Things can change fast

And they have! We passed the 1-year mark from Michael's diagnosis on 8/15, and this anniversary has not gone by quietly. We're now experiencing a new set of challenges.

The first to hit us was the mobility issue. Michael now gets around in the house and out to the car with a walker. If we have anywhere else to go, he uses a wheelchair. This would be ok, but sometimes his legs give way when he's using the walker, so I usually have to walk along with him for support.

Cognitively, the decline is well underway. TV no longer makes much sense to him, but he does understand enough to know that he doesn't want to watch HGTV, which is what I like to watch! He asks really off-the-wall questions that make no sense, though I can tell that he's trying to say something that means something to him. Now and then he does make some sense, but he does best with yes/no questions.

The other challenge we're facing now is bladder control difficulties, and this is a big one, because this affects our ability to get out and go for drives -- one of our few remaining sources of pleasure, it seems. We have talked to the doctors about a catheter and I think that we're going to get that taken care of today. I just hope that it works and simplifies our lives a bit.

Michael's brother George wants me to look into home health care, and I made a call this morning. They're going to call me back.

Now I don't know about going to Tucson. If things continue as they are, it won't be possible.

I'm really struggling to keep some cheerfulness in my life, but it's hard. If I laugh at anything, Michael thinks I'm laughing at him.

Annette, I'd love to see you! Can you come down? We're (somehow) going to go up to Indy tomorrow for a 7am MRI and Dr appt. But after tomorrow we're good.