Sunday family fun and finger food fest

As my wife’s MS spouse caregiver I have always been in charge for the last quarter century, sometimes even accused of being a ‘control freak’.

Nothing ever prepared me for people helping me. It is a quantum change that frankly has humbled me.

Since my single and brief episode of syncope last week my daughter restricts my driving. While medical science may not totally back her restrictions, she did after all witness her Dad go from standing and talking in one moment to laying on the floor the next.

A common sense return to driving was the approach advocated by my neurologist, as lung cancer metastatic lesions in the brain can trigger dizziness, falls, etc. Meds and of course radiation therapy are in theory shrinking metastasis with each treatment and as a result reducing pressure on brain functions.

She did let me drive to Loew’s Saturday morning. I was beyond impressed as somehow she arranged a simulation exercise in their parking lot. As I pulled into the parking lot an outdoor forklift bolted out of the blue spilling a couple dozen large bags of mulch immediately in front of me. I stopped on a dime and frankly sat there smiling like the cat that ate the canary watching them work.

Sooo it was not only our Sunday family tradition but a treat when my daughter offered to pick Patti up from her care facility for a finger food fest at home featuring mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, shrimp basket, chicken tenders and breaded mushrooms from JoJo’s Pizza.

Finger foods of varying shapes and textures somehow empower Patti to self-feed and safely feel a bit more independent.

Somehow we just have to stop watching NBC’s “Hannibal” on FIOS Demand with dinner. Tonight a guy driven by brain metastasis becomes a psycho serial killer while Hannibal ponders if eating someone with lung cancer is ethical even sensitive. Personally I was getting more than concerned about Patti and Megan’s rapt attention to the show.  :) The camera caught Patti's focus and believe me she rarely has such laser beam focus from decades of MS visual impairment and cognitve symptoms. Then again Hannibal Lechter in any incarnation is someone you keep track of. :)

Whatever … it was family time, we laughed, enjoyed ourselves on a georgeous 64°F (17.7°C) perfect MS friendly late afternoon and had fun … that is what family should be all about even when I cannot be the catalyst.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.” Dalai Lama XIV

Patrick Leer

Health Activist:

Caregivingly Yours, MS Caregiver @ http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/

My Lung Cancer Odyssey @ http://lung-cancer-survivor.blogspot.com/