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Need Help w/ Cell Phone Options
My father has dementia and one area where my mom and I are struggling is with his using his cell phone. He likes to play solitaire on the phone but he doesn’t understand that the ads he receives aren’t real messages. He ends up filling out his information and is inundated with spam text messages and phone calls. I try to…
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A discreet wandering safety idea: AirTag insoles (easy to check location if someone gets lost)
Hi everyone, I’m in this community as a fellow caregiver / supporter, and I wanted to share something I recently came across that could help with wandering risk. The Alzheimer’s Association notes that 6 in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once (often more than once). I have attached the link to the…
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Television that can be turned off automatically? (or remotely?)
Hey, my apologies if this has already been addressed or answered. My mom is in a MC unit & has the habit of watching TV all night long, then not sleeping at normal hours. I discussed this with the staff & I gave them permission to take the power cord from the TV around 11PM and return it the next morning to help Mom stay…
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93 yo Mom that has Late Stage Dementia ALZ I am at Caregiver Burnout Stage
I have a 93 year to be Mom that is in the middle late stages of ALZ Dementia I have two businesses that I cannot run and must fulfill my broadcast schedule on the road broadcasting high school games. I have no to little help and neighbors and friends ask but advise or critique me on how to care for my mom but not lending a…
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Losing Weight, Looking for Advice
Hi there - New Here This is my first post so forgive me if there are any formatting errors and length. I am one of the caregivers for my great aunt, late 70s, who I believe has end middle to late stage. We placed her in MC back in August because she lived alone and it was just becoming too much for her. Since entering the…
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Incontinence
My dad has become completely incontinent as far as urinating. He soaks the bed he sleeps in with my mom and she is completely fed up...she and the assisted living staff have to change the bedding every day. He soaks all the blankets and now we need to replace the mattress (although we have a mattress protector on the…
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Advice on Transition to MC
Hi. With reluctance and fear, we are going to move my Dad from independent living with my Mom into MC. I know this is a painful process for all families, My Mom and Dad have been together for 65+ years. My family is scared that my Dad will become very angry at us, especially my Mom (the dutiful wife). We don't know what…
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New Youtube Videos -Medications / Depression
I just watched a new youtube video "Ask Dr. Tam Questions with Tam Cummings PhD" from Jan 7 and she provides information for some of the "should I or shouldn't I" questions about continuing meds for dementia for anyone who is interested. It's a little over an hour. Linked below.…
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Another decision to make with surgery
My DH had knee replacement and is recovered. I am glad he had it done, but I do see a decline since surgery. He has less interests now. We did puzzling often and now he sits and watches me, or follows me around all day. Sits more. Three years after cataract surgery a growth started on the eyelid. Biopsy were negative. We…
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Showering
I’ve been trying to get my dh to take a shower for almost two weeks now. When asked if he wants a shower he’s usually agreeable, I wash his back and then he is able to wash himself, however, this past couple of weeks he has either refused to shower, or as soon as he’s ready to enter the shower he gets irritated and then…
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What would they do in a different country?
I always hear that healthcare is better in other countries, so I'm wondering what a better healthcare system would do in this situation. My husband was in the hospital for 4 weeks for ulcerative colitis and complications. His colon got better, so he was discharged home. He is malnourished (still won't eat well), has…
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Crashing
Oh hey all. It's me…crashing hard again. I wish I had the strength that so many of you show, but I'm just exhausted and so heartbroken. The holidays were rough…trying to get her medication mixture together to slow the constant motion and get her some sleep at night. I have the sleep part tamed for now, but it seems her…
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The Story of Ralph Carmona
The Alzheimer's Association (the sponsor of this forum) posted on their facebook page some "feel good" stories of people with AD in December. I'm finally getting around to sharing one of those posts with this group, the story of Ralph Carmona. Their version leaves out some interesting details. Ralph has a PhD in Political…
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Proper bed for home
Hello - I am new to the community and working to arrange 24 hour care in home for an older brother who likely has dementia (evaluations are underway and he just moved to a rehab setting from a hospital). We need to have him live on the first floor when he returns and wondered if a hospital type bed is necessary. He is able…
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DH is now at peace
I lost my DH of 38 years today. I was visiting him at MC as I did every day, and he was a little more aware of me and walking a little better than he has been of late so we were having a good visit. Gave me a kiss, responded “I love you too” when I told him I loved him. The nurse saw him walking with me and stopped to tell…
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Resentful and guilty
Hi all, I'm a newbie here. I cared for my dad when he had dementia and "lucky" for me he was a sweet warm wonderful person who always knew his family right til the end (died from other than alzheimers). My husband now has dementia, and he is not sweet, warm or wonderful. He has never admitted to a problem, refuses to…
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I am new here
Hi everyone! Brand new here. Been caring for my grandmother for 5yrs with alz/dementia. Just def having burnout with no support. Thanks for you all being here
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STAGE 8 - There is no other side of grief...
My soulmate husband Lonny passed August 12. I feel lost most of the time but am trying to find myself without him. Found this on a Facebook post today. So true. I had my own notion of grief. I thought it was the sad time, that followed the death of someone you love. And you had to push through it to get to the other side.…
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Taking it away
Mom is in an amazing Alf. Over the last 4 months, I notice a "progression " in her memory, which before we had half hour before she would forget conversation, now it's immediate. She used to come to my house every Sunday to spend the day, now after 30 45 min she wants to ho home. Even on holidays. Beyond that she has been…
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Early onset support group in Illinois
My spouse has early onset Alzheimer's . We live in Elgin Illinois and I was wondering if there are any support groups that meet maybe weekly in the Northern Illinois area. I feel like it would help greatly if she could meet with others who have reduced memories in a small group setting. They have a memory cafe here that…
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Parent losing a lot of weight
Hi, My 87 year old LO has vascular dementia, and she is only eating 30% of her food. She has lost 20 pounds 5' 7" 110 lbs. She was at the dentist recently, so her teeth are not bugging her. She is verbal, repeats herself, she can still play cards, the doctor said she is in the middle to late stage of dementia. It is a…
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Convince me
Convince me that I should let a stranger (social worker) in the intimacy of my home. Convince me that I should tolerate this invasion of my privacy. Convince me that I should go through another interrogatory that invades my life. Convince me that I will not be infuriated by all these questions that could imply that I’m not…
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To honor you...
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A caregiver's invention for kitchen safety - No more burnt pans.
I’ve been caring for my mother-in-law (MIL) who has started to become a bit forgetful. Over the last year, she has burnt countless pans. The smoke has bothered her neighbors and, in one scary incident, nearly harmed her cat. Because of this, my wife and I were constantly worried she would boil a pan dry or leave a burner…
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Any experience with mental state improving after correcting fecal impaction?
My mother (86) has steadily declined this year. A couple months ago she didn't know who my sister & I were, didn't remember being pregnant or living as a family unit with us & our father, etc. We've been begging her to go into AL but she's refused. A month ago she locked herself out of her house all night long, had…
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How to handle being accused of not sharing information
Hi Everyone, What a start to the new year. I'm seeing signs of progression in my DH, diagnosed over a year ago with Alz. I saw signs about 3 years prior to that. I believe he's at the early stage 5. He used to accuse me of not sharing information with him, but it wasn't very often and I would just apologize and say I must…
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Where do you go for socialization?
I am thinking it would be helpful for DH and me to do more than just the normal day-to-day. We could benefit from playing cards, or a Bible study, or ping-pong. Our church is full of people who are older than we are, and not really interested in socializing. I do think we could find purpose in volunteering to help at the…
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Anyone RV Camping?
Here’s the thing. Right now DH with ALZ has short term memory loss and needs detailed instructions to do tasks. But he actually is functioning pretty well. We love camping and I have been trying to decide if we should just go for it and see how it goes. We desperately need to put fun into our lives while we still can. I…
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Anyone else taking care of otherwise healthy dementia patient?
Taking care of 85 year old with late stages but body is amazingly healthy, amazes the nurses and doctors each time,,,strong heart, good breathing, strong appetite, and can feed herself most of the time. One should be delighted right? But she is in late stages requires 24 care, is beyond any kind of converstation, but gets…
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Putting sleep issues to bed
I see a lot of discussions out there about sleep or lack thereof. If meds like Seroquel or lorazepam or whatever isn’t quite working I suggest you ask about trying temazepam. It comes in 15 and 30mg doses. I’ve been using the 30mg for DW now for a couple of months and it hasn’t let me down. At first she woke up pretty…