Upside Down and Inside Out, our lives were changed forever May 4, 2010.  It all started when my husband, Wayne, had to have emergency surgery on his back because of a herniated disc.  This left him wheelchair bound and unable to walk, incontinent both ways.  I learned quickly how to care for him.  There are times sleep is at a premium as I find myself alone taking care of my husband.  To make matters more difficult, he was diagnosed with both Alzheimer's AND Parkinson's in 2012.  We are now learning or I should say I am learning how to deal with his having Alzheimer's not to mention we do not know yet what the Parkinson's will do to his body.

If any of you are dealing with your spouse with Alzheimer's and/or a disability, I welcome your input.

I will be talking about our daily life struggles. 

Please come back to read what is happening day to day.  I will try to post daily.

We married in July 1969 and have 4 grown children, 3 boys, 1 girl.  Our daughter is the oldest.  We also now have 10 grandchildren, one of whom is a girl, the rest boys.  We also have grandchildren through our daughter's marriage, 2 grown grandsons and 1 grown granddaughter.  We are very fortunate in many ways, but sometimes we find it difficult to see that.  We count our blessings daily.  We are church goers and love our church, a non-denominational church by the name of Southpoint Community Christian Church which endeavors to return to the teachings of Jesus when he was on earth, to follow his teachings.

Before his disability and Alzheimer's, Wayne was very active.  He worked 6 and 7day weeks as a maintenance person and often coached and/or refereed or umpired games.  Now he is stuck in a wheelchair and is not able to do much for himself.  The Alzheimer's has added to his frustration as he can't come up with the right words and ends up doing things wrong.  He cannot dress himself for the most part, part of that due to the disability, the other part due to his brain not functioning to allow him to put a shirt on right or his pants, rather than backwards, inside out, or shoes on the wrong feet.  Many times he will say something, and it makes absolutely no sense to me and I ask him what he means, but he can't explain it.  This is the beginning stages which scares me because I know it will get worse.

stay tuned for more....