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Do You Talk To Yourself Out Loud As A Caregiver?
I have started talking out loud to myself (Not within DH’s hearing) both to vent about something DH has done or said and to try and calm myself. I say “it is not him, it is the disease” or “I can get through this” or even have back and forth mini-conversation with me, myself and I! Does anyone else do this? Am I losing it?
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How do I best help Mom, the caregiver?
Hello~ first post. My parents both turned 80 and Dad was officially diagnosed with stage 5 Alzheimer’s dementia the same week. His progression through early stages was very slow~ we’ve noticed little things for seven or so years~ but he had COVID in January, and the big slide began… I live 90 minutes away from them with my…
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Hey Everyone
My name is Chris. My dad was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s this week at the Mayo Clinic. I will be, along with my brothers, assisting my stepmother in caring for him. This is all new and overwhelming at this point. I hope to learn more and find some support here. Thanks!
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When you take care of family members with AD,what can cheer you up or bring back old happy memories?
Sometimes I feel frustrated when taking care of my grandpa with AD.I don't feel like he's the same him anymore, and we seem to be the most familiar strangers.I wonder what will bring you guys the old happy memory that cheer you up to continuously look after your family members. Hoping to receive some kind answers to help…
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Changing Assisted Living Communities - VENT
Hi everyone. I'm new here and I am in the process of exploring the different discussions posted. I appreciate all of the information everyone has shared. It helps me to feel like we are in this together. I wanted to get some things off my chest and I didn't know where else to go. I am an only daughter and I care for my…
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MC journey off to a very rough start
After 3 nights secret work in late hours preparing for moving DW age 59 into MC, I thought I was going to get a break on move-in day (last Friday 3/1). DW has had a lot of agitation and they reassured me they are used to dealing with this. We arrived at 10am, the team assembled in her room, collected meds, signed off on…
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Taking this all in
:( My mom, 71 years old, got the diagnosis not too long ago. My dad, same age, told me yesterday. My parents live in Ohio, I live in Massachusetts. Her mother died at 75 from the disease, well, from a heart attack. But she had Alzheimer's for about 10 years. I don't have many memories of my grandmother, as I was very…
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Feeling lost
I’m new here. My wife is at the early stages, she is 67 and I am 60. I still have to work so our lives have a lot of moving pieces. Slowly I have been watching my wife deteriorate. The past 6 months it seems like even the easier tasks are getting harder for her & take her a lot more time. It’s like her problem solving…
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I’m. Just. So. Damn. Tired.
I have been caring for my mother who has been declining with grace for years. Now, at 92, she is very frail, and often doesn’t remember how to stand or sit. She can communicate sometimes. She can feed herself but eats little. Lately, she has been getting up without assistance and has fallen. Now I sleep with her to keep…
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Angry forever?
My moms delusions and anger have become so taxing that our family feels like it may be time for full time care but she’s voiced she doesn’t want to go to a nursing home and “nothings wrong” with her. I KNOW she’s going to be irate with everyone. My question is, do you have experience with this and was your loved one angry…
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PWD over-estimating their abilities - any strategies for coping?
My 94 yo mother was diagnosed with dementia last July. She is in stage 4. She lives in a CCRC. She's been there 6 years in a cottage living independently. Now we have a succession of aides coming in for various tasks, like medication management and general supervision. She complained about that a lot at first, but seems to…
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How to communicate with a parent in denial
Hello! Rather abruptly it has become clear my mom will need to be in MC for at least the immediate short term, or even longer. She had an episode of delirium after attempting to travel solo to a family member, and while she has largely recovered, her baseline is way worse than before this episode. She was released from the…
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Newly Diagnosed Mom
Hello, My mother was recently diagnosed with moderate dementia. It seems to have accelerated once she moved into AL, which was her decision. She is well cared for however is requesting that my brother and I call her multiple times a day. Any tips for setting reasonable boundaries while at the same time helping her as much…
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Trying to support an aggressive grandfather
I’ve been taking care of my great grandfather for almost two years, the rest of the household is too harsh to him and it causes problems. I cannot convince them to get him help. I am 20, cannot drive and have put everything aside to take care of a three person household. How can I help my grandfather who has gotten worse,…
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Dementia, Broken Hip, and next steps
Hello, First time posting. My mother is 95 and was lving independently with caregiver assistance until she broke her hip a few weeks ago. She has been through a lot since 2018 - kidney timor ablation; treatment for APL (acute promyelocytic leukemia), a small stroke, and now this. She is in rehab connected to the retirement…
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dementia engagement services
As a caregiver of a parent with vascular dementia, I'm looking to offer engaging outings for families of people with dementia. This could be morning coffee or lunch with some kind of light physical activity or stimulating interaction. My hope is to provide individuals with dementia a routine that inspires, promotes…
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I would give anything to have my mom comfort me for 2 minutes...
My mom is still in the early to mid stages of ALZ, and one of the most noticeable changes in her personality, is that she no longer shows concern for other people's feelings. That's why it's so hard to spend time with her since my dad passed away in May - because she only talks about her own grief. I listen to her and hug…
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July 22, 2023
I never knew when the day would come that I would lose my grandmother, but sadly it has been barely a week since she had passed. I joined this community around 5 days before her passing, but had hoped we’d have at minimum, 2 weeks left with her, but timing was different than we had imagined. in my other post, I had…
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Conflicted In Feelings
I love my mom dearly. I find it an honor to take care of her as she moves into the mid-stages of Vascular Dementia. But lately, when her mood shifts, and she is very much out of character I find myself screaming inside "Who are you!" In those moments I try to shift the mood and put on light music - she was a classical…
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Feeling sad, mad, frustrated, and all that goes along with moving LO into an ALF.
Hi. I am new to this forum. I have been on the Dementia / ALZ journey with my Mom since 2019. She was still living at home on her own until this June. Up until then I had taken over managing all of her finances, going to her house every week to buy groceries, setup her pills for the week (and check to make sure she has…
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Newbie
I'm new here because part of me is in denial. I got a call Friday from the nurse at her Speech therapist that my Mom wasn't safe. I've been told that she is not independently safe. She won't believe me because they haven't told her directly. She stayed with us & sometimes it was completely awful. She yelled. Said we were…
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My mama passed
On June 29, 2023 my mama passed away at 8:22 pm. I had been her full-time caregiver for almost 7 years. During that time I was also a college student. I saw my mama everyday during her illness. I didn’t want her to go on the journey alone. She was on in-home hospice for almost 2 years. The hospice my mama was with I feel…
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caregiver needs
After six plus years of caregiving, my DW public behavior changed to the point that I sought counseling to emotionally handle these changes. The counselor asked me what things I did just for me. I believe that he suspects that everything I do is related to my wife and the disease. He suggested that I contact my support…
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Caregiver with a Mother that has just been diagnosed with Dementia.
Pleasure to meet everyone and I'm very happy to find this group. My mother who is 78, has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's with a potential pathway of Dementia. Though this did not come as somewhat shock to myself and my siblings, we primarily found out after she was evicted from her apartment, her spouse left her…