Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

My first thought is to start this post with the words to a song by the incredibly talented duo of Simon and Garfunkel. However as I was researching the lyrics I realized that I had messed up the words in my head and it really wasn't what I wanted to say. In my version the lyrics are: Hello darkness , my old friend I've come to visit  you again. Yes, it is here again, the dreaded winter depression and anxiety, and it is really bad this year.  I just want to climb into a hole and not come out until I feel normal again.  I feel like every year I struggle with this and always complain, and I don't want to sound whiny, but it is very real, and it is hard.  Today Nancy Moyle gave a fabulous talk of ways she is dealing with depression and anxiety that she suffers with each winter.  It was so good, and she is doing well with it.  It is funny, I have no problem understanding things that can make it better, she had some great suggestions, but they just don...

Mom has been sick for a very long time. She had diabetes, but pretended that she didn't for many years. The diabetes silently attacked her body from the inside - not showing itself for the monster that it was for over 30 years. By the time that it finally showed itself, it had damaged mom's heart, her feet, her eyes, as well as her kidneys. She had multiple surgeries on her feet, but in the end lost two toes on her left foot and her entire right leg below the knee. She was in congestive heart failure and constantly fought the swelling from the excessive build-up of fluids in her body. Her kidneys could not handle the strain, and finally quit working. Mom passed away on February 1, 2012. Mom was truly amazing! There were several times that she could have died - but she rallied back. The doctor said that she had used 10 of her 9 lives. Throughout it all, she never experienced any self-pity or depression. In fact, we found a little journal in which she had written almo...

Unfortunately mom was in the hospital for her and dad's 52nd wedding anniversary on June 22. (She also was in the hospital on their 50th! We told them that from now on they should just plan to celebrate their anniversaries in the hospital cafeteria, that way they would already be prepared!) Since the hospital wouldn't let them go out to dinner to celebrate, we decided to gather the whole family for a celebration right in the hospital. Since it was on a Sunday afternoon we found an office waiting room that was unoccupied and commandeered it for the party. We brought all of the fixins for a grand celebration and had a great time. It was nice to get the entire family together, even Julie and her crew joined us. We got to meet Kenzie's honey, Drew. Roxane even brought her new little puppy, Gimley.

I have been asked to list mom's address and phone number. Right now it is: ReNee Duerden Alpine Transitional Rehab Center Room #14 997 South 800 West Brigham City, UT 84302 (435) 226-0074 I'm sure that she would appreciate any cards or calls. She is getting a little stronger every day, but it will be a long process. The plan is that she will be able to be fitted for the artificial leg in about 6-7 more weeks. I'm pretty sure that she will be going home before that. Dad is doing fairly well as a "bachelor" other than he is lonely. He has his lawn mowers to keep him busy most of the time, and mom calls him to visit several times a day. It is so amazing to me to see the things that dad has learned how to do in the last couple of years. He has really stepped up to the plate. If you would like to contact dad, it is easier to get him on his cell phone (however if he doesn't answer, don't leave a message - he doesn't know how to retrieve messages!) His number...

Here is the latest information on my mom's situation. Yesterday (Sunday) she was transferred from McKay-Dee Hospital to Alpine Rehab here in Brigham. Yeah! It is so nice to have her close! Anyway, she is doing very well, I think, for the most part. Since the amputation the swelling seems to have gone down con siderably - enough that on Friday when she sat up in bed the cast slipped right off the stump and landed on the floor! She now has to wear a strap around her waist to keep the cast from falling off. She seems to have more color, even though she is still severely anemic, and a little more energy. Alpine is incredible! It is almost like staying in a 5 star hotel! They are treating her very well there, and I think that even though she is anxious to go home, she will be comfortable in the meantime. Since mom has been sick for such a long time all of her muscles are extremely weak and she will require many hours of rehabilitation in order to be able to transfer herself from chair t...