Blogging this semester wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At first I wasn't really looking forward to it. Once I understood and decided my topic; it got easier. I got the hang of it fairly quickly and my topic really didn't need a lot of research since it was me writing about my personal experiences. I did, though, have a little trouble with writer's block but I eventually bounced back.

The research I did do was very interesting because not only did it help with my grade but I really did learn a lot from them that helped me get a better picture of what my grandparents are going through. If I hadn't written this blog I wonder if I would have gotten as involved as I am now in asking questions and looking for answers about these mental conditions. Writing this blog made me want to keep getting updated on my grandparents and to know more about what my aunts and uncles wanted to do to help them. It helped me decide what I think could help and I even got to suggest some to my parents. I could tell that they were appreciative that I had in some way helped my dad by listening to his worries and using facts to settle his mind. In a way, writing and explaining my family's situation in this blog has even helped me on a whole new level of dealing with the fact that my grandparents are getting worse. They're becoming weaker and growing more ill and they may not have much time left. By writing it out and showing people, it's made it alot easier to talk about.

In my search to find other blogs like mine with a first person view on taking care of sick family members, I came up short which was a little dissapointing. I thought there would be tons of different people out there with stories to tell that could be similar to mine. Instead, there were just a lot of "How To's" and advice on what someone could do but none of them sounded like they had experienced anything like this firsthand. I know there are plenty of people and families out there who are affected by diseases like dementia, conditions like depression, and just simply by old age or a combination of the three. I really hope my blog shows people that they are not alone. That every family that goes up against something like this has problems, disagreements, and moments of pure uncertainty. But the main message to remember is that these situations also bring them closer together. Because of this, my family gets together more often, we all talk to each other more and for the most part everyone puts forth a big effort for my grandparents for that very reason: time.

The doctors came to a final diagnosis of my grandmother's condition. They say she has Vascular Dementia. There are websites on the causes, signs, symptoms and even treatment. Now that we at last know what we're up against, my family can now just put together a plan of action and hopefully my grandma will be home soon. I don't know what will happen next for sure but I'm still hoping for the best.