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Awfully tough day
Today was another one of those that makes me think I can’t do this alone anymore! Then I read the thread from crushed and decided I am not done yet but wow what a day 3:15 AM started with prepping clothes breakfast and time allotment in order to try to offset the morning rage. Did not work. All of you know the path that…
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Seeing a Dementia Doctor
My wife is 80 years old, in good health, but with memory and cognitive problems growing steadily worse over the past 3 years. She does surprisingly well socially, I don't think any friends or relatives have noticed. However, I have had to take over many household duties such as grocery shopping, meal planning, bill paying,…
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grieving(4)
I have been on this road 11 years. No Idea how long it lasts. But I can no longer speak of her as "my wife" in the present tense. Marriage is a partnership and the wonderful woman I married is long gone. My therapist says I am deep into grieving. Oh the rush of memories. Yesterday 25 bags of her clothes went to charity and…
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Mice, humans, and memories
There may be many reasons why treatments for Alzheimer's-like disease work in mice but not in human beings, but one of them is that mice are given only one of the many factors that contribute to Alzheimer's disease (most often amyloid). You remove that one factor in mice (whatever it is) and you cure the mouse of…
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shirt of the day
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DH was admitted to the ER
DH is suicidal. Its heartbreaking. He doesn't want to live like he is. I thought I was doing a good job keeping him safe, because I got rid of the guns and ammo. I hid the knives and scissors. He went to the garage and got a sledge hammer and started pounding on the kitchen counter tops because he wanted to tear the house…
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Alzheimer's- An analogy
I posted this in a thread but I thought it was worth its own topic Remember there is the underlying Alzheimer's pathology and the symptoms we can see. As far as we know nothing stops the underlying pathology Think of a city with lots of streets and destinations and your taxi has a GPS. the utility company is digging up and…
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Will you still need me, will you still feed me?
Paul McCartney was a mere 16 years old when he wrote those lyrics, as he imagined what it would be like to be older. Last week, I reached the milestone in the song, age 64. I was 59 when DW was diagnosed, though there’d been clear signs of cognitive issues for at least a couple of years. We all know that each PWD’s journey…
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A Win For Me(1)
I just discovered that I could trim & clean DW fingernails while she’s sleeping & without waking her, WAHOO! Now if I could only figure out how to get her in the shower while she asleep I be golden.
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My DH diagnosed with Alzheimer's this week.
I knew he had some kind of dementia but he refused to go to the doctor. Finally got him to go to a neurologist last week. He was diagnosed with mid moderate Alzheimer's. My husband took the diagnosis well and is happy that he now knows what is wrong with him but he keeps asking me "What is Alzheimer's?" I explain it to him…
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Worried about our granddaughter’s visit
Hi everyone! I am worried about our granddaughter spending the night with us. My DH is very happy to see her and seems to act fine, but we have not been by ourselves with her. She comes to visit once a year out of state and she is 10 yrs old. Our son as explained the situation and she seems to understand some stuff. She…
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Hair washing sink
Cross posted in Caregivers Forum I couldn’t find what I needed in the archive, asking here: Does anyone wash their LO’s hair outside of the shower or tub? What do you use for a basin? I am looking for something like a hair washing sink found at a salon, but not so big and permanent. My DW showers with my help, but…
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DH will not bathe or shower
Period. Help! I am rarely speechless, but this is a stone wall that we cannot get over, around, under, or through. I don't know what to do. He seriously is just not willing to shower or bathe anymore, no matter what I do. It is not fear of the tub or shower, and it isn't room or body temperature, like being too cold. It is…
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My Turn in the Bucket
Well this week has really been terrible. Wife tried to run away twice this week. I don't mean wander as she was mad and wanted to leave. She was mad and having paranoia all this week. Did not think of UTI but went in on Thursday for a test. To show how well the medical profession is for Alzheimer's, I was in the treatment…
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Wept today
I was caught off guard today after getting off early hoping for a good weekend together myDW spent the morning with her sister. I stopped at grocery picked up the stuff for her new favorite pork chop stew got it started just bet they got back to the house. This week has been a week of new loss but she’s been in a pretty…
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Disappointed or maybe dismayed
Doctor says MRI doesn't show enough damage to intervene at this point. DW doesn't have the normal risk factors so there's nothing to treat or change at this point. WTF??? This is the most damning line from the MRI report: There is minimal bilateral periventricular and deep subcortical white matter disease compatible…
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A win for me
Fixations come and go. I know this now. And it seems that when I am just about to pop from going over the same thing over and over.... it ends. Case in point: DH hasn't driven in almost 3 years. Suddenly he fixated on driving again. From the man who can't figure out how to put a seatbelt on or put the window down. For over…
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Is this progression??
Hoping for some guidance since at this point, I do not know what/who to believe. My 73 yr old DH diagnosed with mild dementia approx 8 yrs ago; still driving, forgetful but pretty stable. He had extensive spinal surgery on 5/17, fused from L1 to S1, under anesthesia for 5 hrs and placed on narcotic pain meds. Since then he…
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Corona Virus thread shut down/DH passed on May 19, 2021
First of all I would like to thank all the knowledge I gained from this site. Everyone's comments on my posts were very helpful. I posted about my husband's decline after receiving his first Moderna shot. I asked that everyone be mindful of how they responded to my post. I had not checked that post for awhile because I was…
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One is the loneliest number
Years ago 3 Dog Night put out a song called One. They had obviously never lived with a person with dementia. In dementia land Two is the loneliest number. I would be so much less lonely by myself. I have to do everything around the house because my husband can’t help except fold laundry and unload the dishwasher. I find…
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Two small wins
Two very small wins this week but they feel big: 1) We needed to run errands yesterday to a town we don't usually visit and she didn't argue with me about my driving; 2) She let ME call a window cleaner I had used before to set up to get the windows washed (there are a lot) and she didn't argue and didn't fuss when we got…
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DH had a very bad reaction when he noticed the ammo was missing
Sometime in the last 8 months, I had my brother remove the ammo I found in the house. In hopes of avoiding a catastrophic reaction, I neither asked, nor told my DH that I had the ammo removed. Earlier this week, DH discovered the ammo was gone and life has been miserable since. * DH feels betrayed. * DH has lost ALL trust…
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All’s well that ends well
The day isn’t over yet, but I’m declaring it a good day. It didn’t go completely as planned, but what day does? I needed to take my truck in for an oil change, and planned to drive it to the shop while my wife was still asleep, and walk home. Well, the wife that I usually have to drag out of bed at noon was up at 5:30 AM.…
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Thinking of you Ed1937
Hello Ed. You have been on my mind and I am reaching out to say hello. I hope all is well with you. -LT
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Random Act of Kindness(1)
Not sure if this appropriate for this forum but I'll take a chance. Yesterday I took my DW to lunch at one of favorite local restaurants before the summer tourist arrive here in Maine. As we sat on the patio and enjoyed our lunch I noticed only one other table with 2 young ladies enjoying the warm sunshine. After they left…
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https://www.studyfinds.org/tool-predict-alzheimers-4-years/
Added a web site that provides information on a tool that can be used to predict Alzheimer. This may help those who are found to have a positive testing to prepare and investigate all resources that would be useful to them.
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can't see food on his plate
Last night my husband was eating dinner but the food on the left side of his plate fell off the plate onto the table. I guess it was pushed off by mistake. This has happened alot lately. I told him but he could not see it. I went over and pointed to it but he still couldn't see it or my hand. I pushed it back to the middle…
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Can't 'get used to' what's happening.
Dear Alzconnected friends: How do you all do this? Somehow I didn't expect this at all. How naive I have been. Our HVAC is broken. For 59 years my DH fixed everything in our houses immediately, I mean obsessively immediately. All I had to do was say "the faucet leaks' 'the car sounds funny'...and DH was on it. Here in our…
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OT super flower blood moon eclipse
I, for one, missed it. https://www.space.com/super-flower-blood-moon-2021-webcasts
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asking for help
Why am I having so much trouble asking for help. I know I need help. My LO is in early stage 6, at home, etc. . My mind is in a bad place, and I am too exhausted to care, most days. And the long loneliness stretches ahead endlessly, hopelessly. But, today I woke up determined to reach into the outside world, hence my…