-
Elizabeth Dole Foundation assistance for caregivers of veterans
if you are the caregiver of a veteran, contact the Elizabeth Dole Foundation for assistance. Veterans do not have to have a disability rating to qualify for assistance. Go on their website and fill out the intake form. I posted further information on the caregiver information page with their phone number and assistance…
-
I don’t think I can do this
My mother and stepfather had both been in decline for several years and I have tried multiple types of interventions and been spending about half of my time with them at their house 2 ½ hrs from me for about a year. Two months ago my stepfather became ill and he died a week ago yesterday. I had been at their house pretty…
-
The move from Al to a SNF
We moved mom yesterday. We told her about a week before the move (my brother insisted). When we got there she had packed up everything in the room. My brother insisted we bring whatever she wants, that there is room for. When I asked mom what boxes go she points to a pile. I bring them to my car and they have sewing…
-
It Is Over
Three weeks ago my dear wife of 57+ years ended her battle with this cruel and heartless disease, Alzheimer/Dementia. She declined very fast over the few weeks prior. I promised her at the start that I would do my best to never put her somewhere for her care but, rather, have her at home forever. While it does nothing to…
-
Stopped Memantine
Hey everyone! So I just wanted to share a bit of my journey with my Mom with Dementia. We were giving her Memantine and the whole time she was on it she was having vivid dreams that woke her up and made her really upset in the mornings. We consulted our doctor and we stopped taking it. There have been fewer wake ups and no…
-
When did you insist they stop driving?
DH is in the early stages - mostly stage 3 with some stage 4. I do 90% of the driving, but on the occasions that he does drive, I haven't noticed any difficulties. However, I am noticing more instances of general confusion in following conversations, understanding instructions, maintaining a calendar, etc. He is awful with…
-
beginning this journey with my mother. feeling alone
Hi, I feel really alone. I am new to all of this. This is the first time I have gotten into this website. Will have my first support group meeting next week. My mother lives far from me and I believe she has some sort of dementia, but early stage. My mother's short-term memory is not good. She has forgotten how to use the…
-
Notary for Power of Attorney in Pennsylvania - Questions
Loved one has dementia. Some days are more lucid than others. They need someone to handle their affairs though. Loved one has not paid property taxes or filed tax returns in a couple of years. We just paid their property tax for them (5K) although they have the assets to do this themself. The social worker at the memory…
-
DW’s anger
I have noticed that my DW easily angers and directs it at me, but will turn around and be polite to others. Has anyone experienced this?
-
Morning thoughts
This morning…The Puzzle I emptied the new puzzle package onto the table I use for my newest obsession, assembling puzzles. I usually work on 1,000-piece puzzles but this one seemed to have 10,000 pieces. It seemed impossible at first, but I resisted the notion of discarding it. I figured there must be a solution. I was…
-
Directions
My lo has moderate dementia and cannot follow simple directions such as locking her door. How do I handle that?
-
Looking into Memory Care and Very Sad
My DH is currently in the hospital after he got out of the car when I was at a stop sign, refused to get back in, and crossed a busy 4 lane street during rush hour. Cars had to stop and change lanes to avoid hitting him. I called 911 while he crossed back over again and still kept walking and wouldn't get in the car.…
-
Where to Start???
I have hundreds of questions… Where do I start? My mom lives with me and has dementia. She needs assisted living and help with finances. Where do I start? She owns a home in South Carolina that I don’t want to sell, but may be my only option. Is there a way to protect the house? I believe she would qualify for Medicaid.…
-
New here... starting to feel lost...
Hello, all my new friends :) … My husband was officially diagnosed almost two years ago, but it's been apparent to those close to him for quite a few years that there were some issues with his memory. He's 75 and I'm 62 and still working full time a job that I LOVE and the insurance at this point is invaluable since he…
-
Rivastigmine???
My DH used to be on donepezil but the neurologist took him off of it because he also takes escitolopram for depression. He put him on rivastigmine instead because of concerns about interactions of the drugs. Just the other day, he doubled the rivastigmine dose to 3 mg (from 1.5) as my DH has been having hallucinations and…
-
Not Agitation or Aggression, But...
Hi all. Hope folks are having a good as you can get weekend. I feel like, in many ways, I'm one of the luckier ones. My wife has largely been compliant. She gave up driving easily. She doesn't really have it in her to be super aggressive. She has pretty much lost her speech, though, but still has a huge desire to talk. In…
-
Equipment for dementia or ALZ patients
Dad is a fall risk due to frequent UTI issues. Having ALZ adds to the difficulty. We have part-time caregivers and my sister and I are there often but there are times he is alone and is generally ok. When he suddenly get a UTI he falls and is weak. We have went through a few devices with fall detection to no avail:…
-
Medications
So we started my Aunt on Aricept and we are waiting for approval from insurance company to start Kisunla Infusions. She had a very bad day today and Im not sure if it is due to overload from family being in this past week or because we started the medication. She is having hallucinations and paranoia. Has anyone else…
-
Meds - dumb question?
we finally got my mom to go to a Dr for a “well” checkup. Before the appt we were able to give the Dr a heads up about the memory issues, paranoia and anger towards my dad. The Dr was great. Never mentioned us contacting her and tried to be as comprehensive as she could while dancing around the memory/dimentia concerns so…
-
It's obvious I'm not alone...
Though I feel very alone. I have been helping my 83-year-old mother who has had symptoms of dementia for at least 2 years. She had lived alone for 10 years after my dad passed. I kept trying to get her to move closer to me. In February she had some sort of psychotic event and I had her transferred to a memory care near me…
-
Colonoscopy?
My DH is in the early to middle stage of Alzheimer’s. He has been getting colonoscopies every 5 yrs because of ongoing problems with polyps. Now he is past the 5 yr mark and his DR does not want him to get anymore. I’m not sure I agree bc he is in excellent physical health and could live for many years. If he develops a…
-
Mom's New Diagnosis
Hello All! I can't tell you how happy I am to find this discussion board! My mom (76) was diagnosed with dementia a few weeks ago following an episode that involved her wandering the neighborhood at 3am and a horrific fall that landed us in the ER with a head injury. She told me that someone had stolen our furniture and…
-
Am I out of line?
Hi, community. I'm currently unable to sleep. My Mom (75 years old) came to our house after an unidentified cognitive episode in February. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few weeks later. As her identified POA, I, along with my brother, got to asking our mom her wishes and taking action to find a place for her to…
-
DH in MC 3 days now...
DH is 73 in stage 5 teetering into to 6. He was scheduled to move into a different MC 8/21 but that fell apart and he moved into what I think is a good facility this week. He is confused and wants to leave. Not aggressive, but concerned about where his sister and I am. Today he wanted to leave with me and wanted me to…
-
A question about swallowing difficulty
My DH is in about mid-stage 6 of mixed dementia. He is having trouble swallowing, and the difficulty keeps increasing. His diet is soft food cut up very small. He needs to be coached to swallow pretty much every bite, and sometimes has to try two or three times to get the food down. He is hand fed small bites with frequent…
-
Family members
Hi, My DH was diagnosed with MCI about 7 years ago. His progression of Alzheimer’s has been slow but has now reached the point where he can’t do much at home other than bath and dress himself. He does walk the dog which helps tremendously. He seems to think he’s perfectly normal. He can’t remember anything much and seems…
-
Door locks helped today!
I had to install some door locks high on the exit doors after DH had an overnight elopement. I usually lock them when we go to bed and unlock them when I get up. He gets up a couple times a night and walks around the house for an hour or more and I can hear him try to open the door, so it gives me peace of mind. But I…
-
New to ALZ Site - Caring for LO With Dementia
New here to the community, caring for a parent with severe dementia and their spouse. LO had a serious fall a few weeks ago, resulting in a brain bleed. Another fall or progression led to acute/chronic bilateral brain bleeds. LO had urgent brain surgery to alleviate this. Spouse is finally waking up to the fact that LO w/D…
-
Help with moving unwilling mom to senior living
Hi, I'm new here. My 82 yo mom has mid stage alz, and is currently living with my dad in the home they've been in for 45 years. My dad 83 yo is very ready to move to a senior living community and is finally reaching the top of the wait list for his desired community that has assisted living and memory care available when…
-
our posts are indexed globally
This is a meta-post about the things we post on this discussion group. I try to pay a lot of attention to my privacy online, and I've felt comfortable posting here because I believed it to be closed and safe. Then it occurred to me that web crawlers and indexers can probably gobble up posts here, because the posts are…