Week 11 - COVID-19 LOCKDOWN 😬

Happy Thursday to all of you! Here in California we are on Week 11 of the social distancing orders. Bob and I continue to make the most of it, but we are also really looking forward to spending time with our friends and family. When the time is right of course!

I might have mentioned this last month -- not having contact with people has been hard on me. I'm very much looking forward to being able to touch and hug my friends and family! To eat with them in restaurants and to walk with them in public without a mask on. I will be patient and I will continue to follow the rules and I will continue to pray that California and the East Bay specifically is taking the right measures to keep us safe. And I will do my best to count my blessings and keep my spirits high😊

Since my last blog I've had two more infusions for the Eli Lilly Tau clinical trial.They both went pretty well. We did have some issues with my veins back in April. It took them a while to find my vein and that's always painful and annoying. This week it went pretty well. I wore some cute Katy Perry shoes too and the staff and all my social media followers seem to enjoy them. I try to make the visits as fun as I can and entertain myself with posting about my journey and watching TV on my phone. I'm very thankful to be part of the cure of this horrible disease💜

Most of my days are spent listening to and participating in calls, video chats with friends, as well as joining all the Alzheimer's Assoc events and Advocacy training. The virtual art classes have been fun too! I've kept up my exercise routine too and have enjoyed walking on the Iron Horse Trail. There's more shade there and I can walk on the dirt which is better for my knee.

My brain is definitely getting tired and after two or three calls I'm pretty wiped out. Even calls or FaceTime with friends is exhausting. This month I was able to speak to one of one of my Intel exec's CJ Bruno. It was so good to hear his voice and catch up. We've been in communication via email but that's not the same as talking. He gave me some good advice (as always) and encouraged me to keep fighting! Don't worry CJ - I promise to fight to the end💪 

Yesterday I talked to Paul Sathis too! He and I were peers at Intel and really enjoyed working together. This is the first time we've connected since 2016 and it was great to hear his voice. Thank you Paul!

I've continued to knit almost every day and am almost finished with my project. It's looking really nice and I'm happy I stuck with it. I made some mistakes and had to start all over which is really annoying but I persevered and now its perfect! I'm thinking about auctioning it off to the highest bidder for my Longest Day fundraiser🧶

Kristen continues to check on me every day and sometimes we FaceTime at night while she's cooking. This weekend we're going to spend some time together - with our masks on of course. Hoping to get near the water so we can enjoy looking at something other than our backyards and neighborhood.

Bob continues to amaze me with all of his fabulous plant based meals. He's really enjoying it and I am the lucky one who gets to experience his culinary talents!  We do take breaks and order take-out but most nights he's in the kitchen for several hours drumming up some delicious food.

Master Chef!

I guess that's all that's been happening with me. I really appreciate all the text's and support on Facebook, and for the donations that have been coming in for our Walk2EndAlz. I know times are tough and I appreciate your support and donations.

So onward we go into June next week and with the next social distancing rules it will be interesting to see how Contra Costa County responds. I really wish my hair salon could open up but I can and will cut and color my own hair again if I have to! This is really minor compared to all the other issues.

I hope you're all doing well. I'm here if you want to talk/text/FaceTime. I appreciate your support and your friendship. We will get through this together and hopefully have some fun adventures soon. With lots of touching and hugging and laughing. Rusty continues to keep me sane and is almost always by my side😻

I'm sending ending virtual hugs, prayers and love to all of you💕💕

Rusty my caregiver kitty

Fall is in the air!!

I can feel the seasons changing, especially in the morning when it's cool and crisp. At least that's what the past few days have been like. I love the cool mornings that warm up and morph into mild afternoons. Today on my walk I was chilly in the shade and warm in the sun.....a good warm, not the hot sweaty heat that we've had most of the summer here in Northern California.

I also was informed yesterday by my neurologist that walking is EXTREMELY beneficial to those with Alzheimer's. We ran into her at UCSF in the lobby of the building where I have my clinical trial infusions. As I've said before, there's no such thing as a coincidence! I love this amazing woman. She is down to earth and as brilliant as they come. She is involved in the Alzheimer's research that UCSF is doing and asked us almost immediately if we had been walking. The answer was yes, we walk quite often actually. When we asked her why, she started talking about the research that she and her colleagues have been doing regarding Alzheimer's and the effects walking has. They have found some correlation and benefit from walking, just walking, not running, not biking, not rowing or doing other cardio activity. I'm assuming it has something to do with balance and keeping upright but we didn't have time to get into anything specific.

I was happy but somewhat surprised. I started rowing a few months ago and felt like maybe I should be biking, and doing more work on the elliptical. I have been walking for years but thought maybe another form of cardio would be good for me. I am so happy with this news! It makes things easier. We can walk anywhere😊 In any country, in any weather, in any city. For some reason this is a big relief for me and that's why I'm sharing it with you. I'm also not suggesting you should follow her recommendation, I'm just putting it out there as 'food for thought' and something you might want to talk to your doctor about.

This is also Alzheimer's Walk season. We initially signed up to raise money and attend four walks. As the months wore on and our schedules got busy, we made a tough decision to only participate in two. We did four walks last year but it was the first year of my diagnosis and two of the walks were created for me by friends and co workers. I also had more energy last year and Bob was not working full time. Four is just too many now and I am relieved and happy that we made the right decision to slow down. We have a good group walking with us in Walnut Creek and are building our team down in San Luis Obispo.

I'm excited and am looking forward to both of them. I'm also extremely grateful for all the donations I've received from my friends and family. Thanks to all of you, I've raised over $6000 towards my $8000 goal for the Walnut Creek walk. And, our amazing team "Buni's Buddies" has raised almost $10,000! I'm grateful beyond words for your generosity!!

I reached another milestone this month. My blog has over 30,000 unique views! I am hopeful that those with Alzheimer's or other types of dementia are benefiting from my journey, trials and tribulations. I also hope all the caregivers and care partners out there are finding it helpful. I will keep blogging as long as I can. Sharing my story, my journey, my ups and my downs. There is no shame in this disease and I'm not afraid to talk about how difficult things are for me now.

If you would like to walk with us in Walnut Creek or donate to help us find a cure, here is the link: Buni's Buddies aka Pam's Walnut Creek Walk  No amount is too small, every dollar helps!

God bless you all. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you have a chance to walk soon, and enjoy the cooler weather.

Count your blessings and please pray for those who have been effected by the hurricanes, floods, natural disasters and the most recent earthquake in Mexico.