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I'm a new guy here
Hello everyone, My lovely wife of 54 years was diagnosed 10 months ago with dementia, early stage. The doctor we saw, a specialist in dementia, prescribed Donepezil 5 mg for one month, then 10 mg since. I have watched with dismay as the symptoms have increased. She has short term and long term memory issues, stopped paying…
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By Ed - Oh my!!
A woman reached out to the reporter who wrote the article on dementia. Her mother in law lost her husband to dementia, and would like to talk to me. He gave me a number if I wanted to call her. So I did. When I asked her what type of dementia her husband struggled with, she said "Type of dementia?" She had no idea there…
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Changes to Veterans Administration Health Care Bennies - FYI
We had our Annual Case Review last week with the VA for my sister. According to the social worker, the new assessment tool they use indicates my sister is only eligible for 7-9 hours a week total for services, both day care and in home care. This past year, she was authorized for 25 hours of adult day care; we probably…
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Just placed my spouse in Memory Care Today
Hello, I've lurked here for awhile, made a few posts, but mostly just benefited from all of the stories, experiences, and advice from those on the forum. To you all, I say thank you. I am fortunate in that my wife of 40 years is still a sweetheart despite the dementia, but it is getting harder to care for her.…
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Moving Day is Friday
short notice, got a call this morning that her new room is ready and we will be moving from the old facility to the new one on Friday (two days away). whew. went to sign papers, etc. this afternoon and saw the room, then went to the current facility--as luck would have it, they had taken my partner out for ice cream, so…
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kind of off topic--so much to do, so little energy to do it
EB White has always been a favorite writer, and he wrote a wonderful, hilarious essay in the New Yorker (Memorandum, I think) about all the different things he intended to do that day on his farm in Blue Hill, Maine. And of course ended up doing none of them as he sat there writing. That's what I feel like....the chicken…
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By Ed - The awareness article has been published
I was a little disappointed on how it came out. I told the reporter that I wanted the public to know the real bad parts of this disease. He told me he would not hold back. I only had one interview with him, and I had to cut it short after probably less than five minutes because I became emotional. We were supposed to try…
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Need Help - Fecal Stain Removal
We had a guest stop and visit this weekend at our house. Unfortunately, this individual who shall remain unidentified, had a bout of food poisoning he/she thinks. On the way to the bathroom, they lost control of their bowels and had some liquid stool leak onto our carpeting. Omigosh. Needless to say, the person is…
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By Ed - Just an update on Mike
Mike stayed in the hospital for 11 days. They transferred him to a "group home" where he would have his needs met. After being there for 3 days, he called me to ask if I would pick him up. He said the place was full of roaches and bedbugs, as well as being full of drug users, with drugs all over the place. He said he was…
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Bible Verse to Lift You Up 4/30/23
YOU AND I ARE LOVED! Romans 8:38-39 New Living Translation 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the…
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New format
I have just returned to the platform after a two year absence and I have to agree with the people who are saying that the new version is confusing and hard to figure out. I hope the powers that be will respond to this. It is especially creepy because we are all afraid of getting ALZ ourselves, and when something that was…
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Baby Monitor
Anyone use a baby monitor or similar device to monitor your PWD? I'm especially looking for something that works in dark when sleeping. What works/doesnt work well? Thanks!
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water water everywhere
I hope someone has an idea but no one has had to deal with this. Okay my husband has vascular dementia. He has been bedridden for 2 months. He has developed a UTI. Now he just pours his water in the bed. When he drinks it goes everywhere. He has a cup with a lid and I put a straw in it to help. I think he no longer knows…
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A Deep Discussion
I found this discussion that went pretty deep into the difficulties of caring for a loved one.
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Baker Acted! Really need some advice/input or simply support
Just to recap, my LO suffered vascular stroke March 2022, had craniotomy. Caused major cognitive decline, just like that! I'm going to list the salient points. Last Sunday LO was trying to escape our house and go home. I tried to stop him, he became aggressive, neighbor heard me screaming and called police! Police, EMS…
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"Good Luck"
If there is one phrase that I have come to hate is "Good Luck". I hear this all the time from people who don't have a clue as to what it is like to care for someone with dementia on a daily basis. Nobody understands until you have actually had to deal with this on a daily basis. They don't know what it is like witnessing…
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By LSUshad - Is it time for MC?
This is my first post. My DW was diagnosed about a year ago. She had been showing symptoms for awhile. She is 69, a retired school psychologist. I am 70. For several years I have been handling all of the financial, tax and home maintenance issues. I do almost all the cleaning and cooking. I have been giving her her…
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Update on "Just Placed my Spouse in Memory Care"
I had a rough day yesterday. Moved DW yesterday for our "3 week trial". Today I'm walking to her new home and I get a text message: "what time are you coming today". I wasn't sure she could still text legibly. I got there and she was in her room dressed well, seemed fine, not stressed, and happy to see me, like nothing had…
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Month living near his facility concludes tomorrow
What I’ve learned: A. My visits bring him smiles. B. I am smiling more interacting with him and getting to know his peers better., C. Experiencing less anxiety and depression knowing how he is physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, And in assisting him and his peers. D. Quiet residents (especially those in wheel…
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Bible Verse to Lift You Up 4/24/23
“TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY” * John 1:12 New Living Translation But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. * “Humans are more than flesh and blood. We are of the divine. We come, as Wordsworth said, ‘trailing clouds of glory…from God, who is our home.’ And when we pass from…
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Bible Verse to Lift You Up 4/28/23
ANGRY? SAD? OVERWHELMED? WORRIED? * John 8:12 NKJV Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” * me: We get upset. We are only human, after all. But we Christians have God's wisdom and power living inside us. We are not…
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What a Week!
WOW! What a week. My DH has frequent UTI's. Took him to Urgent Care last Saturday morning - confirmed UTI. Put on antibiotics. He got very sick and was in a lot of lower pain on Sunday night. Took to hospital emergency room Monday morning. There he was diagnosed with a second infection, Epididymitis. He was very weak and…
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Information on Methylene Blue
A good friend who spends a lot of time looking at alternate medications sent me this link about this product. I don't know a thing about it, but I thought this forum may have some information on it. Any comments are welcome! Here's what she sent: Francisco Gonzales-Lima, I believe from Univ of Texas Austin, has a lot of…
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Progress
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Musings
The Twelve Steps and me It's a good thing I am not an alcoholic, because over the past few days I have felt like I needed a drink. And needing to drink is the road to alcoholism. My life was in turmoil and I had to figure something out to help myself. I asked myself, could the 12 Steps of AA help me? I thought, "why not?"…
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By Mommafour: New Adult Day Care Experience
I finally dropped DH off this morning for his first day of Adult Day Care. I've had to call it a "Senior Activity Center" because he would refuse anything to do with "day care". He kept asking why he had to go and I explained the purpose is for good health, socialization, and to help the boredom he complains about. I…
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catheter
Will a catheter make my life easier or harder? Funny, that question is all about me.
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Showering & Bathing in MC Facility
I did a site search and found over 1,000 posts with the keywords "showering and bathing". Apparently this issue is a common with dementia patients. My wife is in her 10th month in memory care. Prior to being placed I was aware her showering had become less and less frequent. And for the last year at home she would only…
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Figit or Dementia Blanket
My DH constantly picks at his skin on his face and arms creating callus areas. He says he is not anxious or worried and he has always been a bit OCD. I purchased a figit or dementia blanket or Etsy and it has been helpful. For those looking for a distraction for your loved ones, maybe it will help.
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by Ed - Is this forum dying?
If you take away all the posts about the new format we have, it seems there are not close to as many posts as there have been since I joined over 5 years ago. It sounds logical to think people are moving to the Mayo Clinic forum, but there is not much going on there either. Has the cure for dementia been found, and I'm the…