Update

I'm not doing so well as a Blogger....it's a lot like my Twitter account - I tweet but I'm not sure anyone reads what I tweet.  The Blog thing is just something I haven't embraced.  Perhaps it's because I'm not sure I have anything anyone really wants to read.

My dad is now 73 and he continues to have problems with reading and writing.  We just keep getting conflicting information.  We had been told by the doctor in Tampa that he had a stroke.  We followed up recently with a doctor in Indianapolis (a neuro-ophthalmologist).  At first she concurred with the Tampa doctor that he's had a stroke, but if that were the case, he should be improving and he's not.  She had another PET CT scan done and now she says there is no indication on there that he has had a stroke.  She had diagnosed him with PPA - a rare form of dementia called Primary Progressive Aphasia.  For my dad, his symptoms are basically problems with letter recognition, writing, and reading aloud.  No big deal, right?  Not for most of us, but for my dad, who happens to be a college professor AND a successful textbook author?  It's a big deal.  It's a HUGE deal!  It's probably the most cruel thing that could have happened to him.  So now what?

He finally has an appointment scheduled at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville in October.  I pray that they can determine what's wrong with him.  If it truly is PPA, they have programs and studies dealing specifically with PPA.  My hope is that we can get both of my parents into some sort of PPA management and care program for when they are down south during the winter months.  From what I have read so far, this disease will progress and he will get worse.  How much worse, we don't know.  

For the time being, my goal was to get him writing again, and that's happening.  He's not able to write as he did in the past - he can't just sit down at the computer and write - but with my mom's and my help, he's writing.  Right now we're working on several cases to submit for publication.  He tells me what to write and I type it in.  In some cases, he's been able to sit down and type, but he often has to stop and ask my mom how to spell a word and sometimes he can't remember which letter he's supposed to hit on the keyboard, but we're learning to be patient.  

He is going to be teaching a class again this Fall - it's on-line, so there's not the issue of his being unable to read something to the class.  However, it will mean a lot of interaction on-line and I'm guessing that will require my assistance.

And that brings us to me....school started this week and for the second year in a row, I didn't go.  It was easier this year than last.  Last year was really raw.  This year, not so much.  Now, though, it's pretty clear that I need to find a job and quickly.  But what to do?  I had found several opportunities that seemed intriguing, but they were out of town.  With my dad's problems, moving is out of the question.  There are some who don't approve, but I can't abandon my parents.  My mom doesn't touch the computer, my siblings are out of town, and there's no one else who can be at my dad's beck and call to help him with computer/writing issues.  Sure, he can call a repairman to get the printer working, but a repairman isn't going to send an email with an attachment for him.  So....if it's to be, it's up to me.

Introduction

     I am 50 years old.  I have never been married.  I spent 25 years as a high school teacher but have been on a medical leave for the past year.  I have a younger brother and younger sister, both of whom are married.  I am the only one who lives in the same town as our parents.  My sister and her family live three hours away while my brother and sister-in-law live a thousand miles away.  My mom is 74 and my dad is 72.  Comparatively, they are still pretty young.  Both of them have longevity in their family history, so it's not unreasonable to expect them to have at least 15 years left.  My parents spend the winter months at our beach home in south Georgia.
     My mom is a breast cancer survivor of nearly 24 years.  She is an insulin dependent diabetic.  She is obese and get little physical activity. She does play golf several times a week, but she drives a cart.  She suffers from lymphedema and venous insufficiency in her lower legs.  They look awful!  The skin is severely discolored and thin.  Her lower legs are very misshapen.  She also has knee and hip problems and struggles to walk properly.  She would prefer to "waddle" instead of getting her knees replaced.  She has a recumbent bike in her kitchen but doesn't ride it regularly.  She claims she does, but it's not even plugged in.  She is almost always sitting down watching TV and working on her counted cross-stitch.
  My dad has had heart problems since he was in his mid-20's.  We had been told he had a heart attack at age 27, but we've since learned that wasn't the case.  At age 40 he collapsed while teaching and we discovered he had a problem that required him to get a pacemaker.  He's had it replaced several times.  One year ago (last March), he had a heart attack, which led to a triple bypass.  He appears to have fully recovered from that.  The more disconcerting problem, is his memory.  He has been having problems for over a year, now.  In January 2012, he admitted he was struggling to remember what specific letters looked like and how to spell certain words.  I got him to agree to get help and my mom tried to get him into Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.  Because they couldn't get in right away, she gave up and that was it.  My dad has continued to struggle - mostly with words, letters, and symbols - and finally this past fall, his neurologist sent him to a neuro-psychologist.  The test results weren't good but instead of following through, the ball was dropped.  There was an opportunity to see a doctor in Indianapolis but the appointment they had available conflicted with a presentation of an award to my dad, so instead of asking if the presentation could be done some other time, they didn't make the appointment.  Yes, the award was great, but this is his life!
  My mom has supposedly been trying to get my dad into Mayo's now for this winter but once again, it's not been possible.  I just keep hearing from people that it should be no problem to get an appointment and that he doesn't need any referrals from doctors, yet we can't get him in.  Finally my brother stepped up and was able to get our dad into a neurologist in Tampa.  My parents drove to Tampa on Sunday and my dad met with a neurologist.  He had blood work and additional memory tests today and tomorrow he will have an EEG.  They have a follow-up with the neurologist on Friday.  We are praying we have some answers.  However, I'm not sure if we're ready for what those answers might be...
  My dad's mother and aunt both had Alzheimer's.  We are very concerned that he has it and his fear is making him difficult to live with.  Whatever the outcome on Friday, I would love for my dad to get counseling in order to deal with whatever this is.  I am concerned for my mom as she often bears the brunt of his hostility.  He is verbally abusive to her, even though he says he adores her.
  As I am the only one who lives close to my parents, I am feeling the pressure of bearing the burden of dealing with them.  Added to that, my sister and brother haven't spoken to each other in over a year - making me have to be in the middle.  I need for them to resolve their conflict (or at least agree to disagree) in order for us to be able to help our parents.