PLAIN LIVING

 MADISON, ALABAMA

GOOD MORNING.   It has been a few days since the last posting so here goes a post about nothing again. Everything is going fine. By the same token nothing is happening but regular sleeping and decent meals. The biggest thing I can think of  is that switching to synthetic sweeteners from regular sugar in my excessively sweet tea has let me sleep all night without waking every hour or so all night long.  Since the day after the switch I have slept the whole night all but one time and that one was a bathroom trip necessity from too much water sipping as I piddled around in my room that evening.  So we might say I have made progress. Anyway I hope everyone is safe and well while trying to have toooooooooooooooo much fun.

DOCTOR REPORT

 MADISON ALA.

We got to the doctor today right on time and only had about four minutes to wait before we were called in. The doctor was interested in several things he asked about and then we had some serious discussion. The OFM is doing very well and the dementia is progressing right on schedule.  The trip in the ambulance a few weeks ago was to be expected now and then with this mess. It is something that happens with this disease and went very well. The tests that the hospital did were viewed and showed that things were normal for this stage of my disease. So it means that yep I got that junk dementia and it is doing well. Dementia cannot be stopped but it can be slowed down with some treatments in the future.  So that is the whole story for this visit. Several details were discussed in more detail but the final analysis is I am doing well with this disease and the deterioration is right on schedule so relax and enjoy the ride.

That is 

LOTS OF RAIN

Madison, Al.

Here I am with very little to say again so here we go. We have been getting lots of daily rain for a couple of weeks now and it is supposed to continue for several more days.  At least we are not  showing any signs of flooding around here.  But it is still a mess when you go outside to the dumpster or things like that. Keep dry folks. The next big excitement is tomorrow is when I get to see the brain doctor again after the set of tests he wanted done to help him decide what we need to do.

TORNADO??????

 MADISON, ALA.

So the OFM was easing along coloring at his desk in his room and decided to take a break. I eased over to my door and stepped into the hall just as a caretaker was approaching it to alert me.  It seems I was the first person she got to tell me to stay in the hallway alcove where my doorway was located. There is a tornado alert and they were rounding up everyone to come to the small alcove where my door opened. Soon  there was a gathering of folks numbering about thirty sitting and standing around trying to figure out  what was really going on. As usual everyone had a different idea of what should be done.  In the meantime I considered the weather I had just seen outside and relaxed. The conversations were very varied during the half hour we piddled at my doorway.  

As soon as they released up to return to our normal activities I got to get my phone and see what t the alert really said. As usual it did not say a tornado was anywhere around  The alert said there was a large thunderstorm many miles south of us that had the potential to produce a tornado and to be careful to monitor it so if it did you could go to safety.  So what we had was a nice 45 minute gossip session at my door.  I do have to remind myself that the caretakers have several folks here that have to have a LOT of help if a real emergency came along. So they did what they thought was the safest thing to do with what they had for info at that moment. I Must compliment them on doing a first class reaction to the information considering their duties for those less able to get around than the OFM can.  

The rest of the went back to gossip and piddle around for most of them. For the OFM he just went back to coloring another fantastic picture for the garbage can to enjoy. I hope everyone has a great night and better tomorrow.

COUPLE OF ANSWERS

Madison,  Ala.

How about a couple of answers to questions not put into the blog before?

Am I using a wheel chair yet at age 79.6.  Nope not even close. I do not run anymore but every day I put in 30 minutes of aerobic walking inside and / or outside or both. That gets me the 30 minutes of needed heart exercise needed daily. It also lets me keep the joints flexible so I have only small pain in all the joints mistreated while participating in jungle warfare for 16 months in a far away country in 69 / 70.

I do get twice a day a handful of preventive pills  like  vitamins and a couple other pills  to assist in preventing old man troubles.  So except for the Dementia I am in fair shape physically. However my speed of reflexes keeps me from driving for nearly a year now. That is my worst negative problem.  I still think well when a dementia episode is not in progress but the rest of the time I function pretty well except for lots of memory loss of my earlier years. 

The assisted living includes house cleaning, laundry and meals so that leaves me lots of free time to piddle around.  If you have other relevant questions I would be happy to give my input on questions about this lifestyle. In the meantime get busy trying to have too much fun. OFM

THIS LIFESTYLE

 MADISON, AL.

This assisted living life style is pretty boring in general. The OFM is the youngest resident at 79.6 years old.  The oldest is 99 years old with most in their 80s.  They are the most sedentary bunch of folks I know of.  The operators of the place try like crazy to get them to move their bodies but only the OFM bothers to try to keep his body functional. The rest of the folks seem to specialize in griping about every thing. So the frequent classes for painting or coloring or anything else are not normally attended or participated in.

Anyway the health care is decent and the food acceptable 98% of the time. So this seems to be a rather decent place for a Dementia patient person to enjoy his last years. But it is a far cry from hiking kayaking and roaming the country in my RV.

OFM

Very Little Done

Madison, Ala.

Most of the day was spent coloring on two different pictures. Both of them turned out well. The first one took three days to color and the second one only took about 6 hours to complete. It also came out well.

The rest of the day was used up by eating meals that ran 20 minutes late getting to the table.  The cooks here were not having a great day but we did get fed.  And that is about all of the excitement for our building.  Have fun, OFM,

NICE DAY

 MADISON AL.

 Nice weather made the day great for outside sitting and visiting.  So naturally a lot of us assisted living types got outside and did some serious sitting and flapping our jaws. Mostly it was a nice time.  the one thing the OFM did was test a new set of colored pencils to compare to my Prismacolor Premier colored pencils that have held the number one spot in my coloring for years. The Arteza pencils were very nice and performed well.  However they did not really have the smooth feel of my old time favorites. So at least the OFM knows he still is using the best for his efforts.

Other than that nothing special happened except I did keep on breathing and pumping blood. Everyone have some fun. Goodnight,

WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING

 Madison, Al.

The day went along slowly. The warm temp outside was interrupted frequently by a random cold stiff breeze. That was not a nice combination. Most of the day was spent just coloring scenes in coloring books. Practice sure helps the pictures turn out a lot nicer. Sorry nothing special at all today on even on the horizon.  Have a great day. OFM. 

CAFFINE ADICTION

Madison, Al.

This morning already I have had a life changing event and it is not even 0830 yet.  As we were eating breakfast the server mentioned something about my sweet tea consumption.  She and the OFM had had several conversations on diet changes as we age. As a result of the conversation I went back to my room to see what internet sources said about my diet choice on a few things.  As usual the info was not cut and dried but more of a cut back a bit or not style.  BUT what did get me slapped in the face was my caffeine addiction. I had not realized how much I had let caffeine take control of my life AGAIN. But now it will be carefully controlled  AGAIN. This getting old stuff is something else isn't it.  See you later. OFM.

BACK ONLINE AGAIN I HOPE

 MADISON, ALABAMA

After a mess of computer trouble the OFM is back online thanks to KIDDO the OFM's son.    Hopefully the blog can soon have something worthwhile to report. Please be patient as I attempt to get back to spreading nonsense all over the world just for the fun of it. More later tonight.

NICE DAY

 It turned out to be a very nice day today. Cool outside but very nice inside.  We had good meals.  Nice visits with folks happened. Nothing really bad happened.  And the evening is rolling along nice and smoothly. So HAPPY THURSDAY TO EVERY ONE.

ofm.

UNEXPECTED SLEEP

 Madison, Al.

It was a surprise downer day. The OFM morning was feeling not first class but not bad either. So along mid morning he took to his bed to try to see if some horizontal time would help.  BAM it was three hours later in what seemed instantly. He was feeling better and got up to be human again .  A good lunch was served and things were going fine until about  an hour after lunch.  Bam I was passed out for another  2 hour sleep. But when I awoke the second time I have felt just fine the rest of the day. This getting old is rather interesting isn't it. Tonight things seem to be close to usual so maybe whatever it was is over and gone now. I hope you folks had a good day.

BETTER WEATHER FINALLY

 MADISON, ALABAMA

Hello folks. We have been having nice walking weather most of the time and the OFM has been using it wisely.  The roly-poly back yard here makes a great place to do slower paced walking up and down and all over walking that is just sloped enough to feel it. The slopes are just enough to help practice walking across them at angles that let me practice and hone my balance abilities.  Then I can hit a sidewalk or two to practice getting my heart beat up a bit by speedier walking. There is even a part of the sidewalk that heads up a nice slope to get me a bit more aerobic if I desire that.

I follow the 30 minutes of aerobic walking a day theory so I do not have to count distances.  This morning we are having nasty thunder storms with significant rain so I will be thirty minuting inside in the halls which works out well also. The OFM likes keeping his heart in reasonable shape for living.  Have fun every one.

BRAIN SCAN TODAY

  MADISON,ALABAMA

Kiddo {my son} came by today and took me to get a brain scan to verify I have a brain or something close to one .It was way on the other side of Huntsville.  we arrived in good time and got checked in a few minutes early. Then sat in the waiting room for a bit until I was called back for the procedure.  Then I got to lay on a moveable table that ran back and forth on runners while a big circle shaped metal device skewered me with electrical magic waves to get a picture of my brain for the doctor next month. Then I was up and leaving the place. Time of whole thing was about  20 minutes.  That was very quick to me. Then after arriving back home Kiddo and OFM sat around for a long while just chatting about things in general. It was a really excellent  time together by our selves for a change. Good night everyone.

LOTS OF TIME TO KILL

 MADISON, AL.

There is nothing special to report tonight. Health is doing fine. Food is doing fine. No serious troubles at all.  Just an old fat man waiting on the days to pass by. Folks where I am living are behaving well. So That is pretty good all around it seems to me.  Going to go get another head scan or something on Saturday. The the medical person that came to me when I had the really odd migraine attack a couple of weeks ago  has scheduled a new brain scan or what ever it is called so the neurologist will have a more recent scan to help him make decisions about my disease.  So it seems that is under as good control as is possible.  With the warmer weather I have been able to get outside for my aerobic walks most days and that is very nice. So everyone try to have fun and good luck to you.

Nothing much but wanted to post.

MADISON, AL.

It was a nice day over all. Yesterday was spent watching the grand kids perform in their stage plays. Piper was in the first one and Gavin in the second one. Both of those kids are doing incredible at acting in stage productions.  I have no idea where they got the stage acting ability but definitely not from me. WOW.

And today the USPS got my order for my new requirement for furnishing my own toilet paper all messed up delivery wise. Then later in the day it got delivered correctly and not causing trouble like their email was telling me? Who knows, but now I have a few weeks of toilet paper available. That is a wonderful feeling.

Want to know if you are old? It can easy to find out. Just be walking along a hallway minding your own business and let your bare arm brush a stippled regular sheetrock hall wall and a few seconds later you notice blood running down your arm as you walk along.  Not a wall corner just the flat wall section. I now have four "openings" in my arm skin with bandaids on them. Good Grief.

Thats all folks.  Go have some fun for me.  OFM

DEMENTIA BITES AGAIN

 Madison, Al.

Today was a big day medically. The OFM has been relieved of any more therapy sessions for 90 days.  The therapy group and the insurance folks feel the OFM needs to not do therapy for a while and let my body settle down then do a full  exam before choosing the next path of treatment. Neither group is suggesting quitting but just let things settle so they can better guess at the best path forward. I agreed with them.

So for the next few weeks I will be doing general activities of daily life. Then in three months a full evaluation will be done to help choose the best path forward.

OFM

DUMB JOKE

 MADISON, AL.

Yep a slow day.

"After years of wondering why he didn't look like his younger sister or brother, a young man finally got up the nerve to ask his mother if he was adopted. "Yes, you were son," his mother said as she started to cry softly. "But it didn't work out and they brought you back."

MAJOR CORRECTION TO BLOG ENTRY

 MADISON, ALABAMA

This mornings treatment session was very interesting. I totally mis-understood what was going on and reported incorrect information brought about by my disease DEMENTIA. The blog about the insurance stoppage is totally incorrect and here is the real story.

The stoppage of active treatment is part of the treatment process as they are going to let my head settle down to some sort of normal/average so they can see where my brain is without treatments. This will allow a chance to see where  I am  overall and make better choices in my treatment.  The good part is I am doing better than anyone expected and the treatment folks think they need to adjust my treatments to match the new me. I am the one who caused this misunderstanding by my illness interfering with my brain function

It is a new development that in the last three weeks I have been able to sense changes are happening  both good and bad but I am getting better at recognizing them to the treatment folks. Will this cure me? If it does it will be the first time in medical history.  But with the careful care we are buying me nice chunks of longer living and be still relatively function.  Living as a brain dead drooling zombie in a wheel chair is not LIVING in my book.  So folks please be patient with me, I am doing as good as I can figure out to do.