Yes dsm, you are throwing the bell curve to the left!
I'm with you Kadee. I'm pushing 48, hub is 62 (already noted in the stats, I think,) and--this week anyway--I'm feeling lonely, angry and desolate. Am doing college apps with kid #4 (of 4) and off he goes next Fall. I was looking forward to this stage because it was going to be fun. An endless vista of being alone with my solitary projects while he dozes in the chair is not the kind of fun I'd imagined.
I have been posting for a while on this site but have not given the age here of myself and my dh. We are both 54 this year. We think that the symptoms for my dh have been going on for about 3 years. I sure wish that before anyone can be qualified to battle this disease we had to be proficient on the caretaking responsibilities of it. I would do like some of the people in my life that I know, feen being dumb so that we would not be eligible for the role....lol......wishful thinking on my part.....Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I feel young in my head. Everyone always said I looked a lot younger than I really am, as did my husband. Now, in just the past 2-1/2 years, he looks like he is at least 5 years older and, I think, so do I. But, as said up above, I refuse to get older. In my head I'm not old. I will learn new things all the time, I will never "talk down" to my grandchildren. I will listen to all kinds of music and never complain about the rock music of the day. I read all kinds of books, mostly good literature though. Thank God, for books! In my head, I will be 30 for the rest of my life.
babozek, Sounds like a good plan to me. And I am going to put up a big tree for Christmas. Not expecting any company but as long as I am excited about Christmas I know I am not old.
Bama, The Christmas tree will go up no matter what! We used to have a huge one that took me three days to decorate. Now, it has to be smaller. I can't climb up ladders anymore. I don't know how excited I am about Christmas, there's so much to do and it's harder now with the problems we have. I'm going to try and type up all my recipes for my girls. One of my daughters told me that's all she wants for Christmas, my recipes. So, that's what I'll do for all three of them. I hope I have the time to do it.
Babozek - I identify completely with you. I'll be 73 in 9 days - my dh is 78. Like you almost everyone says I look younger than I am - and the same for dh...but, as you said, in the last 2 years he has aged tremendously.
I have the same type of relationship with my grandkids.
Christmas is a big thing for me too ... and my tree has gotten smaller, but I'll do all the decorations and make the very most of the holidays. How sweet that your daughter wants all your recipes.
Isn't it a shame that this AD had to come into our lives? Let's try to always be young at heart and make the best of every day.
Pat, I'm a very lucky woman, and I know it. I've been blessed with a wonderful family, and I include my sister. This dementia thing has altered our lives, with bad days and not so bad days, but I'm going to try and count my blessings rather than focus on the bad, although I admit I sometimes lose it.
My grandkids are the world to me and to my husband. The day the first one came into our lives and the 10-12 years we had before dementia and other ills hit us were the best years of our lives. We adore those children.
We will be spending Thanksgiving with our whole family, including my sister and her family and one son-in-laws dad, at my daughter's house. Fortunately, she loves to do it and is a wonderful hostess. We're looking forward to it since we don't see them as often as we did when they were little. I had kids here every other weekend and we loved it.
Yes, it's a shame this disease came into our lives. Fortunately, for him, my husband doesn't believe anything is wrong with him. He thinks he's the same as he always was. Not true. Not even close. I miss so many aspects of our previous lives, but at our age I guess we can't expect everything to be perfect. I just wish we had had a little time together after retirement and after taking care of my mom and dad, to do more of the things we planned on doing.
You put it perfectly with one of my favorite songs. I play it often. I will always try to be Young At Heart and make the best of each day.
Dsm, I read over some of the earlier comments and can't believe you are only 37 and dealing with this horrible diagnosis. God bless you!
TexasJoe, You may have hit the nail on the head when you say the older people aren't involved as much with the computer and that's why the numbers for older people are less than the others, but I feel sorry for them. I know several women who don't want anything to do with a computer. My computers and microwave, I think, are two things I can't live without anymore. I think learning new things is the best way to keep your brain going strong. Wow! I can't believe I said that! My husband, before his diagnosis, is ABD (all but dissertation) for a PhD. It apparently didn't help him. He worked at a university helping young people, drove 120 miles a day back and forth to work, and many other things you would think would keep his brain younger, but it didn't. TexasJoe, try other things on the computer. I am not on Facebook but my sister just joined and is getting notes from people she knew in grade school.
I was just telling my family the other day, I lost most of my 30's to Alzheimer's. I am now 42, and I am determined it isn't going to steal any more time from me. Now I just need to come up with a game plan...eeeeek
i'm 76,my husbands 74,diagnosed 3yrs ago,but we saw something changing 5 years before that,the weight loss,loss of sense of smell, shuffling,and the pack rat syndrom.had to change docs to finally get an MRI ordered.worst fears confirmed.but you learn to live with it and when I see how many of you are so young,i actually feel lucky.TexasJoe,I agree with you don't take my microwave or computer away,but I'll also add my electric canopener.with arthritic hands life is getting hell.
I'll soon be 79 and DH turns 84 next week, finally DXd this past July, but had symptoms for 5 yrs. prior, mostly behavioral in the beginning, then cognitive and memory. Presently in Stage 5, moderate. The Seroquel and Namenda have sure evened out the bumps in a big way.
And as some of you already know from comments I've posted on other threads, Kadee ... chalk up another one for the 60s. I'llbe 63 in a few weeks and my wife is already 63.
Very interesting. I averaged the ages, assigning an arbitrary age of 55 to the group in its 50s, (45 for the group in its 40s, etc.) There were a lot of numbers, so I could have made a keying error, but if not, our average age is 60.9.
Kadee, mightn't it be appropriate to drop those of us who have earned our asterisk from your lists since we're no longer active caregivers -- or maybe create separate lists for us? I'll be coming up on 82 in a week, and my DW died several months ago at age 83.
You can count me as above average. I turned 67 this month. DH was 79.
Texas Joe, I'm on FB also but all I do is go there to see what the kids are doing. Seems all they do is work on their farms and raise fish. My daughter told me how to look up high school friends and when I did I only found 2. One I didn't like in high school and when I looked at all his friends just in case I might know one of them, no body there I knew. When I checked the other one to see if we had any friends in common, it said he didn't have any friends. That's my extent when it comes to FB
Statistics: Ages of caregivers as of 1/23/10 30- 2 40 - 20 50 - 67 60 -49 70 -29 80-6
Gourdchipper, I never even thought of removing the caregivers that have lost their loved ones. I have removed 1 from the 80 year old group. If any one else would like to be removed, just post your age & I will remove from that age group.