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So, my mom went to a neurologist last Friday. My siblings and I had put together a list of the symptoms we've noticed over the past couple years or so, and the neurologist looked at the list and gave his expert opinion.
He thinks that the capillaries in my mom's brain are probably restricting the blood flow to some extent... and that along with that, an Alzheimer's process may be beginning. He said that the two commonly go together and that the treatment is the same. He's giving her some medication which will ideally keep the downward trend from going any further.
I would have expected that I would be feeling incredibly dismayed about this; as it is, well, I think what's going on is that I've been dismayed about this for the past couple years and to hear it diagnosed at last isn't really a surprise. I'm just hoping that the treatment really works.
I don't know how much I've told any of you about the symptoms my mom's been showing. None of them are severe enough to make her nonfunctional. Heck, several of them are simply a change from certain rather superhuman levels of brain function to normal levels. For example, she misspells words sometimes now. My mom never misspells words, no matter how obscure. Never. Until these last couple years or so. But it's been incredibly worrisome, watching things decline, knowing that if they keep declining she will be nonfunctional.
Anyway, just thought I should tell you all about this. Prayers appreciated.
-Melanie
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Graduate School
Though it is much too soon after moving here to Riverside to give a fair assessment of my circumstances, I'm going to attempt to summarize what has been going on.
Apartment life is good. I love my roommate dearly. She's like a big sister to me, and since I've never had a big sister that's definitely appreciated in my new environment. The major difficulty is making myself cook. With practice I will get accustomed to making food for myself every day, but I have already had to learn to fight the urge to go out to eat all the time when I just don't feel like making something. It does get a little quiet around here especially compared to living in a dorm, but every day at 4:00 I hear the ice cream truck when the kids get home from school and remember that there's a world out there.
My program has been treating me very mildly so far. I have two classes and I spend about 15 hours a week doing my TA job between leading discussions, grading and attending the lecture for the class. No homework of my own yet, but that will come soon enough.
The few friends I've made remind of people I used to know from high school and it's a harder transition to go back to public school than I anticipated. After 12 years of it prior to Biola I thought it wouldn't be a big deal but I was wrong. While they are very likable people, it is bothersome to me that they consider their research the most important thing in their life and it would be the end of their world if they didn't make it through the program to get their Ph.D's. My values completely conflict with theirs and while God has already given me several opportunities to share my faith, it is hard being one of the few Christians around here. The lack of Torrey is killing me. While we all had a differences and our points of view didn't always align, we could at least try to discuss them reasonably knowing that on the fundamentals we absolutely agreed. This week I will be attending a couple of different Christian group meetings on campus to see if I can get connected with other Christians. Not to mention, I'm a little homesick.
My life really isn't that depressing and I know that as things get busier and I meet more people, the easier the transition will be. Please be praying for me as the quarter (yes, the semester system is long gone) gets underway.
Lydia
Apartment life is good. I love my roommate dearly. She's like a big sister to me, and since I've never had a big sister that's definitely appreciated in my new environment. The major difficulty is making myself cook. With practice I will get accustomed to making food for myself every day, but I have already had to learn to fight the urge to go out to eat all the time when I just don't feel like making something. It does get a little quiet around here especially compared to living in a dorm, but every day at 4:00 I hear the ice cream truck when the kids get home from school and remember that there's a world out there.
My program has been treating me very mildly so far. I have two classes and I spend about 15 hours a week doing my TA job between leading discussions, grading and attending the lecture for the class. No homework of my own yet, but that will come soon enough.
The few friends I've made remind of people I used to know from high school and it's a harder transition to go back to public school than I anticipated. After 12 years of it prior to Biola I thought it wouldn't be a big deal but I was wrong. While they are very likable people, it is bothersome to me that they consider their research the most important thing in their life and it would be the end of their world if they didn't make it through the program to get their Ph.D's. My values completely conflict with theirs and while God has already given me several opportunities to share my faith, it is hard being one of the few Christians around here. The lack of Torrey is killing me. While we all had a differences and our points of view didn't always align, we could at least try to discuss them reasonably knowing that on the fundamentals we absolutely agreed. This week I will be attending a couple of different Christian group meetings on campus to see if I can get connected with other Christians. Not to mention, I'm a little homesick.
My life really isn't that depressing and I know that as things get busier and I meet more people, the easier the transition will be. Please be praying for me as the quarter (yes, the semester system is long gone) gets underway.
Lydia
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