Who do I tell about diagnosis?

Jill Ellis-Herr

My dad who lives with me,was recently diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's Disease. He is still high functioning, but no short term memory. I am not sure he remembers the diagnosis. When I have mentioned it he becomes very upset. There has been a lot of activity with doctor's appointments, family visits, etc and he has asked me if something is bad wrong with him. I have settled on you are having memory issues, and you are taking medication that should help and he seems satisfied with that. My question is who should I tell? I have told my friends, but what about his friends? I don't want people to treat him differently. Thanks for your help.

M1

Hi jill. Opinions about this may vary, but i come down on the side of telling people. I never had anyone respond with anything but compassion, and in fact in nearly every case people were already aware of behavior changes and were relieved to have an explanation.

Look up anosognosia. Many with dementia are unable to perceive their deficits, and most on this forum would agree with not rubbing your loved ones nose in the diagnosis. Sounds like your answer was as good as any.

Hope you find this forum as helpful as i have. Many experienced and caring folks here.

pnw23

Hi Jill and M1

Found this thread as I was searching for the same advice re: my 93 YO mom. After a cross-country relocation Jan. of this year (surely traumatic for her age), she stopped using her computer/asking about email, but still used her phone for texts and calls. I ended up emailing friends/fam in her email contacts to let them know she wasn't using it anymore but that I check her email and can relay news. Better yet, they could call or text her. Fast forward, she's barely texting her own kids now. Sooo, I'm thinking of emailing/texting/calling her friends/fam to encourage only calling her or sending a card in the mail (some of them are still active with email/phone). This way, I can help her read/listen to VM and coordinate replies.

We don't have a diagnosis other than Memory Loss and severe SVD but so many dementia symptoms.