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.

Friday, September 30, 2005

Tonight's Sunset

Happy 11th Anniversary David and Lori!!! David is our son in Norman, Oklahoma… Happy Birthday Larry!!! Larry is our friend in Arkansas… I have been doing some fall cleaning today. I don’t clean like I used to. I tire out too quickly but I still like a clean house… I saw a rainbow and a beautiful sunset tonight… I had phone calls from Martha and Alfred, they are in Pennsylvania heading to Missouri to visit Alfred’s Mother. Chip, Josh, and David called… Dave gave me a Vit B12 shot and I needed it… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Thursday, September 29, 2005

It was a beautiful fall day. I love this weather, now if it would only rain… Dave colored my hair for me this morning. He is such a good husband to do that for me… I hosted two chats, cleaned the patio furniture, and helped fix supper… I have mums in my front yard and back and they are in full bloom… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Thanks to Karen in Wichita, Kansas for visiting Mary’s Place and singing my guest book. Karen, we need more nurses aides like you who love and care for Alzheimer’s patients… Today has been a very tiring day for me. We had to make that long trip to Tinker Air Force Base to pick up our drugs, go to the Base Exchange and then to the Commissary. We even went to the Goodwill store. Didn’t find anything there I couldn’t live without. But did find a nice purse, slacks, and jeans at the Base Exchange. I also got a haircut…. I was too tired to cook when we got home so we ended up snacking instead since we had plenty here to snack on for a change…. It has really cooled off. It is only 66 degrees and very windy… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

I fixed lunch, hosted chat, and got all the laundry done. It was good having Jeanne back in chat this afternoon. Jeanne I hope you feel better soon. If you have Alzheimer’s or know someone who is suffering with any kind of dementia. I would like to meet you in our chat room at http://www.alzinfo.com/community/chatrooms/ … I watched Josh and Heather get off the school bus… I had a phone call from Nancy.,. Goodnight all… Keeping That Faith In Oklahoma

Monday, September 26, 2005

Our deepest sympathies go out to Lori and her family on the loss of her stepfather Mark. Mark was a good friend of ours. He passed away at his home last evening…
We had a nice dinner with Kenny and Kathy last night. Kathy’s Mother, Louise was there also. After dinner I rode with Kenny to go pick up Josh and got a hug from Teryl, Josh’s Mother… I made potato soup for lunch, hosted chat, and folded towels that had been in the dryer for a few days… This afternoon I walked up to visit with Kathy and to be there when Josh and Heather got home from school. Josh was real happy to see me. He got his progress report and it looked good… This evening Dave and I sat out on the back porch just enjoying the cooler weather. We saw several birds and butterflies. I think the Hummingbirds must have left. I haven’t seen any in several days… I got out my yarn; crochet hook, and knitting needles. I was hoping I could remember how to crochet and knit. I used to do both but now I can’t figure out how to do either one… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Passion Flowers

Thank you Judy for visiting Mary’s Place and signing my guest book. Judy is a classmate of mine. Yes, Judy I hope Dave and I can attend our 50th class reunion in two years…
It has been a very hot day, up in the upper 90’s. I am ready for some cooler weather… I deadheaded my flowers. I wasn’t able to stay out there for long, it is too hot for me. My Passion Vine is full of flowers and Lynne when I look at it I always remember us flying down to visit you and Larry and you giving me a start. It is funny that I can’t remember what I had for breakfast but the good things I never forget, like when someone does something nice for me… Janey in Illinois called me and Kenny called and invited us for a steak dinner tonight at his house… I hosted chat, soaked my feet in Epson Salts while I watched the Lawrence Welk show on TV. Now I am enjoying the best of Diana Shore… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Saturday, September 24, 2005

I have been doing Mary’s Place since 1999 and I just went over 45000 hits. When I started my web page I was hoping to help people who were newly diagnosed and I have done that many times… Dave has been outside all day doing the lawn and flying his plane. While he is out I am busy trying to see what I can eat next… I have talked to several people on the phone today Aunt Flo in Texas, Tom and Karen in Texas, Vicky in Illinois, George and Carole in Kentucky, Sandy in Texas, Norita in California, Martha in Vermont, and Norma in Canada. All who mean very much to me… I picked up around the house and fixed fish and hush puppies for supper… We found a turtle on our back porch but he didn’t stay long. We watched the Gaither’s tonight on TV… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Friday, September 23, 2005

Thanks to Susan in Canada for visiting Mary’s Place and signing my guest book…
This morning I slept late as usual. It seems I require almost 12 hours of sleep. And since I am unable to nap in the afternoons, I sleep longer when I do get to sleep. I function much better with plenty of sleep… I cooked a pot of butter beans while I did laundry. Reminded me of how Mom would cook beans when she did laundry on Monday’s. I don’t have a certain day to do laundry. Today I washed our bedding and the dog’s beds too. I hosted the afternoon chat and made cornbread for supper… Dave and Kenny continue to enjoy flying their planes… We watch the deer every night. Kenny said he saw seven deer the other night. He stays up later than me… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Thursday, September 22, 2005

While my computer was down I missed several birthdays and anniversaries. Happy belated Birthday wishes to Austin, Kerry, Karen, Matt, and Edie. Happy Belated Anniversary to Mike and Betsy, Kerry and Erin, and Chris and Jenni…
Dave and I had a wonderful time at the fair last night. They had an Elvis contest where seven Elvis’s appeared and entertained us for a couple hours. One Elvis came down and sat down beside us and talked to us. How exciting that was. LOL… We met our channel 9 weatherman Gary England and visited with him. He told me if I saw a tornado in Piedmont call him. I told I would do that. I am already looking forward to the fair next year. I have to have something to look forward to all the time… I woke up this morning feeling very over whelmed with so much to do. The house was a mess and the laundry had piled up. I started doing laundry and picked up around the house. Then I started feeling better… We got great news. We are going to have another great grandbaby. Kerry and Erin are expecting. This will make seven great grandbabies… Dave and I made more salsa, ate some and put the rest in the freezer… A very hot first day of fall 95 degrees… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Finally, I got my computer fixed. So much has happened since I quit writing in my journal I hope I can remember some of them… Dave and I celebrated our 45th anniversary on September 8 by going out to a nice dinner. Then the next day we left in our motor home for fishing and camping trip. We had the whole campground to ourselves and the fishing was great. We averaged catching 20 fish a day. We caught Bluegill, Bass, and Perch. We had one fish fry while we were there. I made some of the best hush puppies that I had ever made or maybe it was just cooking them out in the open that made them taste so good. The rest of the fish we brought home in our freezer… It rained one day so we took off to go visit Jan/Mina. She is doing great and the day we were there she was running the campground by herself. Wade had gone for the week to visit his Mother in North Carolina. Jan was busy, as always she is not only running a campground but was making a beautiful quilt and also making Wade an afghan. I left there feeling very inferior… Since we were near Lori’s grandparents home we went to visit them one evening. We really enjoyed our visit with them… This was a fun vacation for me and so good to get away from my broken computer. One evening Ann, the owner of the campground, came down with a freshly baked apple cake for us… We finally got our new refrigerator back on Saturday and this one is much nicer than our other one… I received my signed copy of Winnie Yu’s new book “What To Do When The Doctor Says It’s Early-Stage Alzheimer’s.” You can order the book by going here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1592331610/qid=1125715251/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1425722-8887953?v=glance&s=books This afternoon Dave and I are going to the Oklahoma State Fair. That should be a lot of fun… We hear from Alfred and Martha often. They are in Vermont now waiting on the leaves to turn… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Our fish

Sunday, September 04, 2005

I continue to have computer problems. So I won't be posting another journal until Dell send someone here to fix my laptop... Goodnight All... Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Friday, September 02, 2005

It was 8:30 and Dave had taken Cindy to the groomers this morning when the phone rang and woke me up. It was a lady from Kitchen Aid telling me that they don’t have a refrigerator like ours in their warehouse and it could be a couple weeks before they locate one. The reason it is so hard to locate one is because it is stainless steel and has the freezer on the bottom and they are hard to come by… I went with Dave to pick up Cindy from the groomers as I felt like I was starting to get cabin fever. I don’t think I have been anywhere for a couple weeks. We stopped at Sonic for lunch… I called Chip. I saw on the caller ID that he had been trying to call me. He said that he just got a new book on Early Stage Alzheimer’s. I forget the name of it but he said he and I were both featured in the book and so was our friend Jeanne Lee in Hawaii… I have felt kind of down today. Watching the hurricane victims on the news is so depressing. I turn it off but next thing I know I am turning it back on again… Our friends are gone to Vermont. This evening David and Lori flew to Atlanta, Georgia and Kenny, Kathy, Josh, and Heather drove to Houston… I miss them already… I fixed a pot of butterbeans and some cornbread for supper. Corn bread is one of my comfort foods… Dave and I sat out the back porch until the mosquitoes came. We got inside just in time to watch a beautiful sunset… Kenny called a little while ago they had stopped in Dallas to eat… Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma

Thursday, September 01, 2005

The repairman for the refrigerator came today with the new compressor but it was more than that wrong with it. The thing that holds the freon was bad so they will be bringing us a brand new refrigerator. The computer doctor came and replaced my motherboard but more needs to be done to fix my computer as it is overheating. So we are waiting on a part to come in for it. But when you think of what is going on with the hurricane victims I have no problems at all. My thoughts and prayers are still with them… Tonight I sat out on the porch and watched the birds and the butterflies. Dave and Kenny were flying their planes, and Josh jumping on the trampoline. When he finished jumping he came down and sat with me. I love it when he comes to visit with me… I did laundry and hosted Dr. Mitch's chat tonight. Goodnight All… Keeping The Faith In Oklahoma