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DW Depends leaks and I'm doing laundry every other day!
My wife is 5 years into ALZ/Dementia and degenerating quickly. She wears Depends all day and all night. But, if I'm not cautious enough, she's in them too long and she'll have wet her pants as well. The process of caring for her bathroom needs is already "over the top" but we're trucking along. Any suggestions?
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Respite, what respite?
To recap, I placed my wife in MCF for respite while I had minor surgery. The transition from home to memory care was smoother than I, or anyone from the facility, thought would be the case. Less than two weeks into the respite, 5 days after my procedure, my wife went into the hospital with a UTI and sepsis. She was weak,…
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My dear wife(1)
My dear wife passed away, Monday, October 4, 2021. She died peacefully thanks to medicine to keep her resting and comfortable. She suffered a lots from Alzheimer’s disease especially the last few months of her life which seemed to just spiral downward. This disease is just awful. I have learned a lot as a caregiver. To all…
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Husband wants to come back home from MCF
My husband has been in a wonderful MCF for 6 weeks and at every visit all he talks about is moving back home. I have tried to change the subject but it always comes back to that. How do I deal with it?
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Ed1937 - I Got The Call Up To Fenway
Well, sort of! A former coworker/friend called Monday and invited me to tonight’s game. My sister-in-law is going to come over and stay with DW for the afternoon/evening so I can get out. Go Sox!
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Memory Care Facility and Holidays
Hi all - maybe this is no longer the forum I should post in since I abandoned my wife to a memory care facility (guilt still alive and well here) - any suggestions are appreciated. But I am wondering if any others here have their person in MC and if so, do you bring them home for a spell at thvg or Christmas? I miss her…
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Just when you think you can handle it
The past couple of days have been delightfully explosion free. I began thinking that perhaps I shouldn’t have agreed with the neurologist to try an antipsychotic drug because of the possible side effects. Then I remembered wise words here about making important decisions based on spouse’s bad behavior, not on the…
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Hygiene(1)
‘Not sure how to ask or explain this.. but my DH has incontinence and wears depends all of the time lately. So, my question is he does still try to go to the toilet, but he has a bad habit of peeing on the floor or hits the walls, baseboards, etc. Tonight at 12:45 in morning, I heard him get up and go. He got it on his…
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What Application
Only because the folks on this board understand - DH not diagnosed. We have our own business and DH is still working and has, within the past 12 months started 2 new businesses with partners other than me - 1 of which required a rather large loan taken out in both our names - I strongly disagreed with him on all this but…
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Medication- mild dementia
My DH was confused about dispensing his meds into his pill boxes, so I distributed the two weeks supply and color coded and wrote am and pm on the pill boxes. At first he repeatedly asked what the colors meant and which one was am pm. Last two days I checked and no pills were taken, when asked he said he took them from the…
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facetiming from Germany
I have had no trouble using Face Time to take a look in on DW from Germany. Very nice
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Thoughts on Caregiving
In my experience being a caregiver has been and is the toughest, worst, unwanted job I've ever had. Year after year as time goes with my husband's AD the really bad days are becoming fewer but still are highly stressful to deal with. Yesterday was one of the really bad days for over 5 solid hours. Awful day. Hard to stay…
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Seroquel to treat delusions and agitation
My DH is suffering from delusions and agitation for more than 3 months. His neurologist prescribed 25 mg of Seroquel a day and to increase it to two or three doses if his delusions / agitation are severe. His neurologist is a highly regarded doctor who is doing state of the art research on AD. A recent NewYork Times…
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Implementing POA'a--Advice please
My husband was diagnosed with MCI probably caused by ALZ almost a year ago. While he is pretty good most of the time, I'm not. I have always tended towards depression which is a common side effect of my Rheumatoid Arthritis and have been on medication for many years. The past six months have been really rough, though, and…
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Do you let your LO answer the phone?
Another telephone topic, I know we've had some before. We have to have a landline in our farmhouse, metal roof doesn't allow for adequate cell reception (plus there's an elevator, and there has to be a phone in the elevator for safety reasons). Can't block all the scam calls, which are multiple per day. My partner can't…
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Lack of family support is heartwrenching!
My DH's Mother passed away last week. She was 93 had late stage Alzheimer and lived in a nursing home. We live about 11 hours away. His daughter who he is estranged from called and told him about his Mom's passing. She said she would call back when arrangements were made for the funeral. His sister called him when he…
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Shxt storm, marathon ER visit, a fall, and hospice
I haven't posted in the last week or so because it has been absolute chaos here. 1. Spent 7 hours in the ER last week on Friday but at least we got the horrible balanitis under control. 2. Then, diarrhea set in (maybe antibiotic side effect?) and triggered bowel incontinence like I can't even explain. Luckily we have a…
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Look at Yourself
I filmed my husband having a meltdown before going into a rage, with the intent to show his neurologist to get drugs to help. I watched it when things had settled down and saw the following: He was clearly expressing his loss of function, which I missed. He clearly missed two things he had forgotten on a trip (his phone…
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Caregiver Profiles on Alzconnected .org
I've been on this forum for a little while now and found it very helpful getting ideas and suggestions from so many that have already been where I am undoubtedly headed. I'm not a prolific poster ( on this forum or other forums that I participate in) where I see other members have thousands of posts. When ever I ask a…
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Placement question
We are about to place my DH in Memory Care. He looks for me first thing in the morning, and comes out of bed at night to make sure I''m still here, and this is unbearable to me, knowing this will be the case as he becomes accustomed to his new surroundings. When our helper is here, he looks for me, although she''s able to…
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Wife out of hospital, back to MCF
After a week in the hospital on IV antibiotics, my wife is back to the MCF. To avoid another stressful ambulance ride, I picked her up at the hospital and delivered her to MCF. We were just in time for dinner, and she dat down and ate everything. She has difficulty eating, but she kept at it until finished. This was very…
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Respite - Off The Grid Style
This coming Saturday I am leaving for a weeks respite in the Allagash Wilderness Area of Northern Maine. I am going with my niece and we will be totally off the grid, we had to rent a satellite phone in case of an emergency. This is a trip my niece & I have talk about taking for the past 15 years and finally all the stars…
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Memory Care Tour
Yesterday I toured the only memory care facility in town. I live in St. Joseph, MO. There are several MC facilities 50 to 75 miles away but this is the only one close by. It is a private pay facility and charges $5,375 a month for memory care. The tour got off to a strange start when the director confused me with someone…
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How to fly with my DH
My DH was diagnosed summer of 2020 with probable Alzheimer's - not clear cut, has some outlying symptoms which don't necessarily go with it. He's not very strong and has knee pain which sometimes is fine, other times he is bothered quite a bit. Losing memories of friends and some family, and word recall difficulties.…
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Now what do I do?(1)
My husband’s aide has been the victim of his abuse for months. It’s only getting worse. The vile verbal violence is frightening and hurtful. The aide has dealt with many Alzheimer’s patients and confessed to me that my husband’s rages are the worst she has ever had to deal with. One of my daughters has the same mantra when…
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Surprise on steroids
My wife and I were listening to music on youtube, when she said "I need to take a bath". WHAT???? I'll take it! It's probably been about 2 years since she voluntarily got in the shower.
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New to Alz Caregiving
I am in the process of moving my girlfriend from Fresno, CA to Rochester, NY. I'm driving out to get her and pack what we can in a small trailer. In the process of finding an apartment, getting her into PACE and Medicaid, opening a pooled trust account, etc. It's a lot. I am truly at peace with the decision. She is in the…
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Finding part time help while I work
My husband has early onset Alzheimer’s and is retired. I still work full time and would like to explore finding someone to keep him company and help him manage his day when I am at work. He is highly functional but lacks enough activity to keep him busy. Has anyone faced an issue like this? I appreciate any insights.
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Caregiver workshop
I want to make it clear that I won't post information on the forum if it leads to something considered spam. But I received an email from someone I'm familiar with, and it concerns a 14 day workshop that costs less than $50.00. It's online, and I really think some of you who are really struggling can benefit from it.…
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Tomorrow is our 9th Anniversary, what do you recommend?
Tomorrow is our 9th Anniversary. I haven't planned anything or even reminded DH the significance of the day. Last year DH had someone take him to the store so he could buy a card for me. DH didn't have the ability to write anything in the card or put it in the envelope. I bought a card to give to DH. He doesn't have the…