July 28, 2019

Lunch with Jane:

Wednesday was a very busy day for me. So while I absolutely made the time to visit my stepmom, I didn’t have a chance to post about it.

Honestly, I didn’t have much to say. It was another visit where my stepmom wasn’t very present. She was mostly blank stares & silence. She listened to all my stories, but didn’t react. I noticed she was leaning far to her right. Usually means she had an episode. We don’t know if it’s a mini-stroke, a seizure or something else. And most of the time anymore, they happen when she’s alone. She is now wheelchair bound so I suppose they could happen during the day, but they aren’t big enough for anyone to notice.

I swung by to see Jane briefly today. It’s my brother & sister-in-law’s day to visit so I didn’t want to intrude too much on their visit. Jane had already eaten & they were all sitting in the clubhouse chatting. I knew instantly it was a good day for my stepmom. She was very alert & talking. She smiled quite a bit for us too. I snapped a picture of her smiling for my dad. I didn’t quite capture the full smile, but even what I did capture you can tell a huge difference between Wednesday & today. Jane was happy. She listened to our stories & laughed a couple of times. She doesn’t laugh like she used to. My stepmom had this huge, fill the entire room, laugh. It’s been a very long time since I’ve heard that laugh. Not it’s more of a small giggle – but enough to make it clear she is listening to us & is aware of everything we say.

My dad said Jane had a good day yesterday & Matt told me she’d been happy last week when they visited too. Maybe Wednesdays are bad days for her. Perhaps I need to change up my days to visit.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand why some days are good & others are horrible. What causes the disease to completely take over some days, while others it only takes over partial control? Until we have better answers – better insight into this horrible disease, I will be grateful for a good day, even if it feels far & few between.

I hate this disease!!