Life Sux, or Does it?

I agree. You start out in life, especially once you have finished your education goals feeling like you can take on the world. You know it all and you can't wait to share that knowledge with the world.
Then you get a job, marry, have a family and all of a sudden you realize that in the end you don't have the answers after all.
I want you to think the other way for a minute though. When you insert a straw it is generally to suck some liquid through the straw and into your mouth. You do this until the container you placed the straw in is empty, or, in the case of some really good milkshakes, too thick to move it through such a confined space.
But what if not all straws suck? What if they blow? Remember as a kid when you would be feeling goofy and instead of drinking through the straw, you blew in it instead, creating bubbles? Now granted, you really didn't add anything to the container but air, which had no new nutrients for you, but it was fun. At least it was for me. My mom used to get so frustrated at me sometimes when I would do it. "Keith Alan Moreland" she would holler from the other side of the table or room. Yep, when all 3 names come out you know your goose is cooked. I would giggle, and in turn she would eventually giggle and then I'd go back to drinking from the straw properly.
My question to you is "What if we did that to life? What if we start to blow instead of suck?" What if instead of letting our lives drain the energy and knowledge that we have, we start to find ways to keep it inside us, or at least add back in as it is taken out. When we feel like we have nothing left to give, what if we find ways to put things back in. Maybe that is the feeling of getting rest when we're tired. Or finding a way to add friends to our life. Real friends, not just Facebook friends. People who can help take some of the load off of you, perhaps teaching you ways to do it better.
I think we need to especially do the same with Dementia patients. It seems like our main focus is to add medications to the body to slow any progressions down, or help the patient cope with symptoms. While that is fine and dandy, (I'm on Namenda and Aricept myself), maybe we need to make the focus on how to add back to ourselves otherwise. "Oh, they can't do that anymore, so I don't try." Really, if your child can't do something, do you just let them walk away and quit? If you've lost of limb and can't do something anymore, do you just say, "Screw This" and skip any therapies? If you have had a heart attack or stroke, would you just lay down and wait to die????? I would surely hope not!!!!
I have something inside of me that is draining me constantly. I have Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and it became bad enough that I have to have a shunt put in. This keeps the excess fluid in my head drained out so that the fluid doesn't do any additional damage hopefully to my brain. Notice I said "additional" as my neurologist said that my brain has taken such a beating over the last year before my shunt was put in that it will take a long time before it can ever get any healing to take place, possibly several years. NPH is also a form of dementia and we're hoping that it is the main cause of my dementia, though with my family history it is believed that I am dealing with some form of Early Onset Dementia. But while I hope that my body doesn't make more cerebral fluid than my shunt can keep up with, I also know that it will continue to add fluid that it needs to sustain life and protect my brain like it was designed to do. I didn't lay down and quit when it came to the NPH although at times I felt like it. I kept trying treatments and seeking medical advice while trying to pursue some sort of normalcy.
So why do we quit trying to make things better in ways other than medicine when there are cognitive declines?
Why don't we make therapies the focus? Keep up the medicine route as long as it shows a promise. Why don't we blow into the straw instead of letting the disease suck it out? Cognitive therapies are available all over and many insurance policies will cover it, including Medicare in the US for most people. I'm sure there are more activities that can be added. So what if you or your loved one messes up. Let them try again, even if they need to take a break until tomorrow. I believe that as long as people keep their minds busy with at least trying, even if they are not successful, then they can be stronger mentally for much longer.
I'm no doctor. I have no medical degree, but from what I know of my own experience, I believe that at least doing something keeps me feeling better and gives me a brighter attitude.
So I ask you today, Are you gonna let life suck, or are you gonna blow? I think even if life tries to suck, I'm gonna blow some REALLY BIG bubbles!!!!
And as always,
#EndAlz #AlzSux #HydroWarrior4Ever