Mary's Place

A web page about the life of a lady who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Name:
Location: Piedmont, Oklahoma, United States

I live in Piedmont, OK, with my Husband of 50 years who has been very supportive. We have 2 sons,David and Kenny, 6 grandkids, and 6 great grandkids. I enjoy feeding and watching the birds and squirrels. Before I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I ran a Licensed Day Care Home for Infants for 15 years. I noticed I wasn't able to remember important things and having problems with my speech. I was experiencing severe headaches. I would get lost. I didn't know how to use the computer. At the age of 55, I told my doctor. I was sent for an MRI. which showed a large amount of shrinkage. I went to a neurologist who sent me for two days of testing. I was diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. My husband and I were both in shock. I had to give up my job. I went to see a social worker. I've taken Aricept for 11 years. I can now use the computer and even do this web page. I also host a chat room for dementia patients. This is a very lonely disease. I don't want anyone to feel as lonely as I did when I was diagnosed (I thought I was the only one over 50 that had Alzheimer's). In 2006 I started taking Namenda. Also I was told I have a mixed dementia, Alzheimer's/Vascular.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Happy Birthday Candy!!! Candy is a DASNI friend in California… I did laundry, fixed lunch and supper, picked vegetables, hosted chat, and took care of the indoor plants… Dave has spent most of the day doing yard work and the rest flying his planes… Josh came down and we watched “Lilo and Stitch”… Carole, David, Lori, and Richard called… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Friday, June 17, 2005

Happy Birthday Judi!!! Judi is a friend in Arizona… Last night I took one of my NetFlix movies ‘Meet The Flockers” up to watch with Kathy and Heather. I really enjoyed it… We had another bad storm during the night. We didn’t get any damage. We got another inch and a half of rain… Today I have been doing laundry and got it all done and put away. I hosted chat and picked up around the house… My Land’s End order came in and half of it I am returning. The comforter and shams don’t look like they did in the catalog so they are being returned. I will keep looking till I find what I really want… Kathy came down with a bucket of vegetables. We shouldn’t have to buy any vegetables for a long time. For lunch we had a bologna sandwich with a slice of our own tomato on it. This was our first tomato of the year… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Last night I had invited Alfred and Martha to have dinner with us. By the time I had cleaned the house, prepared dinner, visited with them I was too tired to post a journal… I had to be up early this morning for an appointment with my asthma doctor then I went to Midwest City for lab work that my heart doctor had ordered then we went to Tinker to pick up medicines and to the commissary… We got another good rain and that is just what we needed… I have had a busy week and I am very tired tonight… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Erin, our granddaughter in Norman called this morning to say that she and her Yorkshire puppy Daisy Mae were coming to visit us… I did laundry, swept the front porch and deadheaded and fed flowers… I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch and Erin had lunch with us. Erin put the rest of my phone numbers in my cell phone for me and that was a big help. She had no idea how many numbers I had when she agreed to do that for me. She also changed the phone ring tone for me so now it will ring several times before the voice mail kicks in and that gives me some time to find the phone. We just visited the rest of the afternoon. We always enjoy it when Erin comes for a visit. I wish she didn’t live so far away… The Schwan lady came today and I ordered some steaks and Dave fixed them out on the grill. We don’t get to use our grill much out here because of the strong winds… Kathy came down tonight and brought us squash and zucchini she had picked from the garden. We sat out on the patio and visited while the guys flew their planes… Tonight after dark Dave and I were out on the patio and saw a lot of lightning bugs… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Monday, June 13, 2005

Thanks to Frank in Shropshire, England for visiting Mary’s Place and signing my guest book. You too can sign my guest book by going to: http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html Dave and I returned from the Alzheimer’s Summit in Tulsa on Saturday. It was a great Summit. It was nice meeting Heather and her husband Rick. We had a lot of visitors to our DASNI booth. There were people there from several states including Massachuttes, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and California and maybe other states that I have forgotten now… I was busy all day Saturday and most of yesterday doing laundry. I was going to post a journal last night but it was stormy. So bad that I thought we were going to have to get in our storm room. One good thing is that we got a good rain out of it… Our garden is doing so well. We have had broccoli, beets, onions, zucchini, squash, snow peas, and cabbage so far. We will have a lot of vegetables to share with the neighbors and friends… I have been busy today going through paper work and tossing a bunch of stuff. Paid bills and got all caught up with them, hosted chat and did some DASNI work… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

I have laid around most of the day just resting. This evening I started feeling some better. Rest is the best thing we can do when we are having the kind of days I have been having… I hosted chat this evening and folded some clothes and put them away… Tomorrow I have an appointment with my Asthma doctor for a follow up and after that we will head for Tulsa for the Alzheimer’s Summit… Dave went to town for some errands and when he came home he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of red roses… This will be my last entry for a few days…. Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Happy Birthday Sue!!! Sue is a friend in Canada… Today hasn’t been a good day for me. I have been like in a fog and feeling very weak. I even ended up going to bed this afternoon and that is very unusual for me. When Dave checked my B/P it was low and my pulse was 50… I have had what felt like bees stinging and bugs crawling on me the past few days. No bees or bugs to be seen. Not a good feeling. Enough of my complaining because I know tomorrow will be a better day… Dave has done a great job in taking care of me today. Nothing accomplished today… I called Sue and Lori called me… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Monday, June 06, 2005

We had a good time last night visiting and eating a delicious meal with Alfred and Martha. The fish tasted fresh caught. I did a good job of freezing them. I froze them in water and that made them taste like fresh fish. Martha and I tried to watch a movie but we couldn’t stop talking long enough to watch it. Oh well… It was late when we got home and I had had a big day… This morning I woke up in a fog when Dave came into the bedroom to bring my oatmeal and coffee. He said you don’t look so good. He can always tell if I am having a cloudy day by just looking at me… I fed and deadheaded flowers and repotted a couple houseplants, and did laundry and I saw the bottom of the hamper for a little while… Dave and I are looking forward to the Alzheimer’s Summit in Tulsa on Friday and I am really looking forward to meeting Heather. Heather is a 29 year old who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she and I will be running the DASNI booth… Tonight we have been invited to another couples home that just moved in to our addition for a get to know your neighbors meeting. Oh boy!!! I will get to see another new home… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Last night I took the movie “Spanglish” up to Kathy’s to watch and while we watched the movie Dave and Kenny visited out on their back porch…
Dave fixed a big country breakfast this morning for us, he even made gravy and did it so well. Then we had breakfast in bed… I am so lucky to have a husband like Dave. I thank God everyday for him… This afternoon Kelly, one of our neighbors, was having a Home Interior party and it was also a get acquainted party to meet all our new neighbors. I went and had a good time. One of the neighbors invited me in to see her new home. . I really enjoy seeing different homes as they are all so different. Then I invited a couple of them over to see our home and we also walked up to see the garden. They had never seen cabbage and broccoli in a garden before, only in a grocery stores… Martha and Alfred called and invited us over for dinner tonight. We are having a fish fry with the fish we caught last weekend… I have new roses blooming everyday now. I counted them this morning and I have twelve roses…. Goodnight All…. Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Last night when I went to bed I was hurting all over. I could barely walk to bed. I just knew we were going to get some rain and we did this evening along with some hail… I slept till almost noon, barely got up in time to hear my garden show on the radio… Kenny invited Dave and I to go into town with him and we did. We stopped at our favorite place to buy vegetable plants hoping we could find some sweet potato slips. We did buy a cantaloupe, some ripe tomatoes, and a few cucumber plants. We stopped at several nurseries but none of them had the sweet potato slips. We will continue looking for them… Dave and I went to the garden to plant the cucumbers and picked more peas for supper… Nancy called… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Friday, June 03, 2005

The maids were coming today so I was busy getting ready for them this morning. Dave was a big help. Dave has agreed to let me have the maids every three weeks now instead of every four. I sure am happy about that… I did laundry, hosted chat and pulled weeds out of all the flowerbeds… We had the first broccoli from our garden tonight for supper. I love being able to eat vegetables from our own garden… Kathy and Louise came down and sat out on the patio with me this afternoon… Kathy, Pat, Carole, and Heather called… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Happy Birthday Faye!!! Faye is our friend in Chandler, Oklahoma… This has been one of my cloudy days. I haven’t been able to complete anything I have started today. I have been thirsty all day and every time I have gone to the kitchen to get a drink of water I get distracted and come back to my computer without getting a drink… Dave and I walked up to the garden and picked peas and pulled some beets for supper. Tonight I hosted chat for Dr. Mitch and it was a great chat… I called Faye... Kenny called and invited us up for peanut butter fudge. Kathy’s Mother was there from Lawton and we all had a nice visit… I am off for a nice whirlpool bath now… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Happy Birthday Norita!!! Norita is our sister in law in Lake Isabella, California…
I have been busy again today finishing up the laundry, paying bills, fixing lunch, going to chat, made more nectar for the hummingbirds, and helped Dave fix supper… Tonight after supper Dave was outside talking to a friend on the phone when he spotted a snake. He went into the garage to get a hoe to kill it. We have one less snake out here now. I bet I am more careful now when I go outside to check on the flowers… Last night Lynn called and we had a nice chat before she left on her trip to Europe. She will be speaking over there on Alzheimer’s and other dementias… I had phone calls from Nancy, David and Lori, and Chip… I heard from Paula from the local Alzheimer’s Assn. And she has given me another lady who was looking for a phone buddy so I called Geraldine and we talked for quite awhile. Her husband was just diagnosed with Dementia. She was very happy I called her… I called Norita and sang Happy Birthday to her… Dave picked me a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma