TheLeeThomasnovels

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Thin reality

May 4, 2025 This post began after I saw a post by a friend about the effect of visiting Dachau had on them.  That made me remember something that had affected me deeply.  I was on a bicycle trip in the mid 90’s (I think 1995).  I rode through several Civil War battlefield on that trip and often felt I was being watched.  The strongest feeling of that was leaving Fredericksburg early in the…

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A Terrible Responsibility

8/1/2024 My mother is back in the hospital.  Once again it is cellulitis.  She is doing okay and getting better.  We did not want to take her to the hospital again but I made the decision.  Mom is DNR/No heroic measures.  This does not mean we will not treat those things that do not require major surgery and can be treated non-invasively.  We will not have her hurting or suffering something that…

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Shut them down

7/13/2024 I have not posted anything on here in a couple of years. Why? Because life kind of has me tied down pretty good dealing with a parent with dementia. Tonight, I have to get on here. Four times in my life, I have seen an assignation  attempt on a current or former US president. Kennedy, Ford (forgot that one didn’t you), Reagan, and now the former president Donald Trump. The question …

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Waiting

May 21. 2024 I am sitting in an emergency room waiting for my mother to be admitted. She spent last week being treated for cellulitis. The infection got knocked out pretty well. The problem is her heart rate started being much roo fast. One of the meds they gave her for that seemed to work. The problem is that it does not work for as long as expected. She came home Saturday and is now back at…

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February 7, 2024 I realized yesterday that I am depressed, confused and a bit unstable. When I think about it how could I not be at least some of that? I have been dealing with a parent with deme…

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Mental Evaluation

February 7, 2024 I realized yesterday that I am depressed, confused and a bit unstable.  When I think about it how could I not be at least some of that?  I have been dealing with a parent with dementia for at least 20 years.  My father has been gone since 2008.  In fact, it was about this time in 2008 that I began this blog.  I did it with the intention of helping my own mental state and maybe…

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Saints, Heroes and Shut-ins

December 1, 2023 You probably read the title of this one and thought “Where in the hell is he going with this one?” I think this will make sense.  We all have a good idea of what a hero is as well as some notion of what makes a saint.  The shut-in is a bit more difficult to define for the purpose of this essay.  Most of the time we think of a shut-in as someone with some physical or mental…

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A Good One

October 22, 2023 Today is my mother’s 92nd birthday!  Except for a few physical problems she is in good shape.  Unfortunately, those problems have made her bedridden for the last year.  She has a hip that should have been repaired in about 2010.  The pain from this hip, the depression from having dealt with my father’s dementia and the rapid loss of siblings and friends has clouded her mind…

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Special deal

The Spy Dreams Collection: Volume 1 will be available free for Kindle and Kindle apps 9/13-9/14/2023. https://tinyurl.com/yc2jrvjj

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They are Listening

August 30, 2023 There are two things that are very hard to manage when dealing with any sort of dementia as a care giver.  Both of them are not so good for a care giver. First.  Do not talk like the person you are caring for can’t hear you.   They most definitely can.  It is an easy mistake to make since you are sometimes getting no feedback as you talk to them.  You can sometimes tell if you…

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Around Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Pqrkway

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Waylon was Right

February 27, 2023 “I’ve always been crazy but it’s kept me from going insane.” At this point of my life I think that Waylon Jennings got it right. After 20 years of dealing with some form of dementia or another it is a miracle that I am a functioning human being. You begin to question your own sanity or ability to function. Dealing every day for years with the little things that begin first is…

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Context

December 5, 2022 No matter what you are relating to someone else, be it images, speech or written word context matters. Suppose that you tell someone that you took a picture of a very young child in a bathtub.  Without context you might be considered a pedophile or some other flavor of pervert.  But tell them you have a picture of your young child taking their first bath and what they think of…

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Orphan?

November 20, 2022 A few days ago, my sister and I were getting things in line to help with my mother.  A lift, a bedside recliner and a caregiver to help care for her.  As you can guess this is quite emotional for us.  I also have the problem that the stroke I had a few years ago affected thew portion of my brain that helps to control emotions, I have found myself crying at sappy commercials. …

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Glad I Don't Drink

Glad I Don’t Drink

November 15, 2022 . It is not actually true that I don’t drink but I have seldom drunk to excess. I honestly do not remember the last time I even had a slight buzz. Right now, I am so messed up without chemical aids that I have no need of anything. How many of you have watched a parent die? It sucks, doesn’t it? I am in the unenviable position that I will probably personally see both of my…

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Flux Capacitor

November 7, 2022 Does anyone have a working flux capacitor handy.  Sounds silly, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, that would be the only thing that would help my mother.  IF I could go back in time her left hip would have been fixed in about 2010.  Would she still have problems?  Yes, but her extreme pain has been a major factor in her decline.  She dealt with early onset Alzheimer’s in her younger…

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