Healthy late stage 7

Crushed

DW continues to confound predictions. She is late stage 7 with no obvious cognitive capability or reaction to any verbal commands. She is in a wheel chair and can stand up if gently pulled to a standing position. There is no cognitive control of hands. If you put food at her mouth she eats it, especially ice cream Sleeps well. Occasional grunts. Her hair grows and is still almost all brown. Her skin is lovely, fingernails and toenails grow normally. Blue eyes as bright as ever. She will be 71 this month. She is comfortable in an excellent facility with a personal caretaker 30 hours a week. Never had a UTI. Cost is $12,000 a month. She was MCI in 2010 EOAD 2012.

Our 48th wedding anniversary is this month. A friend said I am the most married guy she ever met. I can believe it.

macjetta54

Keep up the positivity! Your devotion to her is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story and the update.

Vitruvius

Thank you for this update. Your story has always been important to me as I feel that my DW is headed for the same fate. DW is 71 and now on hospice, but she is not as far along as your DW. My DW is seemingly healthy in that she has no other issues aside from her dementia. However she is losing her cognitive abilities to control her body and is now having trouble swallowing. I fear that this may go on for quite some time despite her qualifying for hospice.

I have great respect for the way you have dealt with your DW's decline. Please keep us updated. Thank you. BTW our 49th wedding anniversary is coming soon.

Paris20

This is just hard. My husband was diagnosed with AD in 2015. He had a stroke in 2022. He is in an excellent care facility for 14K per month because he needs two people to move him. Although we have Long Term Care insurance, it pays for about 25% of his care. When the doctor reports to me that his vital signs are all strong and his bloodwork is normal, I don’t know what to feel. He has no quality of life, can’t follow a conversation, can’t say very much, has no idea where he is or what millenium we’re living in (his mind is in 1965) , is totally incontinent but blissfully unaware of his condition, and doesn’t know who’s dead or alive in his family. My feelings are so conflicted. What am I wishing for after 58 years of a great marriage…a clean bill of health under otherwise horrific conditions or something else?

Beachfan

Crushed,

Although I was interested to read this update, I am profoundly sad for the Limbo in which you find yourself with your DW. I thought my DH would linger forever; although I could see him failing. He took no medication, ate voraciously when fed, slept all night, and walked with assistance until Tuesday, April 18, when Hospice was engaged and family was advised to gather. In retrospect, it seemed to be over in a nanosecond, although it was a full three days between Hospice’s grim prediction and his final breath. A curse or a blessing? I’m still undecided. I have grieved his passing since his initial diagnosis, MCI, in May, 2010. I only know now that it ends, there is finality, for better or for worse. I wish you strength and perseverance; ultimately, peace.