ALZ SUX!

I love my mom.

 

My mom has vascular dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

 

The progress of her disease has been much quicker than I thought or hoped. When it was found out that she had Alzheimer’s I felt and conveyed to my family that she could have years and years of cognitive skill remaining. She was mobile and strong. She ate well and could be as quick witted as ever.

 

 

And now, less than 18 months since her diagnosis, my mother has become bed-ridden, has to eat pureed foods and is, for the most part, non-verbal. On rare and wonderful times, you receive a glint of recognition in her eyes as she stares at you. Other times, she only recognizes the love of her life, my father.

 

 

My once vibrant, beautiful and outspoken mother has become a smaller, quieter yet still beautiful version of herself.

 

 

It gets harder each time I visit her because I see less of my wonderful mom. And I don’t want to lose that picture in my head of her as she was before the disease. I want to carry that memory to share with my children when they are old enough to retain it.

 

 

Along with watching the vitality withdraw from my mother, I am struck with thoughts of things that can never be again. I could always talk to my mom, about anything, I mean anything. When I wanted to know things about my childhood, she always quick to tell me those memories. I learned to be a strong outspoken woman and to give as good as I got. Mom has always told my sisters and I that we were smart and beautiful. Always smart first because that was the important one.

 

 

When my children get sick, my first reaction is “I need to call my mom she will have the best way to handle things”. I am saddened by the fact that my daughter will never know my mom the way that I did. The hip-swinging don’t give a damn about anything woman that I remember from my childhood. My mom has always been fearless and ready to take on whatever comes her way.

 

 

 

Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease. In my opinion it is far worse than an illness* that wears away at the body because while horrible, the ravages of the body can be seen and felt by both the victim and the loved ones. Alzheimer’s is a sneaky underhanded disease that affects the mind sometimes long before the victim or loved ones notice the damage. It is unknown how long my mom has suffered with the disease, only how long we noticed the aftereffects.

 

 

 

So as this blog is my vocal outlet, I would just like to say, loud and clear:

 

ALZHEIMER’S SUCKS!

#alzheimerssucks #endalz #findacure #memoriesshouldlastforever

*This comment is in no way meant to lessen the pain of other diseases or illnesses. Simply a statement of my opinion on how this particular disease is so sneaky. If I had my way I would eliminate all illnesses because they all tear us from each other.*

To Cry or To Dance?

My little boy started school last week and he was so excited. We both managed to get through the first morning without crying as I walked him to his class. But that was the calmest time of the entire week.

When we picked him up that afternoon, he was angry and crying. Even now a week later, I’m not sure why he was angry or crying. This became the theme for the entire week. He was either upset, crying or both and it expanded to both morning and afternoon. He wasn’t eating his lunches that I made him (all things I knew that he would eat). He told me that he had moved down on his behavior chart each day.

It was so hard seeing him upset about school. He loved being with his new friends but when they all got stickers for being good and he didn’t. Well, let me put it this way, to my son, not getting a sticker is like being the only one in your company to not get the cost of living raise but instead getting a pink slip. It’s the ultimate rejection.

I didn’t want to be impetuous and ruin a possibly good relationship with my son’s teacher or the school. So the next morning, I walked him to class and spoke with his teacher to find out why he was getting in trouble and what needed work. Not surprisingly most of the issues (listening skills, personal space, sitting still and not being a clown) he had caused were things we have had problems with at home also.

So today started week two of Kindergarten. I have high hopes for the week. When I picked him up this afternoon, according to him he stayed on the good side of the chart but he did kick another kids backpack. When I asked why he kicked it, he told me “I just wanted to dance!” Not ok to kick but so much better than coming home in tears.

Homemade Baby Food

I am starting to feed Michaela chunky food and she does really well with it.

Here’s my latest combination with pictures of the taste test.

Slow Cooker plain cooked chicken, steamed brown rice and butternut squash with just a touch of water. 

She absolutely loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

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Chicken Quesadilla

Chicken Quesadilla has been one of our favorite things lately.

We started getting them quite a bit at Taco Bell but then I was convinced I could make them at home just as easy. So we decided to get the stuff we didn’t already have in the house. We had just gotten some bell peppers, banana peppers and sweet peppers at the farmers market, which were cut and frozen, that would go good in them.

So next day comes and I put frozen chicken in the crock pot to cook until it falls apart. I don’t put any seasoning on it because I fix a whole 3 pound bag that can be used throughout the week in different meal/recipes.

In this particular meal, I used the McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper to season the chicken. I sauté’ the chicken and seasoning with an assortment of the peppers in a small skillet while at the same time in a larger skillet I heat one side of a tortilla then flip it over.

I added cheese then topped with the sautéed chicken and peppers. Fold the Tortilla in half and toast lightly on both sides.

To serve the yummy quesadillas, cut in triangles and serve with sour cream or guacamole, whichever your preference. Enjoy!