New to the Message Board Just need to vent

maelz

Good evening everyone,

     I am a caregiver for my husband who is 76 years old and was diagnosed in 2016 with late onset Alzheimer's. Like many of you, I have a similar story of how things have been for me. My husband and I have always been the ones who have taken care of all our family members who were sick or had any kind of problems. We were there to help. My husband was very outgoing and never met a stranger. So seeing him like this is hard for me. We have been married for 51 years this January; which he has know recollection. 

One of the signs that were a turning point. My husband took our car; he could still call, but didn't understand where he was going. My son and god brother did find him and was able to get him home safely. As his health continued to decline, and he started recognizing that something was wrong; it seems that my husband started to give up. Time has gone on and years have passed.  

Now we are in year five, every now and then we get a spark of life when he sees one of our grandsons. The kids, myself and a few special family members have tried to get him interested in lots of things, but to know avail. Looking back on how we were two peas in a pod, we used to walk every day, go to the park and just sit and talk. We both are retired, this is not what I thought our life would be like. 

He is now in Hospice, his hallucinations have increased, he is constantly reaching for things that only he can see. He no longer take Aricept or Namzaric, because Hospice says it's not helping. Do you all have a LO that has stop walking and is not active anymore? Do you all have suggestions for weight gain ideas? My husband still has a good appetite. 

Forgive me for being all over the place, but its been one of those days. As I said i just needed to vent.

Maelz

LadyTexan

Greetings Maelz.

Welcome to the message board. I definitely understand the need to vent. Venting on the this forum helps me because the caregiver heroes here understand and are supportive. Someone on the forum has usually been in my shoes before and they generously and graciously offer actionable suggestions.

My DH is 57. He has Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease. He does less and less all the time. He watches the news all day long. If he is reasonably content, I am not going to disrupt his daily routine.

Again, I want to welcome you. Thank you for sharing.

Ed1937

Maelz, welcome to the forum. Sorry you need to be here. Most of the exercise my wife gets is when she is looking for the "other" dog, which doesn't exist. She watches TV all day, or naps on the couch. 

Vent away. We understand.

CStrope

Must have been something with the moon....or stars.....or just a bad day.  

My DH was.....just a jerk to me today.  Like...all day.

Sometimes I just get so tired of being nice!  Sometimes I just want to look at him and tell him that his actions and words really make me feel bad, but I know that won't do any good.  It would probably just make matters worse.  So I keep  my mouth shut, swallow the hurt, and wait until I can get to bed at night to cry.

maelz

Thanks for the welcome

I am concern about my DH legs for about 3 weeks he hasn't really stood or walked. Hospice only says it's normal for his brain condition. They stopped his aricept so he;s only taking Seroquel for aggressive behavior which has slowed at the present. My DH eyes at times focus one way. Has anyone have this problem? his eye doctor says she don't know what would make his eye drift to one side ,As we know each day is a challenge but he really has a good appetite but no weight gain.He's 5'11 and 140 lbs. Again thanks for the invite and know I am all over the place.

Maelz