Overwhelmed

Troy so sorry for your need to be here. Come here often it has been my life line. My DW was diagnosed at age 48 turned 50 this past January and is in late stage 5. I could not say enough about how financially difficult this has been. We thought we were doing well and on a great track for retirement. That has all been wiped out in these past few years. Change passwords, limit access to funds, exchange any credit cards for a pre-paid debit card. Get important things out of her wallet. Start scanning her phone, computer, social media when she is not present looking for scams and fraud attempts. She is especially vulnerable in these early stages. Get her on SSDI as quickly a possible. Someone once mentioned on here about how it is like having a toddler except my toddler has 50 years of "experiences" doing things and thinks she still can.

I am so sorry to hear this. There are no good answers, and there is only one direction this can go. Please be very watchful of your children, especially your youngest. Sometimes people with dementia (PWD) can have personality changes. If they start being mean to the child it can be very damaging.

I realize it will seem premature, but now is the time to start looking at memory care options. If you're in the Albuquerque area (although there may be another UNM), I could make suggestions. The time is coming very soon that she won't be able to stay home alone. I'm a little older than you, but still had to face the choice of quitting my job to stay home or placing my spouse. I didn't want to find myself in my early 60's with no job and no current contacts, so I placed my spouse. Look at several places, because they're much more different from each other than you might expect.

Hey Troy, sorry to hear the news. She's young. You're getting a lot of good advice here but it's pretty fast and furious. Slow down, take a deep breath. Hopefully you have some family that you can lean on for financial and care support. Go get the book the 36 Hour Day (beat you to it Diane-lol). This is a must. Use the search function on this website to look for subjects you want to know about. Be patient with her and just remember she can't help herself and the things she does. At some point Hospice will become an important player in your journey. Be sure to bring them in when it's time. For Alzheimer's you don't have to wait until they are on the edge. They can be brought in much earlier to help. And one last thing - the fact that you have your daughter at home is a big plus. Many of us on this site are sole caregivers with no one else in the home.