Archive for July, 2011

My sister and her husband visit Wayne every Tuesday – it’s such a wonderful arrangement giving me a full day to make appointments, etc.

We always talk after to see how he was and she said he looked so handsome today – was nicely dressed and the nurses had him all tidied up. Bless Sis and BIL and the staff.

There is also the idea of cognitive reserve: that keeping the mind active can at least delay the onset of dementia. It also seems that intelligence might help the brain stay in the mild phase of the disease longer, although more study needs to be done in this area as well.
“We know that highly intelligent people have more tolerance to plaque buildup and to loss of energy in their brains than people with lower levels of intelligence and less education,” said Dr. Steven DeKosky, vice president and dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine, at an Alzheimer’s forum at the National Press Foundation in May. “Their brain basically fights it off and finds some other ways to get the things done.”

*** I should have acknowledged CNN for this piece of a long article on this mornings webpage. What struck me was the thoughts about highly intelligent people being able to be in the mild phase longer and also to “hide” their confusion. thanks again everyone – your care and support do help me in the daily journey.

Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. The term is of recent origin, probably dating from the 1980s,[1] and according to one analyst, “has been coined more on the Internet than in printed form because it does not appear in any previously published, psychiatric, unabridged, or abridged dictionary,” however the author later notes, “regardless of its less-than-verifiable etymology, coulrophobia exists in several lists.”[2] The condition is a specific phobia (DSM-IV Code 300.29).[3]
The prefix “coulro-” may be derived from an Ancient Greek word meaning “stilt-walker”,[nb 1] although the concept of a clown as a figure of fun was unknown in classical Greek culture

We were sitting on his bed, feet dangling over, just being quiet.

He leaned forward and searched an area where my purse lay, ” Oh, there’s Buddy. No it isn’t. I don’t have a cat any more.”

Just broke my heart but I started gabbing away about something to take his mind off Buddy. No mention again.

One of Wayne’s favorite care aides was visiting in the room yesterday – she loves that he still comes through with bits of humor. The night before, she told him to give her a second and she’d put his glasses on the bedside table. His response.”Time’s up”

He used to say that to me so it was very touching.