Have any questions about how to use the community? Check out the Help Discussion.

Hitting a break wall...

ij9856
ij9856 Member Posts: 5
First Comment 5 Care Reactions
Member
in Caring For a Spouse or Partner

My loved one was a college adjunct professor with almost 40 years of teaching and research under her belt. And when COVID hit, she and many other adjunct professors were let go! That was when the super active brain suddenly stopped, like hitting a break wall. The depression followed, no desire to do any more studies or pursue anything else, still hoping that she would go back to teaching and research, and then memory started to slipping away. She would and still after 5-6 years is in stage of denial, she thinks students are waiting for her to go back to classroom. I keep trying to encourage her to start studying and getting herself up-to-date with science she had been out of touch all these years, to no avail. One reason that she won't do this is I think the major decline in cognitive abilities.

Yes, she's been taking statins, but I am more convinced that the amount of cumulative dosage of anesthetics she received when she had knee replacement surgeries on both knees and for other surgeries, would have roles to play.

Tagged:

Comments

  • ronda b
    ronda b Member Posts: 434
    100 Insightfuls Reactions 100 Likes 100 Care Reactions 100 Comments
    Member

    Has she had any kind of testing done?

  • H1235
    H1235 Member Posts: 2,321
    1,000 Likes 1,000 Insightfuls Reactions 500 Care Reactions 1000 Comments
    Member

    Welcome. So sorry you need to be here. It’s not actually denial, it’s anosognosia. The brain of a person with dementia is not capable of processing their own symptoms or limitations. It’s a very common symptom and much more difficult and dangerous than you might think. They can put themselves in dangerous situations. It’s difficult to deal with.

    Anosognosia and Dementia - AgingCare.com.pdf
  • ij9856
    ij9856 Member Posts: 5
    First Comment 5 Care Reactions
    Member
    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/278592#Comment_278592

    Yes, MRI twice, cognitive test, twice, blood test for Alzheimer's (don't know the results yet).

  • ij9856
    ij9856 Member Posts: 5
    First Comment 5 Care Reactions
    Member
    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/278593#Comment_278593

    I hear you. I am taking statin myself and has not affected me a bit, what I am thinking in general is if a person has disposition for acquired dementia, then may be statin, anesthesia, etc can contribute or expedite it, me thinking, not a doctor, but a husband trying to make a sense out of all these…

  • harshedbuzz
    harshedbuzz Member Posts: 6,931
    Ninth Anniversary 1,500 Insightfuls Reactions 1,500 Likes 5000 Comments
    Member

    @ijalali

    I'm so sorry. I can appreciate the compelling desire to understand why you've both ended up as you have.

    It's possible the onset of symptoms with job loss was coincidence. The apathy is likely an early symptom. Dementia is about more than just memory loss. FWIW, I hang with a bunch of retired PhD scientists (some from industry and one from academia) and most of them are still passionate and follow developments in their prospective fields. The one who doesn't has replaced that part of her life with learning new things.

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/do-statins-increase-the-risk-of-dementia

    HB

  • ij9856
    ij9856 Member Posts: 5
    First Comment 5 Care Reactions
    Member
    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/278661#Comment_278661

    Thanks for your comments. Just to clarify, my wife is suffering from dementia not me, I am a full functioning 80 year old caregiver.

  • harshedbuzz
    harshedbuzz Member Posts: 6,931
    Ninth Anniversary 1,500 Insightfuls Reactions 1,500 Likes 5000 Comments
    Member
    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/278675#Comment_278675

    IMO—

    More so that most any other disease, both partners in the marriage are impacted. The caregiving spouse suffers greatly as well.

  • iowagirl1961
    iowagirl1961 Member Posts: 39
    Fifth Anniversary 25 Likes 25 Care Reactions 10 Comments
    Member

    While I don’t think depression actually caused my husband’s dementia, I do believe it accelerated it. We sold our retail business of 21 years- he is a very social person and was in his element working with customers every day. I thought he was keeping involved enough outside our home after we sold (I went on to another job), but now I believe he suffered depression from the change of life. Within less than 2 years we knew he was having cognitive difficulties.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
Read more

Community Guidelines


Click here to review the ALZConnected Community Guidelines

Categories