With Sadness, An Update On My Wife's Condition

June 28, 2011

This update is not written for pity on me, as I have said in the past but for all that read it to say a prayer for my lovely wife as we continue on this unknown journey.

We just got back from an appointment with her neurologist yesterday and the prognosis is not good. Sandra’s symptoms have changed quite a bit since three months ago. When you have discussions with the doctor regarding feeding tubes, hospice, botox shots to relax muscles in your face, etc., it is not encouraging. But steps have to be taken.  

The thoughts and what we are going through below were written on June 24 – before we went to her doctor yesterday.  

Progressive Supranuclea Palsy

To watch my wife declining like this just about puts me in tears. It is so sad.

I read what others have gone through with this disease and the last stages when you have to insert a feeding tube that no one wants. The agony and pain with a decision like that is going to be just about unbearable. My prayer is that my wife never has to go through that stage. She has told me before that she does not want anything like this that will prolong her life in that state. But you read these other accounts other PSP caregivers go through and you just hope and pray you don’t have to make a decision like that.

As of today, she has gotten to the point that I have to do just about everything for her. She can brush her teeth but will leave the rinse water in her mouth for 15 minutes. Her brain just does not tell her body what needs to be done as far as movements. I help her with everything else. She lies around quite a bit. She can’t walk by herself. I have a power chair but she cannot use it because of the sight. She talks but it is so hard to understand her because her words are slurred and she whispers. She will sit up at the breakfast table, eat a little food, and try to read the paper, clip coupons and set there for two to three hours – kind of in a trance. She stares at the ceiling or at something else for long periods of time with no comments. She can’t see well. She has had hallucinations. I have to hold her up at times because she leans to the right. When she is sitting in a chair without sides, or in the bathroom getting dressed, she leans at a 90 degree angle to the right. During the night, she will try to get off the bed and has fallen many times…it can be pretty tough trying to pick her up at times. But I have to most every day.

When you have had a partner for 43 years and you discuss everything and make decisions together, it is really sad to come to this point. Now, I have to make all the decisions – she just cannot help with those at all. Until recently, she would at least try to get on the computer to do something. I helped her about 2 months ago create her a Facebook account but now her eyes are so bad and the fatigue, she hardly ever tries to do anything with the computer.

My wife will set at the table and hold a glass of coke to her mouth for probably 7 or 8 minutes before bringing it back down to the table. I have to feed her pills usually because she will drop them trying to get them in. You can ask her a question and you get no answer. She has started giving me hand signs to help her get her thoughts out. Most of the time, the whispering is so low, I just cannot hear her. The thought process is just not connecting all the time. You can tell her to put the glass down and it’s just like she does not hear you.

I can’t leave her alone. She’s to the point now that she will try to get up and do something or pick something up and if someone is not with her, down she goes. I have to dress her, bathe her, go to the bathroom with her, at times feed her…….but I do it because I love her. She would do the same for me.

I just friended Ronald Ray on Facebook recently, whom I worked with at Maxton, NC, for a little while during my railroad days. He is the brother to Lois Wheeler, one of my bosses at the railroad when I worked in the crew office. And he gave me a note of encouragement from the Bible….”God promised HE would not put more on us than we can bare”.

I truly believe that scripture but just like all humans, you tend to wonder at times. But with God’s help, he will get us both through these trying times.

And, please, say a prayer for Sandra as I am sure she would love to have all the prayers she can get. I did – last night as we lay in bed she asked me to pray for her as we progress to this next step. And I will continue to pray for my wife.

1964 Rockingham High School Birthday Party - We're 65!

Below is your official invitation with all the information.

Will There Be A Celebration in Heaven?

You know - as I sit here and add 2 former classmates to the memoriams on Rockingham Memories, Ruth Davis and Bobbie Goodman Dull - I ponder. Will there be a great celebration in Heaven as the Bible says? Kind of like that old church song "When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be"...

I think there will be. I am counting on it! My dad passed away in 1977, my mom is in Hermitage Rest Home in Rockingham - doesn't usually know who I am when I visit, my brother passed away in 2002, all my relatives that have gone on to their heavenly rewards, so to speak and my wife whom I dearly love, is slowly but surely drifting away. 

It is so sad to see so much pain and suffering by so many. Sometimes you just want to sit down and cry.

But - there is hope! I don't have the knowledge of the Bible like a lot of people do but I do know that I am a Christian and God gives us all the strength to get through things we never knew we could. We don't understand all that is going on but God has a plan. 

About all we can do is live our lives like we think God would have us do and put our faith in him and I am sure when this old earth has drawn her last breath, and God calls us ALL home, there WILL be a celebration in Heaven!

Looking For Pat Quick

Received this email from Jeanette Thomason looking for an old friend. Thought I would post it here and see if anyone can help. Here is the request I received from Jeanette:

I have an old friend that I’m looking for: She would have graduated from Rockingham, N.C. High in the year 1958/1959.Her name is or was Pat Quick; did find an Elaine Quick year of graduation 1966, maybe a sister.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having searched for her many years to no avail; can you help me?

I knew Pat while she visited her Aunt and Uncle in Richmond, Va. in 1956. She was there for the summer and we quickly became friends.

 

Please let me know if you know her.

Thank you for your help

 

Jeanette Toussaint Thomason

Upcoming Events in Rockingham at Cole Plaza 2011

Here is a list of what is going on in the Cole Plaza at City Hall this year. Hope you can attend one of these events.

 

 The Band of Oz Is Rescheduled for September 27th.

An Open Letter to the RHS Graduates of 1966 & 1967

Dear Fellow Schoolmates,

In 2011 as the calendar rolls up another decade in the new millennium, we baby boomers find ourselves applying for social security, waiting in the prescription line for blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, arthritis, and other age induced medications.  Between struggling to read the fine print on any and everything and forgetting where we left the notepad on which we scribbled all the important notes and dates that we did not want to forget, we spend our time baby-sitting grandchildren.  We now stand in front of the young cashier ringing up the Senior Citizen’s Discount without our prompting.  Yes friends, we are the Senior Citizens of today’s society.

Remember the carefree days of high school?  Remember when the entire student body rose as we marched down the aisles of Kate Finley?  Remember when Rockingham and Hamlet shut down one Friday per year to attend the Rocket – Red Ram football game?  Remember dissecting frogs, swimming in P.E. class, pep rallies in the gym, student government elections in the spring, and last but not least to our addicted friends, THE SMOKING AREA. 

Yes, all the above were fun times in our young lives.  Unfortunately, we can no longer step back in time and physically walk the hallowed halls of Rockingham High or even once again taste a Zip & Superburger from Tom & Sarah’s.  Yet, we can still gather with the high school friends of our youth and in our minds, relive the Happy Days of our teenage years.

The 1966 & 1967 45^th Reunion Committee has set aside the weekend of 9/30 - 10/1/2011 to rally and celebrate those HAPPY DAYS of our times together.  The key to our success is dependent upon your attendance.  A current popular soap opera, first aired in 1965, opens up with the line “Like the sands through the hourglass… so are the Days of our Lives.”  Before we hit the Big 3-0, it was easy to say “My life is too busy now.  I’ll go to high school reunion #20.”  A decade later, some graduates used the same logic with #40 as a goal.  In fact, we have classmates who never have attended a reunion.  Friends, our hourglass does not have that much sand left in it.  In fact, at least 42 schoolmates total in both classes are no longer on this Earth.  While you are still in good health, make plans now to attend this important weekend in our lives.

Joel Bailey (Class of “66) has created a wonderful website http.//www.rockinghammemories.net...  He has agreed to list the names of those tentatively planning to attend our reunion on this site and on Face book, 1966-1967 Rockingham High 45^th Reunion Planning Committee.  As soon as details are worked out, the committee will make contact with a RSVP request.  As for now, we need the following: mailing address, phone number, and email address as soon as possible in order to notify and confirm details.  As the sands pass through our hour glass, we eagerly await your reply.

On behalf of the Planning Committee,

Bob (by) McDonald

Class of 1966 

Update on 1966-1967 RHS 45th Class Reunion Planning Committee Meeting on March 1

Bob McDonald gave the following report:

Notes from 45^th RHS Reunion Committee March 1

The 45^th RHS Reunion Committee met at Smithfield Bar-B-Que in Rockingham on March 1^st.  Members offered a couple of options for possible gathering places large enough to accommodate both classes.  Since some alumni, local and out-of-town, from both classes have never been to a reunion, we need to celebrate two nights.  Therefore, mark in big red letters on the same planner calendar that you record the important events in your Senior Citizen life like doctor appointments, grandchildren birthdays, your anniversary, and any other important happenings the weekend of 9/30 & 10/1/2011.

On Friday, 9/30, both classes will gather at the Pitt Hinson Cohen Wildlife Conservation Clubhouse at Hinson Lake in Rockingham.  Put your jeans and sneakers on and just show up.  The only planned program of the night is to enjoy yourself from the minute you arrive until the minute you turn your headlights on to leave.  Personally, I plan to show you a picture of my grandson!  The only request the committee has is that you reserve enough energy to come back on Saturday night for more reminiscing.

On Saturday night, 10/1, we will gather again at Richmond Pines Country Club off Hwy 1 N in Rockingham.  We will be eating, just what and how much is yet to be determined.  I am sure some old high school memories will be on display and I’ll be willing to bet that the banquet room will be decorated in black & orange.  The details such as time and cost are still being worked out.

The largest task ahead of both classes is to secure contact information for all of our class members.  Some members have already been contacted but our job has just begun.  You can best help us by contacting us before we contact you.  Please contact the following: Ben or Kay Crouch Smith, kay_and_Ben@hotmail.com; Sondra Underwood Honrine, Sondra.honrine@jostens.com; Lawanda Smith Walker, walkerlks@hotmail.com; Joel Bailey, rrjoel@gmail.com; or me, Bob McDonald, rmcdonald10@nc.rr.com.  Also for all you citizens of Face book, you can log your contact info on 1966-1967 Rockingham High Reunion Committee.  If you refuse to get on a computer, you can contact me at 3846 Sturbridge Dr, Hope Mills, NC 28348 or call 910-709-2090.  We need your home address, your email address, and a phone number.

The Planning Committee sends a special plea out to the class members who live in the area.  We need you at our planning meetings to have a successful reunion.  If I still had my bus license and a school bus, I would pick everyone in Richmond County up.  Since I don’t, I expect to see everyone at our next Reunion Planning Committee meeting on April 5^th at Smithfield Bar-B-Que at 6:30 PM.  Don’t be late!