May. 30, 2006 - 20:47 MDT

TINK THANK

Weary to the bone tonight, hard for this old man to keep up with what is going on in the family. Went with Heather to the dentist today. She is at the stage of life where she is looking at full upper dentures. She has fought a valiant battle to save her teeth, she hasn't given up but I think her teeth are in full retreat.

Took her out for a soup lunch and thence home. Her pain medication seems to be holding the line pretty well, but she is not doing all that well. I think the nervous strain of tooth extraction is getting to her finally. The dentist removed two teeth instead of just one this time. Might be a bit of shock involved.

I have often wondered if those root canals might be behind the physical ailments she has been fighting for some number of years. Not being knowledgeable in those matters I don't qualify as an expert, but it is my understanding that when a root canal is done on a tooth, the tooth is essentially dead, just a hunk of inert human porcelain -- dead on the inside. Makes me wonder if that is the source of her problems. I do pray and hope they can find out something concrete and treat it and bring things under control.

This latest consult after her recent bone scan tells her that she has osteoporosis, early on but it definitely is that bone sucker.

Recommended treatment ? Fosamax. She was switched from Tamoxifen to a newer cancer drug some time ago (She had a lumpectomy some years ago and is showing no recurrence). The new one required that Fosamax be taken with it. They had to put her back on Tamoxifen because of her adverse reaction to Fosamax. So, unless they can come up with some other means of treatment it appears that she will have to go in frequently for injections.

She and our son are folks whose reactions to prescription medication is often weird to say the least. Sometimes the effects are severe and sometimes there is no evidence that the medication is doing any good. Their bodies do not cooperate with medical science might be a valid sentence.

Spending time to try to keep her comfortable and reasonably content, that is about all a husband can do. We just can't seem to do miracles like Mothers can.

In the over all picture though, we are lucky. We tease each other about being in Alzheimer's when we can't come up with a word, or a well known memory. But, I think some of that comes from just plain aging in most folks.

We are still together in a house and making it with a modicum of help from the kids and can navigate fairly well. Time and distance are of course enemies of the old I think. I can be upright for a time, then have to sit down and rest a bit before continuing. My beloved birthday present is a Godsend there. It's a four wheeled walker, with compartments deluxe including one beneath the seat that will hold a thermos and lunch to boot. A flap sack hanging from the top rod will hold my Helios oxygen bottle and water bottle. Much better than the traditional grocery buggy type of cart. When I get tired and need to rest, I just stop in a place out of the way of folks, set the brakes, turn around and sit down as long as I need to for a rest.

Time and distance are hard to actually nail down. Lets see, distance is easy to calculate, about two city blocks before I need to sit down and rest. Along with that is something I haven't been able to do for years. My family has the habit of standing and visiting. I last for a short time and then go sit down.

Time is another enemy in some respects. I run out of it along with energy, much earlier than when I was younger.

But keeping those in mind and trying to avoid stupid things like spading up our flower bed recently, I do get along fairly well for a man of my age, 125 years old ain't so bad after all. Doubt if I'll make it that far, just feel that old when I first creak out of bed (before a brown tranfusion of caffeine).

I posted this in my blog recently, a somewhat humorous look at my age.

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MEETING WITH AL Z. HEIMER

How it is, I'm:

S -- Short of breath,

E -- Eyes are shot,

N -- Nose is getting bigger,

I -- Itches where it doesn't ache,

L -- Limpin' a little,

E -- Everything is tired.

Add 'em up and they don't spell Mother, so senility here I am.

++++++++++

I don't think I am in senile dementia, or if I am this man is having more fun than many young folks.

Biggest load on my shoulders is worry about Heather's health and my inability to solve her problems with a snap of my fingers.

If I were independently wealthy, I guess I would finance a brain trust of egg heads who know everything about nothing or nothing about everything, give it a fancy name, and put them to work. Perhaps call it Bastion's TINK THANK . . . . . . . . .

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