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Incidence of AZ fallen by about 1/3rd over past 40 years
https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/dementia-incidence-still-dropping-birth-cohort-data-say-yes This is encouraging. Maintaining good overall health has really helped.
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Another Surgery?!?
Today dad goes in for surgery. He has severely unmanaged type 2 diabetes and his last surgery advanced his dementia so much that he has gone from stage 3 to stage 5 quickly. He is having yet another digit removed from his foot and the hospital is acting like it is no big deal… I feel it is a bigger deal than they are…
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Unknown dementia
So DD bloodwork does not indicate Alzheimer’s and his MRI shows moderate atrophy of the hippocampus and mild atrophy of the brain overall. So while he has all the symptoms of Stage 4 dementia we don’t know what is causing it which makes it even harder to plan for future care. My research leads me to believe that he has VD.…
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comfy chair recommendations?
Hello everyone! Not sure if this question is overly specific, but wanted to see if anyone had thoughts to share! A goal that my Mom and I have is to get a new armchair for my Dad (83, diagnosed with general dementia) to sit in in the living room. Before he fell, he was sitting and sleeping in a big, deep, cushy La-Z-Boy…
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How to handle their distrust of doctors
I had a care meeting for my mom at her ALF last week, and they want to have her PCP (who is part of the ALF) evaluate a few things, including her debilitating back pain, her anxiety, and her evening depression, which is probably some form of sundowning. They also want to do some further cognitive screening. They let her…
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Alzheimers\Dementia loss of movement
My 83 year old Mom has been having symptoms for a couple of years but they began to escalate about a year ago at a rapid rate. She absolutely refuses to admit she has a problem and has refused all diagnosis. Her primary care physician thinks it is one of the rapidly progressing types of alzheimers but we can't be sure. He…
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Newly Diagnosed
My DW was diagnosed with AD two weeks ago. She's had an MRI, and will take the Geri 2 Psych Testing next week. She's 74, and has had some cognitive issues for about 2 years. She is hoping to be able to have infusion therapy. We'd love feedback from anyone familiar with infusion therapy. We just don't know what to expect.
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Discussions with new neurologist
My DH has an appointment with another new neurologist in a week. He's seen two already that have not helped. I want us to be totally honest with his memory health and the decline I see. The problem is, he denies all of these things because he doesn't remember episodes. The last time I told a doctor what was happening my DH…
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Normal household noise becomes intolerable???
My DH is mid to late stage 5. He's still able to take care of his daily needs, but he needs help with most tech stuff, no longer drives and of course has a hard time having a conversation as he grasps for the words. He can't really follow most conversations, but gets upset if I slow down what I'm saying "Don't talk to me…
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Uneasy about leaving for a night
I'm going to my 50th high school reunion. It's 3.5 hours away from here. I'm leaving Saturday at noon and will return on Sunday around noon. Our 25 year old daughter lives at home (which I'm lucky for). Our daughter has watched over my DW for short 1 to 2 hour periods without much of a problem. I didn't want to go to my…
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Floating in the Ocean with a Life Jacket kind of Day...
Hello friends, can I ask the question that some of us have? Why is this so hard?!? All of it. The grief of watching your parent fade away. Six months ago, she couldn't recognize the banana from the apple. Three weeks ago, I started feeding her because she stopped initiating to start eating and she can't tell the difference…
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how to tell others of my diagnosis
I was diagnosed with mild Alzheimers last month. I told my immediate family members (none of them were surprised). They are incredibly supportive. But I feel like I'm in a pressure cooker. I want to tell others and did tell two lifelong friends. Their responses were not helpful—one said tough diagnosis. She clearly didn't…
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Lawyer tomorrow
Going back to the lawyer tomorrow to sign all of the things. I’m torn between just getting the documents signed and having my Mom rethink the backups. Should something happen to me, medical and financial DPOA goes to my husband (60) and my Mom’s niece (65) jointly. She has not spoken with either of them about this. I have…
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Zoloft or no Zoloft?
Our neurologist asked if I would consider adding 25mg of Zoloft (sertraline, an anti-depresent) to DW's medications to even out some of the high and low spots. I agreed to having the script sent to CostPlus which we use for our pharmacy. I've subsequently performed enough research to understand the side effects. DW is…
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Today was his birthday
Today was my DH 86th birthday. To celebrate, I took cookies to the MC unit and they all sang the birthday song to him. He looked at his cards several times and at his presents…some puzzles…several times. Mostly though he didn't really know what was going on. The aide who walked me out when I left put her arm around me and…
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Wants to Help But Can’t
My DH with ALZ asks me forty times a day if I need help with this or that. When I try to give him things to do or answer “yes” to helping me, 9 times out of 10 he cannot do the task. I cannot always predict what is beyond his ability because it goes back and forth. One day he can get me a glass of water. The next day he…
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Credit card useage
Thanks in advance for your thoughts! My DW is in the early stages. Age 73. She is still mostly independent, drives, shops, attends social gatherings and the such. My stress is that she is now seeing all the Facebook fixes and cures for Alzheimers/Dementia. Of course believes they can cure. She has started ordering meds…
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Companion Care NYC?
Hi - I'm wondering if someone has had good experience with Duet or any other "companion care" in NYC they can reco. My mom is 77 and diagnosed about a year ago with ALZ. She is stubborn and "presents" as independent, because she still lives alone and has coping skills to take care of herself, but I am noting changes/faster…
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Looking for Some Advice
My DW is 65 years (6 years my junior) and I'm afraid she is having real difficulties with her memories. I need to get her to agree to an exam, but she won't even discuss it. How do I convince her that getting her help now will make things easier later? BTW: I am the poorest kinda caregiver but I love her too much to not…
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DBAT question
A quick DBAT question. Does it need to be administered by a physician or another pro? I printed one and filled it out for my own reasons. If it’s done by a professional would they be asking me anyway? Has anyone ever needed one other than as just a reference to speak to their primary Doctor?
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Dad...
My Dad was a narcissistic man my entire life so far and now he is in the nursing home for PT from a back surgery he had at the end of April. Since his surgery, we have discovered he has had multiple strokes, he has been delirious and he has vascular dementia. The surgery took 8 hours and with all of his other issues such…
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New to this group
My mom diagnosed with Alzheimer's or psychosis with dementia. And Its getting worse.
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Temporary home visit
I would like to take my wife home for about an hour so she can play with our cats. Our home is about 5 minutes from the memory care center. Cathy is in the upper levels of dementia. She can walk okay. The apartment is on the second floor (no elevator). She can walk okay. Please let me know if this is a good idea. On the…
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I was grumpy with my DH today
I am usually able to modulate my own feelings and be kind to my DH. But yesterday had an incident of being unkind to him. I feel terrible about it! Does this happen to other caregivers? How can I not feel so guilty about it?
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Need guidance
My 83 year old mom has all the symptoms of Alzheimers and her general practioner agrees but she gets so upset about going to see a doctor that she hasn't had any formal testing. My 84 year old father just finished radiation treatments for early stage lung cancer and we will know those results at the end of this month. He…
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Caring for dad
I am one of 7 children. My mother just passes away 2 months ago, and my dad was just diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My siblings and I have been trying to care for him by taking turns, but it seems like it's not going to work this way. We all have full time jobs and families. I go back to work in a week and I am stressed that…
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Leisure Seeker
Has anyone watched the 2018 movie with Donald Sutherland called Leisure Seeker. It’s about a couple, one with Alzheimer’s and one with cancer that take an RV trip from Boston to Florida for one last time. What is your opinion of it?
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Met her new Neuro P.A.
Kind of a vent/externalize the experience's effect on my insides so I don't crash— —I'm cooling off a little more today after yesterday's appt with DW's (61) new (mediCAL health plan) neuro. Upside: We got the referral to UCLA (or the submission to the health plan for it)—that's a big deal for us so I'm holding onto that…
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Dinner delemena
My down/ regroup time was when I was making dinner. Ahh! Time for me time to do me! But the past few months DH has been coming into the kitchen every 10 minutes with various excuses but I know looking for his dinner! . At first I asked him to wash the pots I used to prepare dinner - got just a rinse , put to the side and…
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Taking Mom Out
New here - Mom has been in MC for a year (this week actually), she still asks when she is going home and her anger and agitation has increased. We did not take her out of the facility for several months following her admission but have done so more recently (breakfast, shops, etc.) but the last two visits she seems to be…