Hi! My husband is an older man - 83 - I'm just a child of 57. I don't think he has AD, not sure. He has a pacemaker for atrial fib (had a cardiac arrest in 1992), has trouble walking, sometimes is short of breath. But he's alert and busy doing a lot of art work - he's a lifelong artist and retired art teacher (he was my art teacher!). It's just that his memory is very spotty, he is a bit paranoid (not dangerous, just annoying), he can't dial a long-distance call, doesn't know what the year is. I wouldn't want him to cook anything because he tends to boil pans dry. Yet he can drive and do simple errands, although I do most of the driving now. This all seems minor compared to what most of you contend with. I guess it just helps to write this all down!
Welcome! I know you'll get help and encouragement here; I have. My recommendation is to start w/a visit to gp and tell her/him all you've described here. They can rule out possibilities--or not. They will probably recommend seeing a neurologist. That's the way our journey w/my hb who has vascular dementia, anyway.
Hi, vpeckham!! I'm 54 and my husband is 80, so we're much the same there. John just entered a nursing home, but I can remember noticing the same things long ago. I'd follow the advice bluedaze and get your husband to a doctor. Maybe schedule a visit to a neurologist? Would he be agreeable to that? Ask him to do it for YOU. Jen.
I'd also be sure I wrote down all of his symptoms or visited with the doctor alone first. Otherwise, he'll not understand what you want him to see. Many general practitioners aren't able to pick up on the little signs quickly. I'd ask him to refer you to a Neuropsychologist for the generalized testing we all complain about (after the 4th year). It's vital in the initial diagnosis. Also, you "youngster you", we must remember that those of us who are 70 and older also have spotty memories, and occasionally the simplest tasks get complicated..until we slow down, start over and then it works. Multiple tasking doesn't come as easily as it did when we were younger. I'd hate to think my children would think I had AD because I forgot their new cell phone number, or didn't remember to check the mail one day. I say these things to you with a wink of the eye, just because we have wierd humor, us caregivers, and have often wondered if we were 'catching it' from our loved ones. It's wise to get your dear husband checked thoroughy, however. In the early stages, the medication can slow down the progression of the disease. Good luck...and keep in touch with us.
Thanks, everyone, for your kind and helpful comments! My husband has ended up furious with pretty much every doctor, because they haven't helped with the things that bother him most - difficulty walking, shortness of breath. We're on the waiting list for a new doc (this is Maine, perpetual shortage of primary care docs), hope to get an appointment in Sept. or Oct. My husband especially distrusts neurologists! But we'll see - he seldom refuses to see a doctor, just bitches like mad about them afterward. He is taking citalopram, a low dose - it has helped with his dark moods - last year he would get really angry about his health and his life, and sometimes would weep bitterly in the middle of the night, felt like dying. That has gone away, thanks to God and citalopram!
My husband has cardio-vascular dementia, not Alzheimer's. It is the result of an EVENT. He had an accident because his heart stopped. It stopped several times that day, and they used the paddles on him multiple times. Somewhere way back there is a thread where I asked the question about multiple resuscitations and dementia and a bunch of doctors answered. Not only could multiple resuscitations cause dementia, but so can "cardiac arrest."
vpeckham, where in Maine are you? I'm in coastal Maine, Blue Hill, and Susan L is in southwestern Maine. I appreciate your problem getting a doctor. My PCP, who I saw today, told me that he has had to close his practice. We definitely need more primary care doctors, especially if the new medical plan goes through and they start pushing prevention. Who will do it?
Starling, I THOUGHT it was you with the Event. A friend of mine, not on this list had a close friend, father of her many-years partner, who had CPR several times after a heart attack. He's never been the same since. HIs wife had to divorce him to protect the family business. He now lives with HIS parents, pretty badly damaged, I gather.
I wonder why so few doctors would be in Maine, it is such a beautiful place to live. Witnessed by the members on this site who obviously work for the Maine Chamber of Commerce . I guess they want to be in major cities with big hospitals. Marsh, why is your PCP closing his office? I know the cost of operating an office while dealing with insurance claims and Medicare is horrible. Many Houston docs do not accept new Medicare patients . We work with HOUSE CALL DOCTORS of TEXAS...they come to the house. Medicare and Aetna paid 100% so far.. DH has even had an echocardiogram at home. -Nancy-
I'm told that the average claim takes about ten months to be fully paid... First they get Medicare's delayed payment, then they bill the secondary insurance for the balance, and months later, that is partially paid. Finally, they try to get the balance from the patient.
I don't want this to be political but I haven't heard this mentioned anywhere: when people talk about "health care rationing" please remember that mediCARE rations how much they will pay for things. It's because of our mediGAP coverages (Aetna for Nancy, for instance, AARP for me) that we don't have further bills, but of course we pay for it in premiums. What makes the "donut hole" such a pain is that we CAN NOT BUY coverage for that. I hope that whatever is decided there's no equivalent of that in it.
Charlotte is right. My PCP is just not taking any new patients. With regard to doctors not coming to Maine, when I was in practice looking for partners I could find a doctor who wanted to come, but his (and they were all male) wife did not want to live "out in the boonies". This has happened several times.
I suppose I am fortunate. Here in Fl. when making a medical appointment the first question asked is what is your insurance rather than what is the problem. When I say MC and AARP I go right to the top of the list. This also pertains to specialists. Several years ago this was not the case.
Thought I heard that the powers that be had already "fixed" that donut hole issue with medicare. Guess we don't fall into it. We don't have much in the way of Rx around here.
You can have your choice of insurance companies and insurance plans, based on what coverage you want to pay for...like buying a car...there is a big difference between a Chevy and a Lexus, and a sedan and a SUV....you get what you pay for....frankly, I don't want to pay (in taxes - and we WILL be paying for the reforms) for the Jones to have the same coverage I have without their paying the same thing I do! Now, if we could have Congress' insurance coverage, that is a different story!!! <grin>
My main concern is that we caregivers need to be included in the health care reform package too......<sigh>
I was asked by the Physical Therapist yesterday why I didn't call Medicare to send in an in home care giver since my right elbow is in a brace and I cannot do ordinary things around the house. (Actually I do, by breaking the rules and taking the brace off many many times a day.- which is probably not helping one iota!) I HAVE to drive, I HAVE to cook, I have to help him bathe, get up from his chair..(can use left arm for that...) I wouldn't know how to begin. They make it so difficult, it's easier to do without.
Re: Donut hole. We have Medprime through DuPont, which is their Rx provider, and we pay a deductible, then after about $1500 out of pocket, they pay 100%. Our average drug costs, per person, (say we had no insurance at all) would be about $12K for me and 8K for DH - It's totally insane, what drugs cost in the USA as compared to Mexico and Canada. Why?? Why do we pay so much more for the same drugs from the same manufacturers??
Marsh and Susan L - nice to know that you are in Maine, too. I live in Rockland. Starling and Briegull, thanks for your postings. In that 1992 cardiac arrest my husband did get revived with the paddles, and then went into what his doctor called a coma that lasted overnight. For a year afterward he was definitely rather impaired, but then he improved, up to a point. During most of that time I was freelancing, but now I'm working almost full-time, and It's been difficult knowing how much he can do on his own. A wise friend of mine said I can't hark back to a vanished normality - I have to think of this as the "new normal." That's helpful - but I guess I'm not entirely sure what the new normal is - it seems to shift and change!
Boy, does it ever!! Every time you think you understand, and you have all your routines set the way s/he wants them, wow! Something will change (maybe it turns cool overnight? The moon turns full...) and you have to start all over again. The one thing I've found that is helpful with this is that sometimes what they used to HATE they've FORGOTTEN they didn't like, so you can work it back in. My husband used to think he couldn't stand driving up to Maine (to Rockland or New Harbor) to catch the boat to Monhegan.. he did it this summer for the first time in several years and was fine!