recent diagnosis

feelingalone2

I am a caregiver for my wife. I recently took her for a bran MRI after her spinal fluid analysis was inconclusive with AD. After her MRI the doctor told me with her atrophy and spinal analysis they think she has an early form of dementia that's possible from AD. Still don't know what to make of this or why I can't just get a definitive answer. None the less, I haven't told her about it yet and I don't know what good it will do tell her and get her all upset over this. Please share your thoughts, appreciate it.

concerned_sister

Feelingalone2, I'm sorry that you and your wife are now dealing with this. The imprecision of the diagnosis is not uncommon. In the case of my brother, after his EEG and MRI the doctor stated the deterioration was "suggestive of" Alzheimers. My brother is not yet 65 years old, so his condition would be considered Early Onset. In your case you mention, "they think she has an early form of dementia". Is she less than 65 years old, or is this on the scale of early/mild, moderate and severe? In the case of my brother, he was told as he needed to know he could no longer drive, and needed to start putting his legal affairs in order, and start budgeting for retirement. Many people with this disease have anosognosia - due to the deficits caused by this disease they no longer can recognize their own deficits caused by this desease. So, past recognizing the need to give up driving, and to plan for a retirement, there's no need to harp on it, or to try to convince your loved one. And even as they progress there is absolutely no point in trying to correct them or argue with them about this.

If haven't yet discovered it, over to the fight hand column you will see Groups, if you click on that, one of your choices will be:

https://alzconnected.org/group/32-new-caregiver-help

There is lots of useful information there that I highly recommend.

H1235

I agree with concernedsister. It’s really hard to say if you should tell her. Is she to a point that she will just forget by the next day anyway? Do you think she might get really upset and depressed? On the other hand if she is able this is your chance to get her input on the kind of care she hopes for in the future. If you don’t have legal matters handled now is also the time. It would probably be good to think about plans for her if something were to happen to you. If you do tell her (other than any legal paperwork that needs to be done) I would let her decide what she wants to do with that information. She may want want to be involved in plans for the future, make notes about where treasured possessions will go when she is gone etc. or she may want to not think about it or talk about it again. So sorry for what you are going through. We are always here to listen.

SDianeL

My husband was initially diagnosed with Dementia, probably vascular. I started keeping track of his behaviors & sent them to both his primary care doctor & his neurologist. I sent them each month. The last response I received was that his behaviors are consistently with Alzheimer's - Posterior Cortical Atrophy which affects the way what he sees is interpreted by his brain. When my DH was diagnosed in 2021, he was told he had dementia but he soon forgot. When he got a new prescription I told him it was for his "bran"… Get a DPOA now. Don't wait. Within 6 months he could no longer read & understand documents or sign his name. Right after his diagnosis, the Neuro Psychologist who did the test said he should no be driving any longer. His visuospatial ability was way off. She said if he were to be in an accident, even if it wasn't his fault, and they pulled his medical records, that we could be sued and lose everything. He's now in Memory Care the last 6 months due to my cancer diagnosis. I would start preparing for that day now as some areas they have waiting lists. So sorry you are going through this. It's terrifying & heartbreaking.