Thursday, June 26, 2008

Today this note is second hand. I have taken a short leave and am back in Cleveland for a few days. We are keeping in touch with Mark and Jess by phone and are happy with the news from Florida.

Mark had additional neuropsychology tests again yesterday. I had noticed an improvement in his short term memory since he started taking the Aricept and so had the speech pathologist, however, she was concerned we were being subjective. The doctor suggested that they run some of the tests again to see where he stood. They were absolutely amazed at the progress in a month and I do believe that it has to do with the drug. He did far better than anyone expected in such a short time. They normally would not have done the repeat tests for another four months, so this was very good news.

Today he went on an outing to Grand Prix which he equated to a Chuckie Cheese for grown ups! (Kind of like Dave and Buster's here in Cleveland.) He had a good time, but again had a bad bout of queasiness. The rec therapist (like I) suggested that perhaps he has been suffering with allergies, since again, this was accompanied by a very runny nose. The doctor agreed with her and they are starting him on Zyrtec which helps both the allergies and the nausea. Those of you who know me (and my history with allergens) will realize that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Hopefully, this will work.

He is especially anxious for an end to the nausea since this Saturday is the Army ball and he doesn't want to have something like this spoil the fun. The patients and the families have all been invited and it is supposed to be quite the event. We did sent his blue dress uniform down for him to wear and those without uniforms are having tuxedos provided by a local firm. All of the women have been getting new outfits to wear. I will be missing this event, but I didn't know about the dance until after my arrangements to come home had been made. Mark's nurse is going with the group to watch after the patients. She was thrilled to be "Cinderella" and had to call and tell me she was going. Jess will be sending photos and we will post them as soon as we have them! Stay tuned!!