just wanted to put my two cents in for a wonderful job by Joan..I just figured how to get on but want you all to know that I have read every word on this site that's written... Treading water here just as you all are and you ARE my lifeline... until I found you, I thought dementia must be like the plague, hidden, not talked about... Thanks, to you all... Glad I found you.. Peggy
Hi Peggy, I am sorry you need to be here but I know you will find the help and support you need right here on this site. I have learned more here than from anything I ever read. Welcome and good luck on your journey.
Welcome Peggy, I too just recently posted after reading till my eyes blurred. This is a safe haven for so many. We have just started this trip and I felt like I better jump in and get to know people before I REALLY needed them. My DH was just recently dx'd and is still basically good, just so forgetful. I'm adjusting slowly and try to learn all I can earlier instead of later. I like to plan lol. Joan can't be thanked enough, in fact I'm so new I haven't even thanked her, Thank you Joan. Let us know more about your situation Peggy...
welcome peggy. you are in the right place. many here are before or after you in this dread journey with our spouses. its indeed a lifeline to connect us all with common ideas, worries, and solutions to problems that surface while caregiving. no subject is taboo here for us to discuss, many topics are listed in past posts and as you know from reading we hold nothing back. feel free to post on any topic. someone is usually here to answer soon. divvi
Peggy, welcome to the site: you already know what a good place it is. Now that you've come out of the closet, we hope to see you posting often. THe more the merrier.
Peggyginnings Comment Time 40 minutes ago Thanks, Earthangel... I don't know where to start.. This whole thing has been so gradual.. MyDH also has prostate cancer, they said terminal, but it's been over 7 years now, He has macular and is totally blind, arthritis and has balance problems and for the past 5 years a gradual mental problem...He has not been diagnosed because, in his word, there is nothing wrong with him... I try everything I can to help him but he knows it all and goes into a rage... He refuses to interact with men friends who want to help me out by taking him to functions... Just stays glued to the TV or Rush Limbaugh.. Like all of you, I have tried to stay my sweet little self but coming to the point that the further away I stay, the better we get along... sure didn't think my retirement or his would end this way... So lonely, in this journey... I do it all and have learned to lie in order to keep harmony.. to aprise him of life's little situations would start WW3 and mor rage which he forgets in a minute and I still hurt for hours... thanks, for listening... I could go on, but know there others who are worse off than me....Peggy
Thanks to you all for making me feel welcome...friends and acquaintances see that there is something wrong but when they ask,,How is he?? I find they bore easily and have inquired only to be nice..It is nice to have someone to talk to...I will be here often...
Welcome Peggy and other new ones. I have been here for a year now and hard to believe it has been that long. I realized how much this site has become a part of my life when it was posted all those who passes away last year. They weren't just names but victim and their spouses that I feel I know in a way I know no others. I am fortunate in that my hb knows because of family history. I do not have to deal with denial. But there are many others that do and also have to deal with the anger and abuse.
Thanks to all for the encouragement... I plan to make an appointment with our family doctor soon, not for me but to discuss DH's situation... Two reasons.. the next time he visits this dr, he will be aware of what to look for.. Let us say, I will assist in the diagnosis and second, if I fall apart, the dr. will know why.... got to have a little humor here.. We are, after all, on the funny farm.. and walking on eggs to make this household happy...Wait til you hear about my"Don't mess with me," days... Great day to all...
Dearest peggy.....welcome to this lifesaving (actual, in my case) site. It has brought me through all my wierdness and anger, bewilderment, hostility and brokenheartedness. By the way, I am now in a PERMANENT state of "don't mess with me" days!!!! (LOL...and, you GOTTA laugh out loud)
it makes sweet little personalities turn mean..But, we have been assigned to this disease and as much as I wish I were somewhere else, I must be the one to do it all... Laugh and the world laughs with you.... sometimes??
Peggy- Welcome! Laugh and the world laughs with you.... sometimes?? If you laugh, you are probably reading something I wrote or said./. My new motto is "Laugh and you are probably right!"
welcome to the club no one wants to belong to,this will be a very informative place to come to daily an phranque will keep us in stitches when he isn't being the flagman for wheelchair races in Florida
Thanks to one and all... maybe by talking to such understanding friends as I have here, then the guilt will be less..There are times that I wonder,IS this really happening or did I make it happen and even if I will ever get creit for anything ever again... One foot in front of the other and to Phranque. I like your attitude so from now on,,, I am Woman, watch me roar,, and doesn't it feel great to EXPRESS yourself now and then..
Welcome to my website. You have come to a place of comfort for spouses who are trying to cope with the Alzheimer's/dementia of their husband/wife. The issues we face in dealing with a spouse with this disease are so different from the issues faced by children and grandchildren caregivers. We discuss all of those issues here - loss of intimacy; social contact; conversation; anger; resentment; stress; and pain of living with the stranger that Alzheimer's Disease has put in place of our beloved spouse.
The message boards are only part of this website. Please be sure to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read all of the resources on the left side. I recommend starting with "Newly Diagnosed/New Member" and "Understanding the Dementia Experience". There are 4 sections for EOAD members - two of which focus on the young teens whose parents have EOAD (early onset AD). There is a great new section on informative videos, and another excellent resource - Early Onset Dementia - A Practical Guide.
Do not miss the "previous blog" section. It is there you will find a huge array of topics with which you can relate. There is a new "search" feature on the home page that allows you to look up different topics that may have been explored in a previous blog. Log onto the home page daily for new blogs; news updates; important information.
If you get nowhere with your family doctor, please check for a specialized memory disorders clinic in your area, and make an appointment. It is vital to get a proper diagnosis, so your husband can get the proper treatment. Sometimes it is not AD, but something treatable. For a memory disorders clinic in your area - log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com and look on the left side. Scroll down until you come to the link that for finding memory disorders clinics.
Thanks, I have my work cut out for me... thru this wonderful internet, I've had the chance to research and read and otherwise follow what happens next in this disease... It all fits so will let you know how it goes with the GP and thanks again for bringing this site to so many of us... As in so many diseases, we the spouses are the first ones to notice and are the ones to start the dr.s in the right direction...'Tis not the first time, I've been referred to as that woman with the NEW medical degree...Sure , this whole segment of our lives is a learning experience..
Welcome, Peggy. It's so good to know we have a place to go when we're feeling overwhelmed. All of us do. This site will give you much comfort, a place to vent, and even rage if you want to. You'll even get a little humor, as you already have seen, something all of us need to get through the day.
As you said this place is a soft spot to land. I live in a very small town, nearest support group is 87 miles away, so Joan's site is what keeps me going. I do not post much but read several times a day. The wonderful people on this site will "hold your hand through the scary parts".
My care and love to you all, as well.. Things happen around here so fast. seems to me DH is running in and out of stages faster then I can adjust...No rhyme or reason to his activity...Thankfully by reading how you all are coping, it helps me know what to expect next....I am 71 and DH is 84... Bless you all.
Welcome Peggy and Earthangel, Sorry that you had to find us, but like I've said to so many, so glad you are now part of this wonderful, sometime wacky, always suppportive family.