New Member Introduction

DJnAZ

Just joined the community and looking forward to shared experiences from other spousal caregivers. While my wife's dementia is in the early stages, her maternal history is such that it is unlikely she will be getting back to "normal". Her mother and maternal grandmother both died of AD. 

My wife Linda (63) was diagnosed this March with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Her condition really began, in my opinion, in late 2019 and was significantly impacted by the Covid pandemic. Although she never had covid, the stress surrounding a global pandemic seriously affected her in ways I cannot understand. As if this wasn't bad enough, our 17-year old dog died in November. After that she took a significant downturn and is definitely not improving.

She had a MRI and CT scan prior to the MCI diagnosis that one doctor said indicated the possibility of frontotemporal dementia. The doctor put her on memantine but said there really wasn't much that could be done and memantine would only slow the progression at best.

While she manages to deal with personal matters quite well, her memory and language skills can be limited. She knows the words she wants say but very often they just don't come out. Or if she does get a sentence formed there are missing words or words that just don't make sense. In addition, her short term memory is almost nonexistent. Long term memory can be spot on.

One last thing. We live in a small area in Arizona without an abundance of medical specialists. In fact, the one neurological MD recently resigned his practice. We are left with a neurology NP that we have seen one time but do not intend to see again. After 25 minutes in the exam room she gave me a stack of Alzheimer's a**'n pamphlets and basically said "good luck". 

So...this is our story. I look forward to comments, thoughts and input from others that share our situation.

Sjodry

Hi DJ,

Welcome. I am not in a spousal caregiving situation but wanted you to know there is a wealth of info and support here. You will find that likely anything you might face..has been experienced and shared by others here.

Glad you found us!

Take care.

Sandy

Quilting brings calm

DJ

Since you are looking for fellow spousal caregivers, be sure to jump over to the spousal caregiver forum. Should be directly under this forum when you call up the forum list. 

As you read thru  various threads, you will see advice about getting durable power of attorney.,medical power of attorney, getting finances organized so that you can handle things, etc.   Do read the book ‘The 36 Hour Day’ and  google ‘ understanding the dementia experience’. It’s a 12 page read. 

I understand your frustration with the NP. We are all frustrated with the medical profession and even more so with the lack of support in terms of  navigating this disease. Unfortunately there  is no return to normal, no actual treatment. There are a few medications to try to slow it down.  There are anti-anxiety and anti-depressants and sleeping pills. Later there will be medications to control delusions. 

There are some caregivers here with loved ones with your wife’s version of dementia. They will have some specific tips for you. My Mom’s  version of dementia is most likely vascular.