We talked a minute and I told her I would bring my ring binder with all of them available to her and she could help herself to any she wanted.  She started looking and decided she needed more time to make her choice since there were so many good ones. 

Well I guess I should take that as a compliment. But who knows what will come of it all.  Other than that it was an ordinary day of nothing special.  So everyone have some fun wherever you can and I will catch you tomorrow. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

REALITY BITES TODAY

 Madison, Al.

Today the OFM got a dose of reality and a nice surprise. The surprise first.  A wonderful reader from Wisconsin sent me a nice Christmas card with a nice heart in it. It looks like it is a home made cloth heart. Thank you very much Cindy.

Today was reality day in therapy. My person helping me and I tested me to try to choose which new route to take for treatments. Please keep in mind there is no known cure for any of the Dementia diseases but death can be delayed a good bit in most cases.  As soon as we can identify the "breed" of the disease we will know more details about this exact model of the disease I have.  But for now we know I likely have five more years to live.

Now to put that info in perspective. I am 79.5 years old right now and and in five years I will very likely have outlived about 85% of the men born when I was.  So in reality I have a high  prospect of finishing out a full lifespan in spite of the dementia. That means I got in a full life time in spite of the Dementia. So I have decided I am a very lucky man especially since I got to fulfill my life long dream of roaming the country in my trailer for a full 17 years. Now that the news is out of the way, what is next. I do not know for sure but I know for sure Alisson is a fantastic caregiver and I have the best help available on the face of the earth. For sure the next five years will not be dull.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!!!!!!

 

JUST ANOTHER DAY

Madison, Alabama

 It was basically an easy day without any especially difficult events. The DEMENTIA hits pretty strong in the mornings lately but eases off in the afternoon and bed time. Make no mistake Dementia is a very formidable foe. But I do resist as much as I can.  Right now the big issue is nearly no shot term memory such as what I walked into a room for. Anyway I walk inside in the warm as much as I can at as brisk of a pace as I can get aerobic exercise. We have good halls to allow me to move on along well. So I get in a good solid 30 minute walk after breakfast. But the rest of the day if I have to go to another room like therapy it is about a five minute fast walk is all. But in a day I feel I get in about an hour of fast walking events

Today I finished a nice colored pencil coloring and was a bit proud of it, so I showed it off and it was well received. 

During the afternoon I went through a couple of stacks of  coloring book pages to sort out the pages I want to try out and the ones to give away. It seemed like more than fifty opportunities of pictures. But whoever ends up with them will have lots of fun. Some of them went into the therapy room so those patients could enjoy some coloring. That would be nice.

Meanwhile being not allowed to drive is a real pain but I feel they are correct about my inability to quickly figure out what other drivers are about to do is my weak point and that is serious. I feel I can operate the vehicle but I cannot tell what another driver seems to be about to do until it is pretty late in the adventure, so I still need to stay away from driving,

OK I have blabbered enough so I WISH YOU A SAFE AND MERRY  CHRISTMAS. Good Night.

LEARNING TO COLOR

 MADISON, ALABAMA

Been some calm days lately but a bit busy. A nice chunk of the busy was coloring book coloring of different scenes. Betty R (see comments to meet her and welcome her to the blog reader group) and I have been helping each other learn new techniques and styles. She is very quick to learn and quick with a colored pencil around paper.  We have been swapping ideas about things coloring wise and she is a sharp pencil pusher for sure. Definitely makes the assisted living  hall nicer to be in.

Tomorrow I start the therapy for my brain again to slow down the deterioration that cannot be cured only slowed down.  My memory ability has taken a real beating in the last couple of weeks but the down trend is right on schedule with the predictions given to me by the doctor who diagnosed me. Look out world the OFM is in for a big fight. Don't get any on you!

Have a Happy time folks, we are deserving it these days.   

JUST COLORING

MADISON, ALABAMA

Today was mostly coloring in my coloring books for relaxation. I went over yesterdays doctor's report on my condition a couple of times to try to understand what everything means. Basically it means no more solitary OFM camping trips.  To be safe I will need at least one fully capable adult with me on any trip I make. Oh well it is fun getting old. yeah right.

Other than that a lot of time was spent discussing with other residents in this assisted living facility on handling traveling with less than healthy adults  and troubles that crop up. I definitely have some new things to learn with this new to me limiting situation.  As I learn things I will report so all my readers can learn if they need or want to.

Meanwhile back to shipping from Amazon being kind of messed up now that Christmas is near, shopping for presents without being allowed to drive is a pain.  The internet (Amazon) does not quite equal to holding an item in your hands to examine it, but I guess I will have to learn.

In the mean time every one try to have too much fun this month of December.  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

BROKEN BRAIN UPDATE

MADISON, ALABAMA

12/10/25

THIS IS WRITTEN IIN OFM LANGUAGE NOT THE PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE DOCTOR.  Please remember the OFM is over 79 years old already and is older than the average white male in the country lives anyway. It seems that I have brain failure in progress. Dementia is a name given to several types of the brain troubles. Within that designation are several types of brain failure. Alzheimer's and vascular are the two biggest groups. The doctor could not yet tell us what exact{if it exists} condition I have.  But It is not curable. However certain treatments may delay the final stage called death by several years. Which ever variation I have, I am and will be doing any and all treatments available.  Right now I have a life  to live time guess of UP to 8 years.  That is the same time most "guess age of death programs" have me checking out anyway. So basically I am an old fart on borrowed time. But I knew that and that is why I traveled in the travel trailer for the last 17 years. BEEN THERE AND DONE IT FOR  OFM THINGS. As I have deteriorated in the last three months, there is no way I would want to be on the road in the physical shape I am now in. So If you have a dream, DO IT NOW.   

NOT EXPECTED

Madison, Alabama

12/9/25

    Well it was not expected. I was sitting at the normal table in the dining table with the usual companions just having a nice chat when suddenly I felt some water drip on my head.  As I reached to see what was going on a short stream of water hit on my bald head and ran off onto the table. Then another drop hit!

I jumped a bit and twisted back as I went to wipe my head with my napkin. And there Mary k holding her water glass and giggling. My reaction was not a friendly grin. She thought it was funny.

The other big deal was finally getting to see the doctor about the results of the testing  during the last few months. He was very polite and helpful.  The test results did not show Alzheimer's or vascular dementia but rather a different trouble at the back of my brain. I do not know what it is yet but it showed up well in the x-rays when he tried to explain it.  I do not recall the name of it but I hope to find out soon to research it so I can act at least a bit intelligent when fighting it. My son was with me and probably got the name of the trouble so I can research it on the internet. In the mean time it was just an ordinary day in the assisted living facility I call home these days.

Everyone get busy having tooooo much fun

ROUGH DAY

 It has been a rough dementia day today.  The dementia has been kicking me most of the day so there is not much to report.  A good nap this afternoon helped make the day better. Amazon shipping has about six of my orders floating around some where between Madison Alabama and Dallas Texas  for two days now instead of delivering them. 

Hopefully tomorrow the dementia doctor will shed some light from his testing reports on what I can expect in my future. It will be bad or worse as best as I can figure out ahead of time. But at least I am still alive and can hug the gran kids.

Everyone relax and have some fun of some sort, OK.

OUTSIDE WALKING

 MADISON ALA.

    Today was a cold and wet day for the most part but in the afternoon it was decent for a little while. Not real nice but the temp was high forties without any wet or wind and I happened to be dressed for the garbage run from my quarters.  After the dumpster had a nice meal, I looked around and decided to do some walking outside instead of loops inside in the hallways.  So off I went and it really turned out to be a nice full half hour brisk walk. Tonight it feels great to finally have gotten out for some decent exercise  It is supposed to be freezing every night for five nights starting Thursday.  

The facility is really putting up lots of Christmas decorations and having several drop by local entertainers  do music and sing alongs. Some of them are pretty darn good.

That is about all the excitement for today. Have fun everyone.

GETTING CLOSER

12/4/25

Nothing much happening around me.  Tuesday we finally after many months and some tests like MRI and EEG we get to see a doctor for the results of all the waiting and the testing.  One person in the therapy groups thinks it will come in as vascular dementia. I do not know any more than that at this time.

One thing I do know is the huge amount of food this assisted living place serves has me gained 20 pounds in the last few months. I have a plan in place and being executed to get that down to a reasonable amount of weight for me. Losing is not easy for the OFM. 

I also have noticed my memory is not near as good as it was a few months ago.  That is also inline with the Dementia guess. The assisted living place is decent for living at and things are going well here.  My son made a correct judgement when we talked about my mental situation several months ago. Sure is wonderful to have Kiddo as my caretaker.

I have had no luck in getting posting edited photos in a blog so I am looking into a simple way to do it.  My brain no longer can handle much complexity in thinking.  So I will have to chase simpler styles.  I have done over 50 colorings in the last few months and really want to get them into the blog for viewing.  So it may have to be with a bit less finesse that they get posted.

In the meantime I am eating well, walking a lot, sleeping well and having mostly pleasant days and nights here at the assisted living home.  Every one please use your days to live life to the fullest you can. Thank You.