Two of the most inspiring women I have ever known. Mom and Amber Zoe.

I bought a digital voice recorder which I am hoping will be helpful for documenting my experience. I originally wanted to hear her stories, but since she is talking less and less, it is often hard to get them out of her. Not that I have any inkling to stop trying, I definitely will continue on that mission as long as it is not too frustrating for her. But, I realized that it is a great tool to vent to and release all of my questions, concerns, comments, (and all the stuff in between) to a place where I cannot be judged, at least not while I am spewing the thoughts.

I only saw Mom for a second today when I asked Allison to drive by her house so I could pick up her car for the upcoming weekend. She seemed well today, happy, just doing her thing (watching soaps with her dog). I love her so much. I still have so many questions, but it has been a long day and tomorrow will be another, so I will say goodnight instead of delving into them.

Introductions!

Welcome to this blog!
My name is Sierra, and the lovely woman above is my Mom, Carolyn. She is 61 years old, retired, and living in Oregon. She has had an amazing green thumb her entire life. She also has an extraordinary ability to empathize with everyone she comes in contact with. She owns a home she has lived in for 12 years and proudly shares it with her deaf Australian shepard Bella, and her senior citizen cat Clyde. She makes a few of the best dinners I have ever eaten, one of which is her famous tuna casserole. Seriously, you have not had tuna casserole, until you have enjoyed her tuna casserole. She returned to school and earned her Masters degree in Counseling at the age of 47. She worked as an Academic Advisor at a University for the next twelve years after her graduation. And in May of 2009, she was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease (EOAD).

For entirely selfish reasons, I created this blog so I would have a place where I could document my own thoughts, feelings, and observations about my experience with her and her diagnosis. I imagine that my posts throughout the future months will be varied in tone and content. I have decided, because this is about my experience with her and EOAD, that I will be completely honest about my thoughts, feelings, and observations on this blog. No matter how much I love my Mom (and I do), I am sure that at times I will be frustrated, perhaps even angry, in my tone and content. It will be hard at times to post my thoughts when they are "negative" in nature, but I have promised myself that I will try to be as honest as possible in reporting my experience, because I think it will serve as a good release as well as a testament to the experience of caregivers experiences all over.

I hope this blog will also serve as a source of information for people and families dealing with new diagnoses, and our own personal friends and family looking for status updates and information about Mom's progress and daily life. Thanks for visiting, please feel free to comment and ask questions, I will do my best to answer with any information I have at my fingertips.