Health Expert Leah shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/6509/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/6509/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/6509/index http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151985/baking-dementia Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:38:00 -0400 Leah Baking with the assistance of my partner, Dementia, is a big challenge-one that I attempted in a big way last week. I rarely bake anymore...a box mix here and there...   The first bake sale of the year was coming up. I poured over the internet looking for good recipes and finally found four that I liked. After printing them out, I looked over each one carefully to make sure that ALL ingredients and steps were listed. (Never take for granted... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151985/baking-dementia http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151797/dementia-takes Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:13:00 -0400 Leah Keeping one's mind busy-and organized-is not easy when one has vascular dementia. There are activities throughout one's day that require short term memory, the area most affected by my vascular dementia. Cooking is where I seem to run into my biggest problems.   From my earliest memories, I can remember wanting to help my mother in the kitchen. Of course, she started me out helping to stir cookies or pouring cake batter. That progressed to,... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151797/dementia-takes http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151159/decisions Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:30:00 -0400 Leah My neurologist visit was a good one. I met with his PA, a man whom I had seen at my Primary Care Physician's office for years prior. He had moved over to a new job at my neurologist's office. It was good to see a familiar face. Mr. J was very thorough in his exam, and we worked as a team to determine whether or not to add or change medications. I did have some concern that my short term memory is getting a little worse, but I decided to hold off... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/151159/decisions http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/150595/beauty-dementia Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:43:00 -0500 Leah I don't know what it is about life that delights me most: the unexpected surprises, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the birds and squirrels which play outside my windows. I'm not talking about relationships with people but with LIFE itself. Living with vascular dementia, it would be so easy to concentrate on my disability. But, how I choose to live is a choice for me right now. And I choose to be happy, to look on the bright side. I wonder... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/150595/beauty-dementia http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/150287/means-preparing Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:21:00 -0500 Leah I am noticing an increase in my short term memory loss. Everywhere. Throughout the day. And I cannot remember ONE incident to tell you about. I CAN tell you about how it makes me feel to experience this. After all, having Vascular Dementia is not the same as having Alzheimer’s. Both do involve memory and the mind. With Vascular Dementia, though, my short term memory loss does not get worse quickly as it does with Alzheimer’s. Since... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/150287/means-preparing http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/149952/limitations Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:53:00 -0500 Leah Recently, I have been reminded of the importance of looking outward from oneself. I have an uncle and an aunt, the brother and sister of my late father. Both are probably in their eighties. Aside from their biological relationship, they could not be more different in their outlook on life. Both serve as examples of the way to look at life...and not look at life. My uncle began running marathons when he was 70. He worked for Coast and Geodetic... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/149952/limitations http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/149371/loss-caregivers Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:03:00 -0500 Leah Dementia is very confusing! Really? You might think that I have just come to a "duh" moment, but I don't believe so. Dementia IS really confusing to both the one suffering from it AND for the caregiver. My blog, though, is from the point of view of the one who has the dementia, so I will pursue that thought path. It seems that recently I have found myself getting confused about the simplest things. Some of this, I am sure, can be blamed on... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/149371/loss-caregivers http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/148989/recognizing Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:05:00 -0500 Leah My husband gave me a short lesson in thankfulness the other day. Bless his heart. As we were driving home from yet another trip to Kilmarnock, I was talking about something when the word I wanted to say would not come to my mind. Sometimes, it seems like it's every other word I want to say, and it's so frustrating to me. After giving up, I just abandoned the complete thought and burst out with "I get SOOOO tired of not being able to remember... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/148989/recognizing http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/148767/ending-dementia Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:08:00 -0500 Leah With the end of another year approaching, it is a good time to review the past year and make some goals for the next. Long ago, I stopped making promises like "I will lose weight". Instead, I push myself to make small steps in improving my quality of life. Knowing this, I will use this blog to log in my 2011 assessment and my goals for 2012.   In spite of my dementia, I have had the best Christmas of my whole life...or, perhaps it is... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/148767/ending-dementia http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/147939/communicating Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:25:00 -0500 Leah Let me tell you what dementia does when you go to the doctor. When he asks how you are doing, you wonder to what he is referring. For instance, this last time I went, I knew I was there for the infection in my toe, which I had been suffering with for months. As a matter of fact, I had surgery over a month ago to remove part of the toe nail and to have the infected area scraped out. Since then, I had been following orders to soak it several times... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/6509/147939/communicating