I just wanted to say hello. Some of you from the other board may recognize me as Fanooch, here I am Fanooch20. I never posted much there, only a few times, so I really didn't get into all the 'stuff'. Regardless of that, I still find the support and responses here much more 'heartfelt' so I thought I would just say hi.

I am an only child who was the caregiver (not hands on 24/7) for my parents, Jack 79 with AD stage 6 maybe with some LBD thrown in for good measure, and mom with vascular dementia. Mom had a stroke July 26th, had a massive heart attack en route to the hospital and she passed on Aug. 4th, one day before her 83rd birthday. Dad doesn't remember that she died, but does remember her somewhat. He has been on a steady decline since her passing, but is still at the wonderful ALF.

Well, I just wanted to say hi1

Fanooch20 (real name is Anita)

Welcome Anita. Glad you made it over to this board. You have just joined a great little family over here. I'm so sorry about the passing of your mom. Are you handling it ok? Just know that we are always here for you.

Lori,

Thanks for the welcome and the words of support. I am handling my mom's passing as best I can. Its been really tough and I haven't had much opportunity to grieve. We buried her on Aug 8th, and my job started back up on Aug 12th. My job is relatively unique I am a Certified Athletic Trainer (more related to Sports Medicine, rather than personal training) in a small college in PA. So every time one of our teams practices or has games I am there. Its very busy and intense. I found I haven't had much 'down-time' which is a blessing and a curse I suppose. I have great support here and everyone has been very understanding of my situation with dad and all. I find the grief about my mom comes in waves, so I just say I'm surfing when it happens! I am sure you and many here can relate!

Anita

Welcome aboard Anita. Sorry about your mom. It's hard to lose a LO but we go on, don't we.

I could us an athletic trainer. Would I have to work hard? I don't handle hard work very well.
You said sports medicine, maybe you could work on my knees, shoulders, back an I even have a trigger finger, can you help that?

I feel like I'm surfing most of the time, and I've never surfed.

Welcome, Anita, and thanks for the wonderful complement to our Board's entire
family. I'm so happy you are here to add to our ocean of caregiving concerns
and surrounding issues (sometimes those "surrounding issues" get pretty
far-fetched and funny). Aitan, the creator of this board, is responsible for
providing a warm, safe haven and a positive, loving atmosphere in which
we can all share, vent, grieve, and--yes oh yes--laugh.
Looking forward to your posts,
Carol

Hi Anita, welcome to the fam! I'm truly sorry to hear of your mother's passing. I notice more members joining with both parents suffering from dementia. What a challenge that must be for you and your family. This is an awesome place to express your grief, and joy, and we are always happy to listen and give our input when asked for it. See you on the threads -Aitan

Welcome, Anita.

My, oh my! You sure sound like a busy person! I sure do hope you enjoy the sports that you attend in your job duties.

I'm sorry to hear of your Mom's passing. Come and chat with us on the General Discussion forum and keep us updated on how your Dad is doing.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! Yes I do keep pretty busy, but I love my job and being around the college kids is great! Many people have told me I have (had) alot on my plate with two parents and being an only child. I personally think I have it easy compared to those of you who are full-time caregivers...you all are heros to me! For me I have found that I am very good at the 'things', my dad was very organized before AD and he laid out a pretty good roadmap for me. We did the DPOA, and had my name put on all the accounts, he had all the important papers...IRA's, retirement stuff, life insurance, birth certs, marriage license, etc in one place so I just kept doing what he had been doing. I too am pretty organized and have found that helped especially after my mom's passing with SSN, her retirement, etc. So being good at the 'things' for me is a defense mechanism...dealing with the feelings is a whole other ballgame!

Everyone have a great weekend! BTW, the college I work at is Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. We are the Greyhounds. The sports I cover are: mens and womens soccer in the Fall, men's basketball in the Winter, and baseball, softball, mens and womens tennis in the Spring. Men's basketball is 1-4 and we have a game tomorrow night...its going to be a lllloooonnnngggg season!

Anita,

Welcome to our great family. Thanks for the wonderful compliment about our support being heartfelt. We really do have very warm and supportive people on our forum. And our head guy Aitan, keeps this site as safe as he can for us. He really is a wonderful young man with many good ideas and lots of support.

Please join us whenever you can on General Discussion. It seems that that's where most of us go. And also thanks for that compliment on us 24/7 caregivers. But remember, it's so much harder I believe on all of you that have made the decision to place their loved ones. It must be the most difficult decision of a childs life.

I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's passing. Whenever you need support on your grieving, many of our members who have lost their loved ones still come and join us and still help us through our difficult times. So this forum is for all of us who is still or has gone through the AD journey.

Looking forward to helping you in any way we can, and we also will depend on you at times for answers. We can always use some extra advice and support.

Again welcome,
Jackie

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Kat