Hi every one;

As you can see, time takes its toll, but life goes on and as long as we still our sense of humour,things can be dealt with.

I don't think you an imagine how much your support has meant to me. All of the cards, letters, calls and visits have made a difficult situation bearable. Thanks goes to Connie Dougherty's daughters for this idea as they did a splendid job while their mom was in the hospital having heart problems of making us all feel like we could reach out and touch her. It helped a lot to know. Hopefully we can use this to keep everyone informed and it is set up so replies can be made and the site will send an email to Tom right away to notify that a reply has been recieved.

In general, my condition is something called demetia with Lewey bodies. It is caused by some kind of protiens that connect to nerve cells and is a cousin of Parkinsons. At first some of the symptoms were very difficult until they dicovered that this condition displays a serious reaction to many of the drugs they use.

At the moment, I cannot walk, in a wheel chair and have severe impairment of my left hand. It is closed in a fist like a stroke victim and is not useful for anything much except causing problems. We have a excellenct therapist named Phyllis who tries very hard to keep some movement in it and to minimize my discomfort from it.

The good news is that my mind is good. I still remember everyone and everything and aside from some physical impairment, don't feel that bad most days.

The Cut Knife Care facility is a very nice place, they feed us well and there is a tremendous staff of girls who seem to genuinely care about us.

Winter has been long this year and there is lots of snow, but warmer weather is here now and soon there will be baby ducks on the pond behind our building.

I have many friends here although some days the frustration of being dependant to get around is just about too much.

There are a group of five or six of us who sit together for meals and tea and have become good freinds. There are of course many here who are much older and worse off.

Tom and Sandra visit at least a couple of times a week and when the weather permits I try to get out of here for part of a day each weekend.

It is only short walk to their house and Tom will push me in the wheelchair on nice days. We had a nice christmas together at their house.

I have had visits here from Linda and Pat ,Lindas daughter Leanne and Debbie and Syd. Also my freind Joyce from Edmonton and her sister were here. It means a lot that people care.

I hope this helps to keep in touch. Tom and Sandra will try to update it with any new information. Please tell anyone who is interested how to find it and send your replies . In most cases I will get them within a day or so. Keep the cards and letters coming, I look forward to them more than you know.

Good health to all and hope to hear from you soon

Lois

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