You are all Angels

kasharb

Hello, I am new to posting on this forum but have been following the site and Your advice since last fall. I want you all to know how much you are helping me as we deal with my DH’s mixed dementia diagnosis.

DH was officially diagnosed in early 2021 but had MRI which show brain atrophy and 50% clogged artery in the middle cerebrum indicating VD in fall 2020. Now, as I realize this I believe he started showing symptoms in 2016 or earlier. Since then we have been through many test trying to rule out but finally in early 2022 he was prescribed Airecept (starting at 5 mg then increased to 10mg). By Fall he was declining and in January this year his PCP added Namenda 5 mg, recently in April we finally got back in to see the neurologist and he increased that to 10 mg.

The concerning thing about that was when he did that he told us this was the very last thing he has to give him to slow the progression. Also staged him at nearing severity (12 on MMSE).

So I am at a loss of what to expect next, seems I am constantly waiting on the other shoe to drop. He is still pretty independent in self care. He still cuts the grass and does a few things around the house (vacuuming, folding clothes)…His driving stopped in early 2022 as per the neuropsychologist assessment. I don’t leave him alone at night but still do during the day for maybe 4 to 5 hours occasionally. I find it is his confusion and cognitive deficits that are the biggest problem for him compared to memory (which short term is off but the other things seem to be biggest problem for him)

I have learned the signs of when the meds seem to NOT be working and am beginning to see that as I did when the other dosages began to wane. And it Just seems this is going pretty fast - how does this timeframe relate to your experiences and I know we can’t predict time with this horrible disease but thoughts on it would be much appreciated.

I have gained admiration for each of you and you are helping me beyond belief. Our neurologist picked up on my growing knowledge of things and told me to keep doing what I am doing to stay informed.

This is just the saddest thing I know of and would never have predicted it would happen to us. My DH is 67 years old and we will celebrate 48 years of marriage in July. I do have my faith and know God has a plan for us, but this is very hard to accept. My Sunday School class has declared tomorrow as Pray for Mike day so I am expecting our mighty God to do mighty things in his time. As I pray tomorrow I will be praying for everyone with this horrible disease and their caregivers.

Thanks for listening and thanks for sharing. I do plan to get more active after this first post.

Pat6177

Welcome to the forum! My DH has mixed dementia (ALZ and VD). What I’m learning is that I can’t say one loss or issue is related to ALZ and another symptom is caused by VD. Each PWD is so unique in how they present. And every PWD progresses at their own rate. I’m also realizing that I’m too close to the situation to really know how fast my DH is progressing. He recently had the MMSE and the MOCA tests administered and when the NP told us the results, my reaction was that it wasn’t so bad. One thing I’ve read on this site is that with VD, folks progress in a stair step fashion. They will have a sudden drop followed by a plateau for a time. Overall, how long it takes is anyone’s guess.

I find that I pray more that both DH and I are able to cope with this disease and that I will outlive him. And I do seem to be coping better now than I did early on in this journey. The uncertainty of which symptoms he’ll develop and how long this will go on and whether he’ll last through Stage 7 or die of something else before Stage 7 is frustrating and I try not to dwell on those thoughts since there are no answers.