Welcome to ALZConnected! You are not alone.

I wanted to share my thoughts and give some practical advice of my journey in the last year and half caregiving for my mom. By no means, am I an expert, but what I found has helped ease my days, months and this year. I am a medical practitioner and a daughter of someone who has this. I've seen both sides of the system and…

I love this site. Great people suffering alongside with me giving the best experiences and helpful information. I would love to hear where all of you live. My DW and I live in Northern California.

We successfully took my mom on a mini-vacation to the beach this weekend! I certainly had my concerns about taking her out of her AL for that long and bringing her into a completely unfamiliar environment, but overall she did GREAT, and I'm so glad we were able to do this. She definitely had times of great confusion and…

My DM becomes very possessive of her purse- my father and i found two knives she carries that are wrapped up in paper towels. To me i suspect she is feeling scared that she needs protection as she tells me " you never know". How do i deal with this?

This is probably a longshot: Are any parents out there caring for an adult child with early-onset Alzheimers? I am I am 71 years old and full-time caregiver for my 37-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at 28 years old. My daughter also has Down syndrome and seizure disorder. She wears a…

My dad was diagnosed with Alz when he was 73...It came as a shock. Little did I know at the time that 5 or 6 (of 11) siblings of his had/would also go through this. Should have guessed it would be passed down. At the time, I went to classes offered by UC Berkeley and found out everything I could about it (this was about…

Monday and Tuesday were very challenging with dad and him wanting to go to Houston. Then he switched to saying Houston is his home but he is glad he is hear because of the heat in Houston. His birthday (86) was Saturday, which was a good memory day for him. This week on Thursday go to an in-person support group, has anyone…

Hello! I am a full te caregiver to my husband grandparents, who i absolutely adore! She has Alz and he lost both legs the end of last year, beginning of this year. I started helping towards the end of last year. Gma was referred to a neuro to see if she's a candidate for for treatment that stops the progression of Alz.…

New to realizing no care team in the world can care for LO like I did in my home, emotionally/general attention/wants & needs, although clinically I could never keep up! Tell me of times where you felt similar and moved a LO to a different MC only to find that the previous team (although imperfect) was actually doing well,…

Hi everyone. I've been caring for my DW and her ALZ for the last 4 1/2 years. At first we saw her neurologist at least every 3months. He would perform a few tests to assess her lucidity and retention. Now we see him once every 6 months, he asks her a few questions about how she's feeling, if she has any questions, and then…

Hello all, Dad really wanted to come with me today as I was leaving. He hasn't done that for a while, so I was out of practice. It was also a very low staff day today. For instance, I had to ring the doorbell three times (with long wait periods in between) for someone to come let me in. So I know there's a pretty good…

Well…it's been six months since my DW passed and I can't believe I find myself thinking about whether I'll have a relationship ever again. I just turned 60, so I guess it makes some sense, but it's only been six months! How can I be thinking about that so quickly after losing the love of my life? As I type that I also find…

We don't have a dog. We've never had a dog. I replied, "What"?, and he repeated it again, "Cath, where's the dog"? I said, "We don't have a dog", and he seemed to come out of it a little and say,"Oh, that's right". What is going on here and what stage would you say this is?

Usually on queue, my DW will take her medications in the morning and in the evening. Today, I gave her the medications for the night, and she refused to take them. No matter what I tried, she would not take them. Her medications cannot be crushed and added to food (that's another story). It's very frustrating. What is a…

I didn’t tell my Mom that we were going until about 15 minutes before. I expected some kind of reaction from her. I didn’t get one. Tried to talk with her about it afterword. She didn’t have much to say about it then either. She seemed off today though. A friend wanted her phone number. She told her that she didn’t know…

Considering sitters to help with LO calling out and needing more companionship than care staff can give. Several days a weeks I visit for full days, only to find out from staff after I leave that mom winds up calling out, wanting company, pulling at stuff, trying to get out of bed, etc.. Staff tries to talk and soothe a…

I feel very blessed with my situation. DH is probably in late Stage 5 moving quickly to 6. He’s very kind, gentle, soft spoken and always has been. Unfortunately, he’s lost the ability to carry on a full conversation but our days are good and I think he’s happy and content. However, our dear friend has quite the opposite…

just curious if anyone taking care of loved ones if they ever ask about this illness and what it’s all about and out come

My mother is in an assisted living and has moderate dementia. About once every month or two, she'll have a new delusion. They are quite persistent. The same story will come up for more than a week, sometimes the story will slowly shift over time. They often feature themes of rejection and loss. She recently has been…

Hello Again - I have found so much support for me, as a spouse of a DH, but not so much for my husband, or for the both of us to attend. He is still at a stage where he might benefit from others' perspectives. Mostly, I'm looking for outside validation for things like driving… Warmly, —CydS

Dad with VD for the last 3 years and MC bound with just waiting for the waiting list to be opened up. But, I digress. We've moved from the keys and have figured out why the lanyard went missing. He didn't want to wear the alert button that was attached to the lanyard. Since, he has a habit of "losing" them, I made 4 copies…

Our family member living with Dementia refuses to shower or bathe and this has been an on going struggle thw past 16 months. However, if and when she is going to see her siblings in their 80s too or needs to go out of the house, she will shower. The problem is mom refuses to leave the house unless its to see her sisters or…

I'm researching how often a newly diagnosed person chooses to use the medication protocol for Alzheimers. I understand the side effects of brain bleeds is as high as 1 out of four patients. Trying to help my loved one decide on way forward. Appreciate your comments/experience!

I’m living with my 87 year old mom with AD. She’s still bathing and taking care of her personal needs. My husband is a chef and cooks all her meals for her. She is not able to do any cooking other than reheating her meals in the microwave. I have taken over all her finances and took the car from her. I can see she’s…

My father-in-law forgot what zucchini is called. I am noticing it happening more often, and it's random. Is this common?

My DH was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. He constantly rubs his eyes and now he has big knots on his tear ducts. We’ve been to an ophthalmologist and was told there is nothing physically wrong. Whenever my DH doesn’t have anything to distract him, or when I’m not holding his hands he rubs. I’m afraid that he’s…

hello everyone I am new here. My DH is in the early stages and has been for the past few years. He is starting to change just remembering things like putting water in the coffee pot and forgetting those things to now having cognition issues of not understanding what is being said. I was so very upset a few days ago. My DH…

So I just figured out how to easily change and reposition a 160 lb man who is completely unable to support himself. If you raise the foot of the hospital bed as high as it will go you can easily pull him back to the top of the bed and also lift his bottom more easily to change him. 😀

Hello, New to this group. My husband of 29 years has dementia. Not sure what stage but after seeing symptoms for at least three years I made him get tested. He is in complete denial. Blames me and accuses me of poisoning the minds of family and friends and doctors against him. Although they all see the issue as well. He…

I am 64 years old and was recently diagnosed with Early onset Alzeimers. I've got some memory issues and some cognitive deficits. I am still trying to wrap my head around this. I thought this was probably just aging and this diagnosis hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd love to talk to some of you about this.