Website Want Wednesday

I want this to be my future backyard. Come on, the trees, the hammock, the coloring, the birdhouse...

Oh yea! I want!

Tea Tuesday

A little cat on Tea Tuesday? Oh yea! June is Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat-Month and Tea Tuesday or not, I'll play this wonderful motto for the month up. Adopt a cat, people! They're great tea buddies :)

Tea Tuesday is reminder to you too, my friends and wanderers that found your way here. Remember that all the good you do won't get done if you're not around or if you aren't properly taking care of yourself.
So, please, take a minute to relax with me at some point today.

"In the end, we decide if we're remembered for what happened to us or for what we did with it." -Randy K. Milholland

Tunes On Tuesday

Rascal Flatts, I Won't Let Go

It's like a storm
That cuts a path
It breaks your will
It feels like that
You think you're lost
But you're not lost on your own,
You're not alone

I will stand by you,
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
and you can't cope
I will dry your eyes,
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
and I won't let go

Oh I'm gonna hold you
and I won't let go
Won't let you go
No I won't


Just an all around good song

Tunes On Tuesday

I love this whole song, but I resisted the urge to post all the lyrics.

Sometimes I close my eyes and think that these would be the kind of words my dad would use if he could even grasp the idea he had to say goodbye to us...

Never Alone
"My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone"

Tea Tuesday

I need this mug. Caregiving to any extent and my dad like this could totally get me in the runnings to be a supermodel. :)

Tea Tuesday is reminder to you too, my friends and wanderers that found your way here. Remember that all the good you do won't get done if you're not around or if you aren't properly taking care of yourself.
So, please, take a minute to relax with me at some point today.

Tunes On Tuesday

I posted before about a Rhianna song that wasn't meant for my family's situation, but speaks to me so loudly! I found a video!

Love The Way You Lie, Pt 2
On the first page of our story
the future seemed so bright
then this thing turned out so evil
I don't know why I'm still surprised
even angels have their wicked schemes
and you take that to new extremes
but you'll always be my hero
even though you've lost your mind
(seriously, that bolded part gave me chills the first time I heard it)

He's So Young...

It's not uncommon for people to be shocked about my dad's condition due to his age. "Dementia? He's so young..."

Although my dad was 54 when he was diagnosed, he was having predominant behavioral changes before then. That is why we were seeking answers from doctors to begin with. Frontotemporal Dementia is one of the forms of dementia that does affect a younger generation. Typically, from what I've read, onset is between the ages of 40 - 70 years old.

So, aside from all the other difficultes with this disease, the behavioral changes and loss of emotion for example, age is another giant issue to deal with. Like my dad, a lot of people who get this are still of working age with bills to pay and families they are caring for. There's a loss of income, working spouses/(often times) children still in school have to become caregivers and all future plans (because at age 40 - 70, you still expect you have a future with a loved one) are out the window.

And that's once you get a diagnosis! Because of his age, no one really thought about dementia outside of us speculating at first. We only knew about Alzheimer's before this and although my dad had his memories, we went even that route trying to find answers, or at least to rule it out. A specialist's office shrugged everything off that was going on with my dad as depression - exercise, take some anti-depressants and all should be well soon. Then when that wasn't working, maybe it was his blood pressure medication. In the end, an MRI was the only thing that really got us a solid answer once a specialist saw it. From there, some more testing was done to see how advanced he was with it.

In hindsight, I'm not sure what's worst ... not knowing and being so confused before or getting an answer and having it been this.

Link of the day: The Enigma of Early-Onset Dementi