October 24, 2021

This morning was a bit of a shit show. John got up before me and I was still fast asleep. He went downstairs, which meant he opened our bedroom door and let our dog Parker out. Parker is old, blind, fairly deaf, and not very bright. Once he leaves our room I typically take him straight outside to pee, then he eats - the brightest moment of his day. So Parker assumed he was headed outside, but when John didn't let him out, Parker took the next best option and pee'd on the kitchen floor. Next came his anticipation for breakfast. Parker was running around the kitchen like the crazy boy that he is (this is status quo at meal time) and ran through his pee a bunch of times, tracking it all around the kitchen. John finally sent him outside - too late - and Jordan walked in the kitchen and stepped in pee. So she jolted me awake while she and John argued about the situation and then I had the joy of cleaning up pee and cleaning the entire kitchen floor. So much for sleeping in! John was really crabby all morning to top it off. He kept talking - complaining - about everything. It seemed like he talked about 50% of the morning, all negative. But in the afternoon we dropped by to see Baby Jorge and John's mood suddenly changed and he was pretty content from then on. Way to go Jorge! On another note, I've read in many places that the number of people afflicted by Alzheimer's Disease is expected to triple by 2050. According to the UCI Mind web site, in 2020 AD will cost the nation $305 billion. By 2050 the costs are expected to exceed $1 trillion. Some other facts from the UCI Mind site: 1 in 10 people aged 65 and older has AD. 2 in 3 Americans with AD are women. (2 in 3 caregivers are women as well.) 1 in 3 seniors dies with AD or another dementia. AD is the 6th leading cause of death in the US. More than 16 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with AD. And from WAM - Women's Alzheimer's Movement - an organization headed by Maria Shriver that seeks to promote research into the disparity of women and minorities who get AD in greater numbers: Alzheimer's deaths spiked about 16% in 2020 due to Covid, with 42,000 more deaths than when compared to the previous 5 years. Isolation is certainly a factor, but other contributing issues may be the lack of regular check ups, stress, diet, exercise, as well as Covid itself. Possibly memory impairment created a barrier to proper care (such as remembering to wear masks) that may have made those with Alzheimer's more susceptible. Another WAM post said multiple studies have found that people with cognitively stimulating jobs have a 23% lower risk of developing dementia when compared with those whose jobs were not considered stimulating. Jobs considered stimulating are defined as jobs that allow people to make decisions independently and required them to perform demanding tasks. So using our brains helps our brains!