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My watch over dad has ended and it feels so empty
My dad took his last breath in this life just yesterday. He was 89 years old. He and mom, who has dementia and is in memory care, were married 65 years. I moved both to an ALF about four months ago. I think my timing turned out to be just about right. I thought the world would look different without my dad in it, but it is…
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Feeling Very Alone
Hi everybody! I hope everyone is having a good day/night. I am 24 and the main care taker for my mom who is 59, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's back in 2022. The first year since her diagnoses had been pretty uneventful, no huge changes besides getting her disability approved. She had already stopped driving and working…
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New here, are there any books aimed at the person who has dementia?
Hello, I had the slum test and was found to me on the border of mci and dementia. Thyroid test and b12 test came back normal range. Waiting on diabetes and will have an MRI on Friday. I am wondering if there any books you can recommend that are directed towards the patient and not necessarily the caregiver. I found a lot…
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How to Get Legal Affairs in Order When You're Broke
Hi everyone! As the title says, I'm broke lol (it's not actually funny but I have to laugh or I'll fall apart.) My mom (60) is definitely progressing, and I don't have any of her legal affairs in order. Currently my mom is being taken care of by 2 people in their mid 20's, so not a lot of stability here as neither of us…
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Seeing DH slowly fade away
The worse part of visiting is leaving & driving 3 hours back to an empty house. The worse part is also seeing the other veterans there that are farther along in their dementia journey knowing what's coming for my DH. This weekly refreshed reminders of loss & grief are dragging me down.
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New diagnosis, new to group. Having a rough ugly cry day.
I have been very emotional, ugly crying today. Today is hard, others are not- those days I am "numb". I am 41, married for 19 years, I have 5 kids ages 8, 10, 17, 18, 20. I have tested positive for PSEN1 which is one of 3 variants known to cause young onset Alzheimer’s. I have had cognitive symptoms since August 2023. I…
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My Mom and Lifelong best friend Dx with Alzheimer’s
My mom was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She has been my best friend and person my whole life. This disease has changed her personality, morals and values. I am only 50 and I miss my Mom and my person every day. I am so angry at her for having this disease, which I recognize is ridiculous. But I’m already grieving…
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DH now stage 6
my DH is now stage six. I’m exhausted physically and mentally. He hallucinates, delusional, wanders, paranoid, agitated and confused. The speech is so bad. He can say a word and make a somewhat sentence but cannot put two sentences together to make a thought. He sometimes thinks his children are small. He asked me to tell…
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Difficult and lonely
I had a friend disable DH truck. He went berserk. He is still upset after 7 days of trying to get me to have it fixed. Now he is upset over some scam. All his cards are locked. Our retirement money was moved to a brokerage firm. Thank goodness. I took him to the bank to withdraw cash, he randomly walked into a bankers…
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@PRC regarding Grief
(This has been reposted from the "Supporting Those who have Lost Someone" section for more exposure) Please include "@PRC" in your reply so responses go to PRC Well, here goes. I lost my DW in March after 5-6 years as her caretaker and I still feel completely lost and overwhelmed by grief. As many times as I read from…
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Sad and caring formy mom 4 years
I'm new here. I've been caring for my 85 year old mom who was diagnosed with dementia/alzheimers in 2021. She just started asking about her mom, my grandmother every night, who I also cared for when I was a teenager right out of high school when my mom was working back in the early 1980's. My grandmother passed away in…
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Overwhelmed with guilt & grief
It was a long road but my father in law has been living in a memory care facility close to us for about 6 weeks. Even though I know that my husband and I would be unable to care for him safely in our home because he would mostly be alone, I still feel so guilty for this major decision. When family and friends ask about my…
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Anniversary #47
It's our wedding anniversary today. I'm just really sad because nothing about our marriage turned out the way I thought it would. As background, we found out after we placed my DH in MC that he had (seemingly) been unfaithful, was deeply into porn, and even had pictures that may have been illegal (or borderline). Even…
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Books that were recommended to me
The Social Worker, Tessa, at The Memory Center Clinic (Dept of Neurology) at the University of Chicago Medicine recommended these 2 books to me, at Ray's appt last Fri. Have any of you checked these out? I read the reviews over at Amazon.com. I ordered these. I'm a retired dinosaur RN. "Travelers to Unimaginable Lands" by…
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So very weary...
Visited DH today for a couple of hours. Not very responsive, couldn't get him to look toward me while taking a picture. Last week he was tapping his hands on everything (table, his legs, etc.) Now he's rubbing the palms of his hands constantly. Then he started rubbing my hands. Aide says he is eating everything but has to…
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death, aftermath, touching back down to earth
Hi everyone, I always had the intention of returning to this forum and all of you once I'd had some space to process my grief. But it turns out, I don't think my brain is processing it! Unless it is.. and I just don't know it. I was wondering if posting here would help unlock the box of grief my brain has been quietly…
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New to this forum and wanting advice
Hi all. My dad has has been suffering from Parkinson’s Dementia about 5 years now. From my understanding (and anyone can correct me if you have better knowledge than me) it is a little bit different from regular Dementia in the sense that it won’t cause him to pass but his mind has deteriorated in much the same way. Over…
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Moving home
So, I’m moving back home to help out. I’m an only child and my dad is having trouble taking care of my mom on his own. She fell at the beginning of this year and broke her foot and her shoulder. I ended up taking FMLA to help through her healing. I’m hoping that moving home will help me feel less exhausted. I went back to…
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My DW & Hospice Education
Today, my DW of 25 years was released from the ravages of of this evil disease (+ cancer) and is, truly, in a better place. I was lucky enough to be by her side, holding her hand, when she passed. And I might have been alarmed at the changes she underwent, if not for having learned about the signs and sounds and changes…
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Grandmothers recent diagnosis - guidance
Hi everyone! My grandmother, and very best friend, was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s yesterday. We knew this was coming, as her mother had it and she began showing signs about a year ago. However, I feel so completely lost and heartbroken. I was hoping for a bit of guidance on how to handle the utter darkness I feel.…
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Mom had dementia, now dad has it.
Hi, my mom passed on about 6 years ago after dealing with early onset Alzheimer's. Now my dad has been diagnosed with it, and I just came here for some support because, although he's not in the advanced stages yet, I'm starting to see changes in his memory. It reminds me of what my mom went through and how I felt when she…
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Grieving my dad
Hello everyone, I'm new here and I hope it's ok for me to post here even though I'm not a caregiver. I'm 24. My dad was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia almost 6 years ago, during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. My parents are both in their early 60s and my mom is my dad's primary…
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Competely overwhelmed and in tears or on the verge of tears ALWAYS
Hi all! I'm new here. My 59 yo DH was diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's and primary progressive aphasia in Sept 2020. He was able to continue working until Dec of 22. He's been home and frustrated and bored and angry since then. He gets so confused and believes things that haven't happened. Sees things and people do…
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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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Father caring for mother
Is anyone like me in a situation in which their father is caring for their mother with Alzheimer's? I am the only daughter (one sibling is deceased, the other is not physically well and not emotionally suited to helping the way that I do). My father, in his 80s, is amazing in many ways as a caregiver (especially in his…
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It's so lonely
hi I am Amy (61) and my husband (64) was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in June 2023. Since I am also disabled I knew we had to get out of our house and into a care environment before disaster struck. We are in a really nice Assisted Living place now. Currently Ive been feeling lonely even though we're together all…
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To correct or not....?
I am new to the support community. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2022. She is now in an Assisted Living near me. She is always wanting to have these deep conversations with me about her living situation but never really comprehends what I tell her. She keeps referring to the Assisted living as "school" and…
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Praying for this to end
My DH is stage 7, still ambulatory, good appetite, vitals all okay...counting my blessings....is it wrong to wish he will pass before "it gets worse" I am so done with these stages, wondering what I will wake up to each day, crossing off each day on the calendar only to look at a new month with no end in sight...I'm so…
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How did you get through the diagnosis?
My partner has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he is 72 and I’m 64. Three years ago last August I lost my 91 year old mother to Alzheimer’s after a 6 year battle and I have no illusions about where this disease is going. I don’t have any friends or family that has lost their beloved this way, apart from my father,…
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Fearing the future
My 83 yo Dad was diagnosed in November 2023. I’m guessing he’s in late 2 or early 3 stage. Still lives alone and drives. We visited 3 IL places. He doesn’t want to move from his 3K sq. ft. house into 900 sf. What have been your experiences moving your parent to AL or MC at later stages? I’m also his caregiver paying bills,…