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LONG weekend
My spouse has been in assisted living (memory care) for just about a year now. Our birthdays are both in August, and we've always taken a trip for our birthday. I checked him out, along with all his meds, and we left town, to go about an hour away. He was out of the facility maybe 27 hours. I take him out every Sunday, so…
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Today’s Chuckle
An old lady calls 911 late one night… The dispatcher answers “911, what is your emergency?” “There appear to be two men rummaging through my shed.” “A breaking and entering? We’ll have an officer over in an hour.” “An hour? But they won’t be here in an hour. They’re breaking and entering now.” “Ma’am, no officers are…
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Anyone have experience treating vascular dementia with Donepezil?
Whew - finally found my way back to this board and figured out how to start a post. My wife was just diagnosed with severe angiopathy, vascular dementia. This explains so much of what has been happening with her (memory loss, confusion, mobility degradation, hallucinations, incontinence, slurring her words especially in…
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I’m shattered - and this new format isn’t helping
I apparently have the dubious honor of having been on this forum for 7 years.. I pretty much stay away since it changed however. Intuitive it’s not and I don’t need any more complications in my life. Ok, rant off. After 20 years of caregiving, the last 5 in a facility, his tbi has crossed the rubicon. Tbi/CTE are…
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Fast Decline
I suspected for various reasons that DH has recently experienced a steep decline along his Alzheimer’s journey and my fear was validated at his doctor appointment yesterday. He was given a MoCA test and his score had dropped to 8 (severe impairment) from a 14 (moderate impairment) when tested less than 1 year ago. He was…
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caregiver or caretaker? :)
I know the terms are interchangeable and many people, including professionals, refer to me as a "caretaker". Isn't a caretaker the person that picks up the body and transfers it to the mortician or is in fact the mortician? :)
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Wandering around the house
Last night I meditated after a really rough day trying to calm my wife down. I had an epiphany. She is content. I was driving myself crazy trying to get her to sit still. Today has been great. I barricaded the kitchen and she is respecting the barrier. My office door is closed but other than that she is free to wander and…
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Good , Bad ,and Ugly of Stage 7 - now Stage 8
Well my husband passed away on Aug 5, after not eating or drinking for 10 days. It was time to let that happen , and Hospice agreed. The funeral was Thursday and it was beautiful. Just exactly what I and the kids wanted. We opened it up for anyone who wanted to speak and many did ( we let them speak from their seats which…
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Cataract Surgery
Husband’s cataracts worsened and are impacting his life. So after meeting with an opthamologist we (aka I) made the decision to do the surgery. This opthamologist was recommended as dealing well with people with dementia and the office was great. The surgery is relatively easy and once done will (I think) improve the…
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DH has MCI - Support Appreciated
A little background. I am 65 and EA is 72. Married 15 years. EA is a liver transplant recipient 14 years ago, Vietnam vet who contracted Hep C while serving, diagnosed with MCI September 2022 and deals with chronic pain. EA is still able to perform daily living skills, working remodeling projects around house and will…
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Enter stage 7?
I haven’t posted an update in quite a while. Probably because DW has been stable in late stage six for a very long time, and while she needs help with all ADLs she is fairly easy to care for. No aggression or anger and gladly accepts help. So, even with as much as I know about disease progression and Stage 7, I’ve been…
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DH locked me out...getting a new lock
DH has locked me out of the house twice this week which made me quite angry! I left the house for about ten minutes after telling him where I was going. When I got home, he had put on the night lock and I couldn't unlock the door. The second time I had to return his urine specimen to his Dr.s office for testing. Again he…
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Carlog and Iris
Thank you both for your comments. Iris’s words are almost Word for Word of what came out of my friends mouth. “Get your affairs in order!!” Thank you for specifics Carlog, my DH is now giving the okay to share the news of growing memory loss. He’s especially okay about it if LD is mentioned. We are not a part of a support…
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Early onset
It is a kind of Alzheimer's and is rare "· Young-onset (also called early-onset) Alzheimer's is an uncommon form of dementia that affects people younger than age 65." Mayo Clinic
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I just had spine surgery
I’m worried how my husband is dealing with this. I feel like he needs more support but I don’t know what that would look like
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Medication question
My DH’s neurologist suggested that he begin taking low dose Seroquel. This is in addition to Klonopin , which he has been on for a couple of months to better control behaviors and anxiety. She said that he would need to stop using Aricept (donepezil 10 mg) as it should not be taken with Seroquel. I wanted to see has any of…
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Moving LO into MC. Advice needed on how to comfort my father (the primary)
I'm not the spouse, my father is, but I'm the daughter of our LO. My father made the very hard decision to move Mom into MC (severe dementia. Probably ALZ. Falling fast.). There's a very pleasant, small, 6-bed, local residence style care home near us. It's highly recommended by my Mom's geriatric specialist, as well as our…
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Bad hallucinations
After a short vacation we are suddenly dealing with hallucinations and aggression. Pretty scary. Life has screeched to a halt. I’m following all the recommendations for dealing with this. How long before we look into a mem care facility?
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I need a pep talk...it's time
It's been a while since I have posted; it would have only been terrible so I refrained. My HWD is a different sort of case. We were married in 2019, and he was diagnosed with dementia in 2020, Alzheimers in 2021 by Petscan. Unfortunately he also has Bipolar 2 which has made his journey much more like BvFTD. We moved in…
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Denial(5)
My husband is in denial about dementia and refuses to talk to his Dr. about it. I don't know what to do. He got very confused last week during an outing and argued with me about the need to take the toyr bus back to the parking lot. Somehow he thought we were dropped off at the same place we started even though we…
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How to find counseling
Hi, I am new to this forum. My husband has EO Alzheimers, is currently on sertraline, but is struggling more with depression as his disease is progressing. I would like to get him started with counseling and was hoping to find someone who has experience with patients with dementia. I am thinking that I would go with him…
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Need a TV remote for dementia patients - any experience?
My DH is having great difficulty with the remote and then I have to try to figure out how to get it back to the stations we use. I have been looking online but haven't found what we need. Anyone have experience with either a simpler remote, voice remote or Alexa for controlling the TV? I feel so badly for my husband as he…
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Frequent Falls
Have any of you had experience with your LO having frequent falls that have worsened suddenly? I'm sure a number of things can cause this problem but I am wondering if DH's falls could be a result of the impairment caused by Alzheimer's. DH has lost balance and fallen just a handful of times over the past couple of years,…
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Memmatine
Hi, My cousin, a cardiologist familiar with my dad's case, has recommended stopping his memmatine. My dad has been on it for over five years, probably more. My dad is having a lot of delusions and is sleeping a great deal. I don't think this medication is helping him if it ever did. There is no way to judge this drugs…
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Just this week started sleeping all day
Hi, it's been a long while since I posted or even visited the site (since before the format changed.) DW is now 5 1/2 years into EO Alz. She has been on an even keel for a while, but just this week her sleep behavior has changed drastically. She was always ready to get up every morning to get dressed and eat breakfast.…
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The Good , the Bad , and the Ugly of late stage 7
I’m posting this mostly for Josey Wales, and for others who are now in 7 . I want to be fair and give an accurate picture of what it looks like for others. So just as a little review, my husband 59 has had Alzheimer’s for 7 years. He has never hit a plateau , but just crawls along at a glacial pace. He is at home on…
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At Home Caretaker
In adding up expenses, the stay at home caretaker is less expensive than assisted living and memory care places. Is it normal for my friend to develop a strong bond with the caretaker? We are fortunate to find someone she likes but I cringe over the kiss goodbye and her waiting at the door when the caretaker leaves to wave…
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Telling a Young Grandchild
DW has an EO Alzheimer's diagnosis at 64. We raise two grandchildren, 19 and 7. Because they live with us, they need to understand why grandma acts the way she does. The older girl gets it, but I can't find a way to effectively educate the younger one. I'm looking for resources. Anybody?
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VA Disability Letter
My DH served in Viet Nam and was in Camp LeJeune. I received a letter from VA about the right to apply for disability etc. because of agent orange in Viet Nam and then the burn pits in Camp Lejeune. They said that his service locations/timing made his eligible for "presumptive cause." It gave a deadline in which to file. I…
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Question: Any caregivers taking Wellbutrin?
My primary care doctor prescribed Wellbutrin for me today for depression and anxiety. I really don't want to take anything that is going to work on my brain but I know I have to do something. I have one physical ailment after another and my mind is very tired all of the time. He says my depression and anxiety is causing my…