#braincalcification

[braincalcification]

How do you answer

When someone stops you to ask you if your mother is special needs....

So many things ran through my head....

Do I try to educate them on this rare brain disease that is stealing my mother from me?

How do I answer this question?

Why SHOULD I answer this question?

Do I simply break their nose for being so rude?

I was so stunned I probably let a perfectly good teaching opportunity slip through my fingers by not answering at all, but when you preface the question with "don't be mad, but..." you know you're being rude so back the fuck off

[braincalcification]

I have to keep reminding myself.

There will always be days like today. I will get through them one at a time.

I always have.

Even if I feel like I can't handle it anymore, somehow I will. And the day will be over.

And one day another day like today will come, and I'll have to fight the same battle again.

I know I am getting tired and I'm ready to give up. But my present self says to my future self

"See, you made it through this day, there's a high probability you make it through the next too."

[braincalcification]

How do you answer

When someone stops you to ask you if your mother is special needs....

So many things ran through my head....

Do I try to educate them on this rare brain disease that is stealing my mother from me?

How do I answer this question?

Why SHOULD I answer this question?

Do I simply break their nose for being so rude?

I was so stunned I probably let a perfectly good teaching opportunity slip through my fingers by not answering at all, but when you preface the question with "don't be mad, but..." you know you're being rude so back the fuck off

[braincalcification]

Things you reevaluate when you are disabled or are caring for a person with a disability

-When a particularly hard or stressful day with tons of roadblock, hiccups and trials suddenly becomes "the new norm"

And realizing that that particularly stressful day DOES in fact END. You can try again tomorrow baby.

-If you haven't had to function with the disability for your entire life: the day it TRULY hits home how the world is less than accomodating for the disabled. How a simple curb can become a challenge, a parking lot a football field, a simple doctor's office visit a nearly insurmountable obstacle...

-And yet somehow you've still made it through the day...

-How your doctor doesn't always know either. And surprisingly you're sometimes (ok maybe a lot of the times) better informed than he/she

(And no, exercise doesn't cure everything, though we admit it may sometimes help)

-That some days are just simply gonna be worse than others. Period.

-And those bright shiny days when they're suddenly better...

-That there will be people who you can NEVER convince that you're truly sick/can't just get better...

-And maybe it's time to stop trying...

-That an empathetic ear can mean the world

-And a good doctor too

-That we're none of us blameless. We will fight amongst our selves. Family gets on each other's nerves. Caretakers make errors, friends don't always understand, things aren't always easy. But, the truly good ones will "make up". Because there is value in those relationships even if they can't always be 100% perfect. And the ones who don't bother trying, maybe they weren't worth it in the first place... We learn from it and take that knowledge moving forward...

-Today ends, tomorrow is a new day

[braincalcification]

Bad memory day for mom

I'm trying to think of some good ways to remind her of what she has to do and what time. A dry erase board? Her calendar isn't working because she forgets to look at it, and it's not got enough space for multi event days.

Anybody out there have some really good suggestions for those with memory problems that are beyond the obvious (black board, calendar, dry erase board?) something unique she might not forget to check?