DH with early AD

sunshine5

Is letting papers pile, won’t file them, I offered to help but gets agitated. When we need the papers, I can’t find because they r not filed! Solution?

I noticed that not only that he can’t remember where his drinking glass goes for daily use but he couldn’t tell the difference between a dark blue towel and a light turquoise ! I had to change one towel a different color!

Is the AD getting worse?

Neurologist won’t prescribe the new med Aduhelm , it has side effect, also Dr wants to make sure DH has AD.

  

Crushed

Aduhelm may be complete worthless quackery. IMHO Strictly snake oil for the desperate 

Alzheimer's disease itself always get s worse.  The symptoms or expression of the disease are more irregular This is a progressive disease

I had to start handing DW her toothbrush before she had the Alzheimer's diagnosis  2011 
She could not handle choices. that was 10 years ago. 
She sorted her papers for the national library of medicine 9 years ago 2012.
Her last day of "work" was April 2012
She also stopped driving in 2012. 
The last computer she used we bought in 2013.

 by 2013 I picked out her clothes every day  
Her last email without help was 2014
Our first grandchildren were bon in 2013 and 2014  she never really learned their names

It is painful

"

. Doctors across the country are still trying to figure out who should receive the drug called Aduhelm, which, at best, slows the fatal disease marginally. Other drugs for Alzheimer's disease only temporarily ease symptoms like memory problems, insomnia and depression.

While some clinics have already started giving the drug, many providers say it will take weeks or months before they are ready. Insurers -- including the biggest bill payer for this drug, Medicare -- still need to determine which patients to cover for a treatment that could cost more than $50,000 a year. And doctors worry that emotions will affect decisions by patients and families in seeking the drug.

"People are desperate. It's a really horrible disease," said Stanford University's Dr. Michael Greicius.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210704/alzheimers-drug-stirs-hope-for-patients-worry-for-doctors

Quilting brings calm

The new medication caused brain swelling in 40% of the people who took it in the clinical trials. Brain swelling is a brain injury.  Stroke or brain injury can cause vascular dementia. Vascular dementia patients have a shorter average life after diagnosis than Alzheimer’s.  My mom had a stroke and a brain injury. She now has dementia.   

PSA concluded.

As to your DH and the papers. I suggest you wait until he has gone to bed and you file a little every day.  Start your own filing system.  Take all the financial items under your control. Get the checkbooks in your possession. Same with the credit cards. Get the medical and financial POA done while you can. There’s lots of good advice on both the spouse and the regular caregiver forums. 

Crushed added a link to a 12 page PDF a few days ago called Understanding the Dementia Experience. It’s a good summary. Also read a book called ‘the 36 hour day’.   

My mom had trouble with the financial items such as balancing her check book much earlier than her diagnosis. We were 12 hours away so I didn’t see all the issues until a crisis occurred. But I do remember her comments about needing to have  the bankers help balancing the checkbook and having messed up my dads health insurance premiums payments(one of only 2 non automated recurring bills). 

Stuck in the middle

Yes, the AD is getting worse.  

The solution for the papers is to file them yourself.  My wife still has her own checkbook, but she doesn't write checks or look at her bank statements any more.  I am gradually taking over every chore in our lives, and I expect you will do the same.

Stuck in the middle

My wife just handed me a smelly running bra and asked me to "work your magic" on it.  She did our laundry for the first 50 years of our marriage.  That was then, this is now.