This is lovely. You must have practised so much to produce such a beautiful and unified sound.
THE STREAM CONTINUES---
Hi AM,
Thank you. Yes, we did practiced a lot for this festival. I am very pleased with the recording.
Now we are practicing a special concert for Christmas. We will busk or carol on the streets of Basel, on Dec 9 which we do each year. We make between 600 to 800 CHF each year in about 1.5 hours. My friends in the choir have all known my husband for many years and we elected a long time ago to give funds to local Alzheimers assoc.each year.
This year, as we are creating a Christmas program, I contacted the Director of Geriatrics at the University who is responsible for the Memory Clinic where they diagnose dementia. The Professor is also the head of the largest geriatric hospital here. He put me in touch with the head of nursing at the hospital and now we will give a Christmas concert there in the hospital auditorium for patients, families and staff on Dec 11. On Dec 14th, we will sing at a luncheon for the elderly (but well and active and involved) they always also give us money for Alz Association.
I have been very active raising money for Alzheimer here in Switzerland since OH was diagnosed. I got 25,ooo CHF for Alz Switzerland from a product group of Novartis in 2011, who make the Excelon patch. And raised 30,000 for a day care which the gov't then matched so in actuality got the daycare 60K. But my husband refuses to go to the daycare which is understandable as he does not speak German and of course, when this all started he was 49 and did not see himself with the elderly demented people in the daycare. But despite all the money, I have raised I do not feel like the local association has been very helpful for my needs, nice folks but in fact, they have never really provided me with anything. I get everything (important- information and advice) from Talking Point and this UK site. When things were really bad 4 or 5 years ago I called the UK hot line for support and someone to speak to. I am very grateful to Talking Point and the lovely contacts I have made here.
My hubby is moving a lot in the night now.....getting up and turning on the lights. Or just wriggling in the bed.....going to the bathroom. It makes for a rough night. But other carers on this site, put up with so much more than I have to deal with I feel bad to complain. I guess it is coming to the point of separate beds and separate rooms.
Yesterday, we went to OH's neuropsychiatrist. He is a lovely man. We were 25 minutes late...very unSwiss. We see him every 3 months. Last year, he got OH to start taking his meds again when I discovered he was hiding them for about 3 months. No change in process of deterioration it continues-that is the disease. The Professor supports me in the process, and makes sure I am handling the situation. Or at least that is how it feels. The Prof. gave my husband a chance to speak and asked him a couple of questions, OH had nothing to say and could not remember a single activity. My OH told the Dr. three times he had lost his coat on an outing with a carer. I explained for the 10 thousandth time that I put the coat away until spring time, it is not lost. We then came home and OH began his usual after 5PM activities rifling through the cupboards looking for the coat again.
I call it Search and Destroy the endless searching for whatever the lost item is at the moment...hat, wallet, coat , watch, his glasses whatever. That is really his day unless distracted by nature and his wonderful walks.
Worked two days this week on financial planning.....I have managed to keep us afloat for since my husband was 49. He will be 65 in April. I have not done a very good job, I am a marketing and communication and PR person not a financial person. I do not budget, I spend.
It is all coming to roost now and I will need to live on a lesser and limited fixed amount in the future which I am trying to plan for. I get pretty down on myself when it comes to all this kind of thing and am very very fearful that we will have enough. I know that his condition will continue to worsen but I hope that all the exercise has helped him to keep good balance and physically healthy continues to work in our favor. I worry that I will be able to keep him at home...this is the issue. If he worsened and I had to put him in institution in the future, the costs would destroy all this planning. But I am keeping it in the day, one day at a time. I am going on the assumption that for the next 10 years he will be with me here....for I am trying to plan for that.
When I discussed the financial planning with my daughter who is nursing her baby at the moment and full of hormones, she started crying and said Mommy I do not want Daddy to live another 10 years, it is going to ruin your health to care for him so long. That made me so sad. She loves him and is very supportive of us. But it has been a long illness and my kids are tired, too.
Finally, had success with the UK bank. Have been trying to access the account since May!! Endless telephone calls and two letters. Finally this week a representative telephoned me. They had entered my details incorrectly, so their security questions were wrong. It is such a long story of comedy of errors, I do not wish to reiterate it all here. But it is at last resolved and the bank are reimbursing me 50 GBP for the documentation they required to resolve the situation. Still waiting for access, but I feel success is near.
I will be free to start on the next pile of forms and bureaucratic paperwork to keep life going forward. There is always the next pile of forms, or taxes or something which requires my brain and my attention to resolve as best I can.
OH has his Friday walk and lunch with his dear old friend. I will go to see where we will sing on the Dec. 11th and check out the acoustics. Then have lunch with some longtime women friends.
Then it is the weekend. Which is always difficult as Sat, Sun, and Mon no walkers...up to me to provide his exercise for three days. Often, by Monday I am a bit resentful and by Tuesday completely ready for the walker to come and take him away.
Meditation for Today
All of us have our own battles to win, the battle between the material view of life and the spiritual view. Something must guide our lives. Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, and greed or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love, and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both. Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice.
I pray that I will be more patient and loving today. Not just handling my life and the people in it. May I be kind and patience with my husband and look at him with love instead of viewing him as a burden and as a millstone around my neck. May I be grateful that I still have all my faculties and abilities that I can be of service to others, my husband, my children and my friends. And I pray that I can recognize the good and the joy of my life and not be in self-pity.
