EOAD

blacksparky

Are any of you folks dealing with a LO that has been diagnosed with EOAD? My DW was diagnosed October 2023 after a good year or more of jumping through the hoops with the medical/insurance industry. We finally had to go outside of our insurance to get the final diagnoses. In 2023 she was probably stage 4 but is now definitely in stage 6 now. I have read that early onset progresses faster than over 65 diagnoses. I realize that every one is different in their journey but is there anyone of you here that are in stage 8 and willing to tell me how long your journey was. I am a planner and do plan to keep my DW at home as long as I can and also need to make sure I have the funds for MC when the time comes without putting me into homelessness. Thank you everyone on this forum that have helped me along the way.

BPS

I am not in stage 8 yet, but wife was diagnosed with EOAD at age 62 years old. That was 10 years ago in 2016. She is in MC stage 7 on hospice now. It sounds like your wife is progressing faster and like you said everyone is different.

sandwichone123

My spouse was diagnosed in March 2021, after symptoms beginning in 2016. Of course, we didn't realize it was symptoms of Alz until much later. From 2020, when he was working at home, it was very clear that he was having trouble with tech support, but it didn't occur to me that he couldn't remember and execute the instructions from over the phone. I got him retired in March 2021 at age 58 (was in process before we got the diagnosis). I was still working from home at that time, and he was fairly independent. By summer I was back at work and he was home largely alone. He loved to take walks, but started telling me about various businesses telling him not to come back, although he never knew why.

After a while he'd tell me about terrible people out there, either "those kids" or homeless people, and I realized he couldn't take walks alone, or be home alone. He went to memory care in stage 5 the week after his 60th birthday, and died at age 63.

GothicGremlin

My sister was diagnosed with early onset in 2018, a month shy of her 59th birthday. Looking back, she was probably early to mid-stage 4 at the time. She entered memory care in 2021, and passed away in March, 2024. She was 64. So, it was fast - 5 1/2 years. Kind of made my head spin it was so fast. Oddly, it also felt like Peggy was living with dementia since forever.

I've been blogging about it for the last year in order to help me make sense of it all, and also as a help for others who are in the same boat. On the right side of the main page I have a list of resources that helped me throughout. When Peggy was first diagnosed I wished I'd had a guide, but there wasn't really anything out there. Now there is. fiveandahalfyears.net

Another member of this community, @LicketyGlitz also has a blog, although her mom wasn't EOAD. It's here: Stumped Town Dementia. She's more ambitious than I am (and a lot funnier), she made a movie out of her experiences.