Official Diagnosis (dx) plus 3 Years

LadyTexan

DH was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in February 2019. Like many here, the symptoms showed up years before the official dx.

I first started noticing something was "off" in 2016. For example: 

• DH was having difficulty with math, which he had always been good at. 
• DH was having difficulty dressing. When he was putting on a shirt with buttons, he would pause for maybe a second and look puzzled about what to do with the buttons. He would put his loafers on the wrong feet.
• DH had multiple auto accidents within 13 months. Only one of which was with another vehicle. No one was seriously hurt. THANK GOODNESS.
• DH who had been sober for over 15 years started drinking abusively.

Getting a dx was a long journey and very frustrating. DH was ready to throw in the towel so many times. We switched health care systems and switched doctors and were finally given a dx of "probable Alzheimer's". The dx was based on many many tests such as neuro-psych testing, lab work, interviews, observations by me, MRI's and a PET scan.

Our life has changed a lot. DH left the workforce. We moved twice. First to a small apartment, close to my office while I strived to satisfy retirement eligibility. Second to our "new to us" vintage cottage, which we painstakingly modified to age in place. I retired to be DH's full time caregiver. Over the years DH has been aggressive and verbally abusive. He has been in the psych hospital twice. He was suicidal just last May. He has been on hospice about a month. He has apraxia. He is double incontinent. He is losing his ability to communicate effectively.

But there have been moments of joy during our journey. 

• We found and adopted a faithful dog Hap. 
• Unexpected dancing and toe tapping to music. 
• A mischievous glimmer in his eye. 
• A reconciliation between father and son.
• Most recently, we welcomed our first grandchild. 

The significance of this day is difficult. I needed to verbalize while I reflected on our journey. I am sorry for the reason that brought us all together. I am grateful for all of you. I could not travel this journey without you.

God bless you all.

Ed1937

Lady, as is typical for you, you find something good when the chips are down. That's what gets you through, and that's what makes you such an important part of this group. Thank you for all the posts.

Quilting brings calm

LT - thank you for this timeline.  Like many others, I read and re-read stage tables searching for any guideline as where are we and when are we.  But those are all just averages. The best help is  the actual progression that those of you that go before us can hand back to us and say ‘ here is  where I am and here’s how long it took to get there.

Lynne D

Lady,

Thanks for sharing. Your timeline is helpful and I always get a lift from the positives you share.

ButterflyWings

LT - Some of the "anniversary" moments are really tough and often I don't really even want to look back. But what joyful wins you are able to lift up, amid the challenges of this journey. Wishing you many more special moments worth remembering, as we stay this course. Thank you for sharing your light with us.

Joydean

Lady T, 

Thank you, I’m always encouraged by your post. You show if we just look closer there is something good in this journey. It’s not all ugly and sad, and demoralizing. 

Take care of yourself!