Journal entry by Karen Pikula —
Hello Friends of Lorraine,
It has been awhile since I have done an update for Mom. Our lives have been very busy!!!
First of all wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
A little update on Mom since our last update:
Mom has been doing extremely well in terms of her health. With the dedicated help of her team of doctors we have recently been able to find a happy medium for controlling her blood pressures. She has had a few incidents where she has taken a few falls. Some have been the result of her Parkinson's connected to the typical symptoms of Parkinson's; muscle coordination etc. Some are the result of her Parkinson's hijacking her autonomic nervous system and periodically taking some control of her involuntary body systems, one of which, is the control of her blood pressure. For the past two years we have been trying to find a happy medium on blood pressure med dosages...I think we have reached a good spot for now. Mom is not dizzy now and her blood pressures are staying in somewhat safe ranges.
She has been attending twice a week Parkinson's Rehab sessions and has now graduated to weekly group sessions! :)
She has started to paint again and spends several hours a day putsing with her paints (out in the garage by the glass door wood stove that she and Dad so loved!)
Mom has 24 hour "around the clock" care companions. She calls them her "Little Angels" and... they truly are angels! They help her when she needs it, and support her when she doesn't! (She still is doing a lot of her housework etc.)
Yesterday we had a Christmas / Birthday Party celebration for Mom's Angels. They insisted on including her Birthday in this celebration! (they were so concerned about her on her first birthday and Christmas without her Beloved Bob!)
On the Holidays her Angles help me order the makings for Holiday meals and they have been cooking Holiday dinners for her in her home. She enjoys helping to stuff the turkey and cook the meal! (She still likes turkey better than ham! :)
She loves visiting her kittens down in my horse barn. Somehow we ended up with a ton of new barn kittens and have spent the last several months taking them in to be spayed and neutered and having them get all of their shots...What a job, but she loves going down everyday and giving them leftovers, sweeping my barn, and checking if they are all there and safe!
She rides to church every Sunday with me and Rick and has most recently been involved in meal clean up and washing all those pans at our potluck dinners! So good to see her doing the things she used to do, and enjoying doing them!
Today I am going to post several photos...some I have taken on Sundays as we listen to sermons in Kesti Square and more recently in the Service Room. Some are of her painting etc., and some from yesterday's
celebration.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are facing many challenges as we move forward in this new life without her husband and her "rock" and without my loving father...But each day God gives us the strength and the daily material supports to move forward.
Please stop to visit...Mom continues to improve and her memory is improving, and she enjoys those visits even more than before!
Take care and love to all,
Karen and Lorraine
It has been awhile since I have done an update for Mom. Our lives have been very busy!!!
First of all wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
A little update on Mom since our last update:
Mom has been doing extremely well in terms of her health. With the dedicated help of her team of doctors we have recently been able to find a happy medium for controlling her blood pressures. She has had a few incidents where she has taken a few falls. Some have been the result of her Parkinson's connected to the typical symptoms of Parkinson's; muscle coordination etc. Some are the result of her Parkinson's hijacking her autonomic nervous system and periodically taking some control of her involuntary body systems, one of which, is the control of her blood pressure. For the past two years we have been trying to find a happy medium on blood pressure med dosages...I think we have reached a good spot for now. Mom is not dizzy now and her blood pressures are staying in somewhat safe ranges.
She has been attending twice a week Parkinson's Rehab sessions and has now graduated to weekly group sessions! :)
She has started to paint again and spends several hours a day putsing with her paints (out in the garage by the glass door wood stove that she and Dad so loved!)
Mom has 24 hour "around the clock" care companions. She calls them her "Little Angels" and... they truly are angels! They help her when she needs it, and support her when she doesn't! (She still is doing a lot of her housework etc.)
Yesterday we had a Christmas / Birthday Party celebration for Mom's Angels. They insisted on including her Birthday in this celebration! (they were so concerned about her on her first birthday and Christmas without her Beloved Bob!)
On the Holidays her Angles help me order the makings for Holiday meals and they have been cooking Holiday dinners for her in her home. She enjoys helping to stuff the turkey and cook the meal! (She still likes turkey better than ham! :)
She loves visiting her kittens down in my horse barn. Somehow we ended up with a ton of new barn kittens and have spent the last several months taking them in to be spayed and neutered and having them get all of their shots...What a job, but she loves going down everyday and giving them leftovers, sweeping my barn, and checking if they are all there and safe!
She rides to church every Sunday with me and Rick and has most recently been involved in meal clean up and washing all those pans at our potluck dinners! So good to see her doing the things she used to do, and enjoying doing them!
Today I am going to post several photos...some I have taken on Sundays as we listen to sermons in Kesti Square and more recently in the Service Room. Some are of her painting etc., and some from yesterday's
celebration.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are facing many challenges as we move forward in this new life without her husband and her "rock" and without my loving father...But each day God gives us the strength and the daily material supports to move forward.
Please stop to visit...Mom continues to improve and her memory is improving, and she enjoys those visits even more than before!
Take care and love to all,
Karen and Lorraine
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