IT HAS BEEN A WHILE

It has been a while since my last blog and things are meandering along in Lewy Body world.  Bought Dad  the upwords game.  Tiles anre big and easy to handle  and clip into place oon the board.  The board is smaller than a scrabble board so that means a shorter attention span required.   It breaks my heart to see this man who used to slam dunk me with seven letter words in scrabble  trying to put together three letter words on the board.  Oh  Lewy you are a thief in the dark that steals the most precious things in the cruelest way leaving a trail of devastation and broken hearts  behind you.

Tibet 2000

This is information I have taken from  Yo Wangdu's page  and is very similar to part of the pilgrimage I made in 2000 to Tibet.  It was the most wonderful and fulfilling experience. One I have never regretted and one I hope to do again.   It is truely where my heart resides.

Reting and the nunnery and sky burial were the most incredible experiences and we were also fortunate enough to go to Samye. Check out  www.yowandu.com   for more info on this trip.

This Land Cruiser trip is a great loop that takes you a bit off the main tourist routes, with beautiful scenery on every leg of the journey and each place fascinating in its own right. Ask your travel agent about setting it up.

 

(View from near Reting Monastery -- Drigung Til Monastery -- Derdom Nunnery. Photos: YoWangdu.)

 

 

Day One:  Lhasa to Pembo

Day Two: Pembo to Namtso Lake

Day Three: Namtso to Reting

Day Four: Reting

Day Five: Reting to Drekung til or Derdom

Day Six: Derdom

Day Seven: Derdom to Lhasa

 

Day One:  Lhasa to Pembo Valley

You can camp the first night out of Lhasa in the lovely, pastoral Pembo (Lundrub) Valley, full of barley fields and not on most tourist routes. While in Pembo, visit the small, local, non-touristy Nalanda and Langtang Monasteries.

 

Day Two: Pembo Valley to Namtso Lake

This not very traveled road, off the main route to Namtso, has endless, beautiful river valleys. You can also get to Namtso in one day from Lhasa if you prefer, on a more direct, and more traveled road. Namtso is beautiful, and high -- 15,400 ft / 4718 m. -- so be prepared for altitude symptoms.

 

Day Three: Namtso Lake to Reting Monastery

After first dreading the five and six and seven hour days of jolting over rough roads in the Land Cruiser, we found that the scenery unrolling through the window was mesmerizing in its beauty. Virtually every road we traveled in Tibet follows a big beautiful river, many of them milky blue-green, indicating origins in the snow mountains.

 

Day Four: Reting Monastery

In a country full of spectacular natural beauty, Reting is a pastoral heaven. At 13,350 ft, the monastery overlooks a perfectly smooth green and placid valley, a milky snow-fed river running through the bottom. Climb up the hill to Tsongkhapa's hermitage and a nunnery perched even higher up the mountain.

 

Day Five: Reting to Dregung Til Monastery

Dregung Til Monastery is known for having the holiest sky burial site in the Lhasa area. You can camp near Dregung sho, at the base of the steep mountain side that Dregung Monastery perches on.

 

Day Six: Tidrum Nunnery (Derdom)

From Dregung Til, it's a short drive to Tidrum nunnery, nestled in a narrow little picturesque valley criss-crossed with prayer flags and home to medicinal hot springs you can bathe in.

 

Day Seven: Tidrum to Lhasa 

On the return journey, we stopped at Meldro-Gonkar for the Shodun festival happening there (it was September), with excellent horse and yak races.

happy birthday

Happy birthday to me 63 today Going to be a great year

The Missing Keys

have to share this with you not my Lewy Dad but my Mum who also has memory issues.  Had been at Mum & Dads Since Sunday went home lunch time yesterday  and then a received  phone call last night . 

what did ***  do with the house keys? 

Let me set the scene..  the keys have long ribbons attached and there are two sets kept in a special place near the doors.   Structure order & continuity. 

Once I had tried to convince her that  the carer's hubby, care nurses  or meals on wheels  had not taken the keys, Mum settled a bit .. says me ...they have been misplaced you will find them.... rang back an hour later  Mum is in tears haven’t found the keys both sets are now missing  how are we going to lock the house up tonight  ... house is locked up tighter than Fort Knox.   

says me .. will be there in 30 minutes.  Turned off dinner put the dogs away  @6.00 drove back to Mum and Dad's. Took the spare set of keys I keep so we can at least lock up if keys are missing.  On the drive turned to my man and said ...bet they are on the table right in front of her.  Walked in Dad is agitated and upset Mum is in her chair crying. 

Looked on the table and voila! there are BOTH sets of keys.. Says me... What are you upset about you found the keys.. Mum ...no they are the other keys ...  What other Keys?...  No Mum these are the house keys ...would not accept it until she had put the keys in the doors and tried them.   Then she just broke down and sobbed .. we tried to make light of the situation  and reassure both Mum and Dad  that it was Ok no harm done ..better false alarms than not being told when something was wrong ....

This has really scared her ...any one who is familiar with my  posts knows that Mum and I have a problematic relationship  but last night I really felt for her  as she sobbed her heart out  and it is the first time in my life she has ever apologised  to me.    The poignant thing is they celebrate 66 years of marriage this Friday.  We stayed fixed dinner and made sure Dad took his meds and had something to eat  made Mum  a coffee and  hopefully  she will eat the jelly that is in the fridge.  Finally 2 hours later left to come home  .. Fortunately  it is Norah’s night she is  the night carer  and was due at 9.00pm.   The joys of caring for your parents .

Karmapa

This is another image I really want to share today and also keep for myself so am posting to my blog

This image has been picked up by a lady in the USA and being used to bring awareness to LBD So pleased

This is also another image that has been picked up and being used over seas

What an interesting 24 hours

What an interesting 24 hours

Yesterday was so hot and humid I felt physically and emotionally drained  and did not even  log on as it was simply too hot to cope with anything.

My dear older 4 legged friend opened a cut on his face which bleed profusely all over everyone and everything  and of course  sometimes being a glass half full  person I immediately thought he had been bitten by a snake until I had cleaned up all the blood.

At 7.20am EDT  Burnie in Tasmania was hit by a 3.4 tremor registering 3.4 on the Richter scale   Poor Tassie  Bushfires Snow and tremors all in one week

So this morning up at 4.40am and as usual when I woke I hoped on to FB to do my updates for the various pages we own and a couple of posts jumped out at me  and I am going to share them this morning for the following reasons...

·         They made me feel good
·         They addressed a common  problem amongst dementia caregivers
·         They inspired me
·         I  simply want to share

This is a post from a FB friend and my response.
I know many of you will relate to this.
Hope the response can help the FB friend and anyone else who finds themselves in this situation.
It is as much about knowing you are not the only one to feel that way.
“ So I don't care if she doesn't mean it or doesn't know what she's saying...when she tells me if I don't come and f**king get her, she has no daughter! Yes it does cut me to the core”

It is heart breaking and soul destroying when our parents are affected like this. Please don’t stop posting as you need to get how you feel out of your system. You know and I know, rationally that it is the disease but the gut wrenching emotion we feel when these words are said is not easy to overcome and has to be let out. We grow up and even if we are not that close to our parents we somehow think they are going to always be the there and then disease claims them and things change and in many instances we become the parent. It shouldn't happen but it does.. Of all the things that happen in life this is one of the hardest things to take the hardest walk; but what does not break us strengthens us. You will get there.  <3 span="span">

 

Then there was the post from Norrms in the UK talking about the standardisation of MME’s and of course I had to buy into that one as well

Norrms

Later today I will write a letter to Alistair Burns, the UK Clinical Director of Dementia asking for the Unification of the Mini Mental Test within the UK. Last year I was aghast to learn that different trust`s around the UK ask differing questions and also some of the questions are, well, shall we just say, not very useful, the reason for this is as follows.
Dementia is a Terminal Disease!! No one has ever survived it!! Now,
No matter where you live in the UK, if you break a bone, you are given an X-Ray, that’s a “Given”
If you have heart problems? You are given an ECG that’s a “Given”
If you think you may have a clot on the brain? You have either an MRI scan or a CT scan, that’s a “Given”
And yet, if you are brave enough to actually make an appointment with your GP, and openly admit you are having memory problems which could lead to it being a terminal disease? You are asked a few questions to score out of 30 (Approx) and if you don’t score the recommended number you are sent on your merry way!!!
Why are so many people not diagnosed? Well, let me explain, Dementia as you know is “predominantly” short term memory loss and yet some of the questions that are being asked are questions like “Who is on the Throne? The queen has been there for over 60yrs!!
Where do you live and name three streets around your house? Suppose you have lived there TWENTY years +?
What car do you drive (if applicable) and believe me it is in a lot of cases!! Most people keep their cars for years!!
Yes, these are actual questions that are being asked. The questions that are not being asked are questions like
“How did you get here this Morning?
When did you last go on Holiday ?
What did you have for breakfast?
What Season is it now?
Where did you go last weekend? (if carer/wife is with them, and they should be at this stage in some cases)
Now for all of those in the Government that love Stats, facts and figures, how is it possible to correlate all the information to give a true reading of figures of people who have been diagnosed in the UK when there is such a variation in the questions, depending where you live? It’s just not possible? And, more importantly, how many people are being Miss diagnosed, or not diagnosed at all because the wrong questions are being asked??
I am not an academic, far from it, but I do know that after some research of my own, some of the questions in the Mini mental test are posed by professors and consultants, which is quite right, but!! Some of them are not relevant and the wrong conclusion is being arrived at tio the cost, of dare I say it, human life.
An overhaul and a Unification of Mini Mental tests all over the UK is what`s needed. These tests are given at a time when it crucial to get it right, if we don’t get this right, at the very beginning of this illness, then lives will be lost and families destroyed. If we do get this right, the benefits are immense, not only do we help people to come to terms with this awful disease, but to improve the quality of life for thousands if not millions when you include family and carers.

 Responded ---liked and shared I agree with you and David’s statement it should be a standardised set of relevant questions covering cognitive and decision making areas as well as long and short term memory no matter where you live Lewy Body Support Group Sunshine Coast

 Found a link to Ceres  Environmental Park on FB and posted that for my Vic friends brought  back some many fond memories of Saturday morning veggie shopping buying plants and taking grandson Sam to see the chickens pigs and cows.

Also found a link to a US project called  Building the Enterprise Gen1   google the term it is simply astounding .. there are more things possible than we could ever imagine.

Today is going to be a great day I can feel it ....so much beauty and  grace in the world have a good day everyone

Rangzen Free Tibet a Grass Roots Message

This post was on FB today and was linked to the Youtube footagehttp://bit.ly/11kM2eg
It is a great grass roots  message and you do not have to be a Tibetan [although it helps] to follow the principles..  As a westerner you can learn a few Tibetan Phrases   Tashi Delek or hello.. will do for starters.  You can try to limit the Chinese made goods you purchase.  And you can make Wednesday Tibetan awareness day.  Not a hump day but a day of positive interaction and solidarity and meditation.. Try it you will have a better week

LBD Info Pictures

These are some of the images from the Lewy Body Dementia Association Inc Pintrest Page

Lewy Body Disease is back on the agenda

This morning I read a post from my dear friend Norrms in the UK. Norrms  has EOLBD and is a campainger of note. He suffers from the worst aspect of night terrors and halluncinations but never gives up.  He has been my inspiration and my hero as he has helped me under stand  what Dad is going through.

Then dear Don from the USA  posted about his beloved Marie who has LBD  and she is sleeping a lot and non responsive  Yet another side of LBD

The LBDA of the USA has set up a pintrest board and posted some great stuff  including a 12 page intro booklet.  I have posted a lot of that on our support page this morning.  I am so lucky that Dad's meds keep much of this in check and it seems as if the Parkinson's syndrome is the worst at the moment except for the memory loss for Dad.  The days are rollercoasters and because of my mothers behaviour  so emotionally draining.  She still does not accept the disease and its ramififcations perhaps it is her way of dealing with things.  I just become so exhausted dealing with her and her mood swings and her anorexia on top of everything else.

We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan

We are in the grip of a heatwave. Suddenly the old song "we are having a heatwave" is not as funny any more. We are very fortunate but other parts of Australia are doing in really tough. Poor Tassie and Victoria and New South Wales are really suffering. All we can hope for is that there is no loss of life and minimal damage to propertry and animals. Many of my FB friends are in the firing line and have evacuated and then gone back fortunately all that have reported in are safe. How can we say that Climate change is not happening when we are experiencing the hotest days on record ever Australia wide. When I woke at 5.00am this morning it was cool but the sky was tinged with pink heralding a really hot day. I love where I live but I looked at the mountains that surround us and the bush and do not feel safe. We have seen towns swallowed up in flash bush fires before. What do we take.. what is essential to survival. Standing there in the cool dawn light I came to the conclusion that the only things I could not live without are my wonderful man and my beautiful 4 legged babies who could not fend for themselves in a fire. I have lived through a house fire and lost so many treasures... some I still look for but all my loved ones were safe and thats what matters at the end of the day. Every thing else is simply a possession. Yes it is inconvenient to try and replace things and somethings are unique. But at the end of the day do I really need those things. All that really matters is keep myself and my loved ones safe. 2 and 4 legged Lets hope we get a change and some decent rain where it is most needed. At the moment I feel a bit like Hanrahan

SAID HANRAHAN "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn. The congregation stood about, C Coat-collars to the ears, And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, As it had done for years. "It's lookin' crook," said Daniel Croke; "Bedad, it's cruke, me lad, For never since the banks went broke Has seasons been so bad." "It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil, With which astute remark He squatted down upon his heel And chewed a piece of bark. And so around the chorus ran "It's keepin' dry, no doubt. " "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "Before the year is out. "The crops are done; ye'll have your work To save one bag of grain; From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke They're singin' out for rain. "They're singin' out for rain," he said, "And all the tanks are dry." The congregation scratched its head, And gazed around the sky. "There won't be grass, in any case, Enough to feed an ass; There's not a blade on Casey's place As I came down to Mass." "If rain don't come this month," said Dan, And cleared his throat to speak-- "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "If rain don't come this week." A heavy silence seemed to steal On all at this remark; And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed a piece of bark. "We want a inch of rain, we do," O'Neil observed at last; But Croke "maintained" we wanted two To put the danger past. "If we don't get three inches, man, Or four to break this drought, We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "Before the year is out." In God's good time down came the rain; And all the afternoon On iron roof and window-pane It drummed a homely tune. And through the night it pattered still, And lightsome, gladsome elves On dripping spout and window-sill Kept talking to themselves. It pelted, pelted all day long, A-singing at its work, Till every heart took up the song Way out to Back-o'Bourke. And every creek a banker ran, And dams filled overtop; "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "If this rain doesn't stop." And stop it did, in God's good time; And spring came in to fold A mantle o'er the hills sublime Of green and pink and gold. And days went by on dancing feet, With harvest-hopes immense, And laughing eyes beheld the wheat Nid-nodding o'er the fence. And, oh, the smiles on every face, As happy lad and lass Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place Went riding down to Mass. While round the church in clothes genteel Discoursed the men of mark, And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed his piece of bark. "There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man, There will, without a doubt; We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "Before the year is out." John O'Brien

Jyoti Singh Pandey

There are times when I feel so powerless about what happens in this world and one of the reasons I choose not to watch news programs but reading about the horrific injuries inflicted on this young woman is something that I need to comment on. The courage it has taken for this family to speak out against what happened to this beautiful young woman is hard to imagine from a western view point. The pain this family must be suffering is unimaginable. She was 23, educated, talented a medical student at university and beautiful. What was it about this young woman that turned a group of men into something worse than a pack of rabid animals.

Indian law prohibits naming a rape victim unless she authorises it or, if she is dead, her family agrees to it. Thanks to Jyoti and her father Badri for their strength and courage in speaking out Father of Jyoti Singh Pandey, who was gang raped in India and subsequently died of her injuries said .... My daughter didn't do anything wrong. She died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter Jyoti means Light, and she is indeed a beacon of light ...Jyoti Singh Pandey's father and family is to be congratulated for taking this step. Nothing can undo this terrible wrong. Mothers everywhere need to instill in their sons a respect for all women no matter their class, caste or skin colour. Teach our sons respect for self and all living beings then perhaps we will see an end to this behaviour. Rape is never about sex it is about power and where there is no respect or love of self there is no respect or love for others.

Tibetan New Year

Tibetan New Year (Losar) • Losar Date: 1st - 3rd of the first lunar month (Tibetan Calendar) • Losar Festival Date 2013 (Tibetan New Year 2013 Date): Feb 11, 2013 on solar calendar • Losar is considered to be the most significant festival of the Buddhist community in Tibet. The festival marks the Tibetan New Year and is celebrated with great splendour and grandeur. The word Losar has been derived from two Tibetan words, ‘lo' meaning ‘year' and ‘sar' meaning ‘new' The most important festival in Tibet Butter Lamp Festival (Losar Lantern Festival) • Mark the close of the Tibetan New Year festivities. • Tibetans go to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha in the day and migrate to a lantern show in the evening. • Tibetans use ghee to make works of art known as "butter flowers" which take the shape of Buddha figures, landscapes, pavilions, birds, beasts, flowers, trees, etc This is a link to a page that will teach you how to cook Khapse the traditional 'new year cookies' and is a great site for all things Tibetan

Hope you enjoy the images and links This page is a huge part of who I am which is why I use my Tibetan name for my blog

Friends

Yesterday I received a phone call from a couple we have come to know really well, they originally had invited us to Christmas dinner but we could not go because of caring requirements and we were just too tired. It made me realise how important true friends really are. We have not seen each other for months, don’t chat on FB or the phone, but fell back into the old familiar pattern without any problems. We had a great night thanks you two for always being there for us as we are for you. FRIEND : friend (n.) O.E. freond "friend," prp. of freogan "to love, to favor," from P.Gmc. *frijojanan "to love" (cf. O.N. frændi, O.Fris. friund, M.H.G. friunt, Ger. Freund, Goth. frijonds "friend," all alike from prp. forms). Related to O.E. freo "free" (see free (adj.)). Meaning "a Quaker" (a member of the Society of Friends) is from 1670s. Feond ("fiend," originally "enemy") and freond often were paired alliteratively in O.E.; both are masculine agent nouns derived from prp. of verbs, but are not directly related to one another (see fiend). Related: Friends. friend (v.) in the Facebook sense, attested from 2005, from the noun, but friend has been used as a verb in English since late 14c. Related: Friended; friending. Old English had freonsped "an abundance of friends" (see speed (n.)); freondleast "want of friends;" freondspedig "rich in friends", all of which would be useful now. What makes a friend ? how do friendships form ? I found an interesting word yesterday while doing some pre reading for next semester HOMOPHILLY. It refers to the tendency for people to have (non-negative) ties with people who are similar to themselves in socially significant ways. The term itself (due to Lazarsfeld) specifically refers to an internal preference. However, today it is usually used to refer to an observable behavioral tendency whose causes can include preference, but can also include opportunity. It can be more easily understood in the adage “Birds of a feather flock together” Today it is often used in context of form networks of like minded persons. True friends are like mornings, you can't have them the whole day but you can be sure, they will be there when you wake up tomorrow, next year and forever. Care giving is isolating and your conversation skills become dulled it is good to get out and be with friends. I am so lucky that I have so many friends on different levels who all help balance and support me. My wonderful husband , my daughter , my wonderful cousin who is closer than any sister could be; my special girls Emma, Suzy, Sarah, Yang, My boys David and Andrew and David’s lovely lady and partner Shirley ; my ex work colleagues who stay in touch, the market family who are all a great support, the friends I have made through the various support groups face to face and virtual, my new friends from Uni and my FB friends . In many ways my life is rich beyond comparison I am a lucky woman .

I thought I would share these images with you they are from my time in Penang in 1980/81 and are two of my favourite images. It is hard to believe these photos were taken around 36 years ago this month.

Traffic on the Bruce

Well it seems as if I have hit the straps today but there is so much I have decided I want to post and share. So I will commence with this one TRAFFIC What’s traffic nothing but cars and other wheeled objects on the road. These days I spend much of my time driving The Bruce Highway between Caloundra and Maroochydore. At this time of the year it is sheer mayhem. Big double B’s with all 36 wheels thundering along . Have you ever noticed all the shredded tyres on the road and wondered what it is like driving alongside or behind one of those things when a tyre blows? Let me tell you it is somewhat scary. The noise alone is enough to send shivers down your spine then trying to dodge the flying rubber and not hit anything else on the road. To put it simply, it is terrifying when you are in the left hand lane and the truck is in the outer lane and you are hemmed in by traffic. Not an activity I choose to repeat. Decided to drive the other way on New Years Day and drove down to Brisvegas. First time down in 12 months and at least 18 months since driven to the other side of Brisbane. Well the ICB is almost finished and the Clem Tunnel is open , but we decided to avoid that one. Only got misplaced once and had to back track and finally made it over to Sunnybank. The reason for the trip was to go to the Malay corner for the best mukan this side of Pulau Pinang... We did enjoy it played tourist will have to upload some photos. In the meantime the trip to the coast is now chock a block with Campervans, Motor Homes, caravans and lovely young men with surf boards on the roof rack. These youngsters are in such a hurry to get to the coast to ride the waves many pay very little attention to road rules .. Ah well what it is to be young and invincible. Funny I can actually remember back that far when dinosaurs still roamed the earth . Th eother thing is all the changes we have noticed .. All the deforestation and building along the HIghway. We create our own monsters many of us came here from down south the get away from the big cities and the urban sprawl and because of the demand we are creating the environment we sought to escape. A bit like a rat in cage running around in a wheel. The more things change the more we remain the same...

Changes behind and ahead

This last 12 months has seen so many changes. They include completing 12 months of Tertiary Pathways Preparation at Uni. This was such an enriching and rewarding experience. I wasted much of my time at school bucking the system and being afraid to learn as I felt I could never match my parent’s expectations. The joys of being an only child. I promised myself I would go to Uni when I retired.. I have had a number of false starts and realised I need to be in the academic environment as I do not have the whatever it takes to do these things by distance education. Lack self discipline I suppose. Well the year has been and gone and I completed 4 subjects and passed 3 with High distinctions and one with distinctions and credits. As I was having troubles completing the on line enrolment I called the Student Central Help area and went over yesterday to finish my enrolment. Thanks to the really great Campus staff I am now enrolled in my BA. My major is Counselling Studies and my minor Creative Writing with the Cor. subject of Communication 109. Three subjects makes me a full time student. Wow imagine that at 63 !

I am so lucky to live here Uni close by clean air and if you had asked me years ago if I had thought I would live in a small town in rural Queensland i would have laughed long and lound. We simply nver know what the future holds. This morning I woke early and in the pre dawnn I could hear Kookaburras laughing and last night at sunset we were visited by a flock of black cockatoos we are truely blessed

January 2013

So very much has happened since my last post that I am not even sure where to start. The disease has progressed and slowed all at the same time. New meds are in place and the tremors and shuffles have ceased. Visits to the Geritrican are still happening and Dad has spent some time in hospital this allowed new drugs to be trialled and introduced. Mum is worse and her memory is getting progressively worse as well. In September 2012

we hosted the Dementia Awareness Day and it was successful but a great deal of hard work as well. Thanks to the generosity of so many people who gave so much time and effort it is something we will repeat this year. When Dad was in hospital and when he came home I spent 6 weeks with Mum and Dad this was not a good idea and I have had to pull back. It has proved I am unable to live with mum on a long term basis. I flipped out on a couple of occassion as and am not proud of my behaviour and now I have learnt to walk away. We have upped the level of care being provided by professional carers and have engaged additional people to help out. This in itself causes issues due to the cost factor. However Mum and Dad are determined to stay in their own home. I was able to find 2 very good placements for couples in high dependency assisted living but when this was raised with Mum and dad it was like setting off an atomic bomb. No going there again anytime soon. The FB page continues and the web site well I don't action that as often as I should. I have given Professional Development talks to two care facilities and these went extremely well.

Easter Tuesday 2012

well here we are again it is 4.43am  been awake since 4.00 cant sleep. Did  not go to Mum and Dad
Yesterday Easter Monday Keith was there, but called about 5.00 Dad has not taken his medications again and does not want to. He promised me he would take them with tea. I don’t care if he does not take anything other than the Aricept he must take that.  Today I need to try to explain to him what will happen if he does not take it as Mum and I will not be able to care for him at home and the hallucinations will come back. At least the nurse got him to take a shower when she came today and he said he was glad he had.  The hot water has helped his back-side these new changes to his medication seem to have really thrown him or it simply the disease starting to progress. Sam is on leave until next week I will keep persevering but don’t know what else to do at the moment. I have been calling twice a day to make sure everything is ok. Mum can’t or won’t push the issue of his medication she says Dad is getting quite verbally aggressive in his response when she mentions them.  She is trying hard maybe the penny has finally dropped may be it is just one of her stages I feel like I am walking on eggshells waiting for the next round.  I never know if mum is telling me the truth or what she perceives as the truth and these are poles apart usually.   When I spoke to him last night he was clear one minute evasive the next.    There has been a lot on the news about aged care as the new government paper has been released. Must have made about 8 posts to the FB page yesterday. Sent an email to the Minister for Aging  federal asking they review the funding for Dementia spending and commenting on the British MP recent statement that UK was committed to pounds sterling 66M in dementia care and research probably won’t even get a response.