Busy... Busy ... Busy

Hello everyone! Geez - by looking at the time between posts you would think nothing was going on but it is quite the opposite!!

We had a great summer and are adjusting to fall. Mikayla started first grade this year and has a WONDERFUL teacher. She loves reading but her favorite things are lunch and recess.

Ruthie started preschool. She takes a bus and everything. Poor thing gets on the bus at 7:15. She seems to handle it ok. I think mommy and daddy are having the trouble adjusting.

Jim is still really good at getting the girls off the to the bus. However, he seems to do better with Mikayla so I have been taking care of Ruthie while he gets Mikayla going. He has been walking Mikayla to the bus most mornings and waits for her in the driveway in the afternoon. (The school district REFUSES to change her bus stop to the house.) I plan to revisit that issue later.

Jim had another visit with his ALS neurologist. He is having a lot of pain. Mostly in his sides. The doctor says he thinks it is because Jim is just always so stiff. Even watching tv his arms are tight to his sides. He does not swing his arms at all when he walks so the constant tension is causing pain. He has upped his medication and added another to try to relieve the muscle spasms. I am not sure it has helped very much. Jim refuses to take his pain medication because it usually doesn't even touch the pain. He starts seeing pain management later this month.

Tomorrow (well later today) he has his first appointment with the new FTD specialist. I have heard nothing but good things about this new neurologist and am looking forward to hearing his input.

Although Jim is still doing better mentally I am sad to say we have been noticing some slippage here and there. There are days it seems he remembers nothing. Or he will grasp onto one idea or thought and obsess over it. DO NOT tell him you are thinking of doing something or going somewhere unless you mean it!! There have been some odd moments (like crossing the street in front of Ruthie's bus and throwing out Mikayla's homework) but overall I think the good moments are still out weighing the bad.

This next week Jim's Aunt Mary and I are going to Indianapolis for the International FTD conference. I am really kind of excited. I look forward to meeting a lot of my online support group. I am forever grateful to my sister Jeannie for hauling her two kids all the way from Virgina to "keep Jim company" and to his cousin Amanda for coming to watch grandma and grandpa so Aunt Mary can come. WOO HOO - big trip out - just us girls. We leave Tuesday - and knowing us our "night out" will probably consist of pillows blankies and some zzzz's!!