-
I'm new - need acvice
I feel a bit self-conscious writing for advice when so many of you have issues that are more serious than mine, but I'm seeking help. My husband is still pretty functional, but is easily confused, has little sense of time, has very little short-term memory, and loses the thread of what he's doing easily. He comes to me…
-
SSA Representative Payee
Is there any value in going through the process of becoming your married spouse’s “representative payee” for Social Security? It involves an 8n-person visit and they determine who it should be. My husband has been on private long-term disability (he worked for a state and did not pay into Social Security for most of his…
-
Is this Alzheimers?
Hello, I’m reaching out for help, not sure if I am in the right place or not but I am hoping someone can answer my question. My husband is almost 73. There are several things that have me observing what is going on with him and today one of those things happened again. It might seem trivial but it’s just another thing in…
-
What day is it? What day is it? A tip.
"What's today?" This was the most common question my DW (with COPD and severe short term memory loss) repeated throughout the day until I bought two of these: Amazon.com: Robin, 2020 Version, Digital Day Clock 2.0 with Custom Alarms and Calendar Reminders, Alarm Clock with Extra Large Display Helps with Memory Loss,…
-
What do I do
My wife of 20 years- the love of my life- has mild to moderate Alzheimer’s. She started just getting lost a little in the house and now is just slightly showing a once a week paranoia about loosing things. It’s been 2 years since diagnosed. Don’t get me wrong please but I need someone to talk to- this is not what I thought…
-
support in finding hospice for husband with dementia
My husband's doctors have said I need to plan for the future and locate hospice, So far I have gotten a list of hospices in my area from ALZ Association and downloaded their document on choosing an in-home care provider. I have no one to discuss this with or get local references from someone who has used any of the…
-
Wife wanders the house at night, wakes me up constantly
Hello all, I haven't checked in here for a while. Medications have pretty well solved my wife's worst behavior problems (thinking I am a stranger, calling neighbors or the sheriffs to kick me out of "her" house, etc.). So for many months I've only had to deal with the annoyance of being asked the same question over and…
-
Betsy Wetsy
I've been reminded that DW does not intend to drive me nuts, but nevertheless she's doing a thorough job of it. For a long time she's been putting things away in unlikely places, and now she's doing it with urine. She seems to have forgotten her potty training, and now will pee anywhere, especially in her pants or in bed.…
-
DH says he has no memory problem / memory enhancer
How do I handle this issue? Neurologist diagnosed mild Dementia after 3 hours test. DH forgets Something said 10 minutes ago. Repeats same thing- doctors appointments- 5-6 times. Asked him to Read and write to improve, he says he doesn’t have a memory problem? How should I respond? 2nd question/ Has any one tried…
-
Have You Ever Want To Go On A Date?
I have been completely faithful to DW since our first date over 36 years ago but lately I find myself having a yearning just to go on a date. I have no idea who I would date or even how I would find the time, all I know is these feelings are very real. It would be so nice to go out with someone who could order their own…
-
Stages of Grief
I talked to my PCP the other day about MY good days and bad days caring for DH. Some days I don't mind being the caregiver and other days I feel anger, frustration and sadness. I blamed myself and thought it was exhaustion or intolerance on my part. She told me something that I have not heard before and has helped me to…
-
Random peeing in hallway
My spouse who’s in memory care for one month has begun to arbitrarily pee in corners of the building. He’s on an every hour bathroom schedule but is still finding a corner in the hallway to pee. He will do this by his bed too. I’ve asked that there be a light on at night so he can find his way but don’t understand this new…
-
Decision about TennCare Choices Program
Good Morning! I am needing some advice... I don't writing in the forum much, but I do read all of your great comments and advice you help everyone with. This is the situation. Everything is looking good for us to receive this program... My questions, they are wanting us spend down about 23,000... I am worried that…
-
I know he is not getting the best care
Kaiser simply gave him some pills and referred me to a social worker. Shouldn't he be getting PET scans and have a Neurologist? What should I be advocating for? I feel like we are falling in the cracks.
-
I struggle
My husband has EO. I struggle with knowing the markers of progression. When do I take away the car keys? When do I bring someone in for part time care? I struggle with wanting to put my energy into him and his care, but needing to work full time. I struggle with Medical Insurance treating Dementia as something other than a…
-
Apologizing and other things
I find myself wondering if I should apologize to my husband. Taking a minute to apologize for something that happened earlier in the day becomes reminding him of something that upset him. What do you folks think? Along those same lines. This last Friday was the anniversary of the death of my husband's daughter at age 17. I…
-
Elder Care Lawyer Question
I’ve talked to 3 Elder Care lawyers to protect the house if husband goes on Medicaid. Two of them want me to set up irrevocable trust but they are very expensive. Another says I should take my husband off of the deed. But I was told that won’t help. Does it matter if I set up trust through a regular trust attorney who will…
-
I don’t know how to do this
We are at the beginning stages of this horrific journey. When I read about what others are going through here, I know what I have to say seems so small and petty… But anyway, for the past four years we’ve been planning on getting our downstairs painted, and over the past four months my husband has been hounding me to get…
-
Burnout
I'm running on empty. My DH has mid stage dementia and is 02 dependent due to congestive heart failure. He's in a long term memory care facility and I see him every day. He's constantly confused about how to wear the 02 device and calls me about 20 times a day; often acutely confused, delusional, nasty, paranoid - and I…
-
A simple tip
I got my booster shot yesterday. I was going to register my wife to get one today. Yesterday she had her purse, and when I needed her medicare number, it was in her purse, which was somewhere, but where? I looked for probably over an hour before I found it. Yes, she got her booster shot today, but it could have been much…
-
Newbie help
My husband was just diagnosed on Thursday but I have known for a while that something was wrong. He can still care for himself but I do all of the cleaning, banking and appointments, etc. the dr we saw said that he can slow down the progression by working out, eating clean and so on, now my husband thinks he’s ok if he…
-
Alzheimer's and cancer: different sides of the same coin
The observation that people with Alzheimer's disease rarely develop cancer and that people with cancer rarely develop Alzheimer's disease suggest that they are opposite diseases: Alzheimer's disease is cell growth without cell death and cancer is cell growth without cell death. Yet the same apparent triggering factors such…
-
preparing meals
I need some help in meal preparation. My DW won't eat anything spicy, salty, (she likes chicken noodle soup), or anything that is hard to chew. She complains that her teeth are not sharp. If we go to a restaurant she will complain about most of the food and eats about a third of the meal. We have been to the Dentist twice…
-
Biogen
I found this article about the approval of Aduhelm interesting. It’s not a drug I would ask his neurologist to prescribe, but I find the approval process fascinating. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/26/politics/alzheimers-drug-aduhelm-fda-approval/index.html
-
Caregiver’s health
Has anyone placed their spouse in Memory care because of the caregiver’s mental health
-
endless rehashing of lost history
My partner doesn't remember much about us any more, and she's constantly questioning me, trying to fill in the holes. It's disconcerting to say the least, and heartbreaking--how long have we been together, do I know her family, do I have family, do I know our neighbors, do I have children, was I married before, what kind…
-
How to get DW to take her meds?
My DW has been diagnosed with moderate dementia/Alzheimers. Each evening before bedtime, she does habitually take Donepezil (prescribed for MCI 3 yrs ago by our primary care doc). When we saw her neurologist 5 months ago, he added Memantine during the day. He thought it might help. But she has refused to even try this…
-
Biogen: When free is not free
When I read that Biogen was giving away free doses of its Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, I thought that it was just an act of desperation. But there may be something more nefarious to this based on what it is doing with some of its multiple sclerosis drugs: Biogen Accused of Baiting Patients With Illegal Drug Co-Pays Biogen…
-
We Saw the Psychiatrist!
So yesterday DH had his first Psych appointment in 48 years! He was diagnosed with BiPolar2 when he was 24 (now 72) and started on Lithium and he has never gone back. Now with a dementia diagnosis and probable bvFTD the neuro wanted him to see the Psychiatrist to sort out what was what. He did not want to go and I was…
-
Covid boosters
DD#1 is my vaccine expert (Johns Hopkins PhD in microbiology and public health, now with FDA) She is 100% supportive of boosters for all dementia patients in facilities and any visitors over 65 She also reminded me to get my flu shot and I told her I did last week. Get the "high dose" if you can , From CDC Several flu…