For the last month or so, I have been packing, visiting Mama, moving, and unpacking. The trips to Blytheville have been a good break from the moving chaos, but have also been heart wrenching. Yesterday, my sister, Peggy, and I took Mama to a neurologist because we wanted to get a definitive diagnosis. It was as we had suspected: Lewy Body Disease. If you haven't heard of it, it is very similar to Alzheimer's but has some differences. One of the main differences is that the plaques in the brain are diffused so that not just one area is affected. Sometimes you see things that are not there--mostly people---in Mama's case there have been people that she thought she recognized or knew from somewhere but was not too familiar with. Just imagine how weird it must be to tell someone that you have seen people in your home at all hours of the night and the reaction you would get. I mean your brain is telling you they are there! And no one believes you. It's got to be so frustrating and confusing. Yesterday Mama asked us what time it was about 10 times in a 10 minute period because she did not remember what we had just told her. This disease is a cruel one, and like Alzheimer's, is difficult to witness. She continues to have a sense of humor and at times is her "old self". We still laugh a lot and she has the capacity to laugh at herself... something all of us, especially me, could do more of. She has friends and family who drop by, but the phone calls are tough. Most people want her to recognize who they are, of course. And sometimes she does, and other times she doesn't. It's not that she doesn't love that person or want to remember, it's just that her brain has barriers that keep her from connecting. Right now she is "in the moment" and may not remember much about the conversation she just had, but she loved every minute of it while you were talking to her. And that is a wonderful thing! I think diseases like this one cut to the chase. What time is it? It's time to love, to enjoy, to forgive, and to show grace.
