Oh my gosh! I am so happy I found this site! My husband has Alzheimer's, 2+ years now. Everything Joan wrote could be me writing it, as well as what everyone else posted too. I feel so much better knowing I have this outlet. Thank you!
A big welcome to you pwiebe! You have landed in a soft place where you will get lots of help and understanding. Tell us something about yourself and your husband when you feel comfortable.
pwiebe, welcome to your virtual support group. This is a great group of people who understand what you are going through. The nice thing about this support group is that it is here 24/7 in case you want to vent at 3AM! Come back often!
hi pwiebe, welcome. since we all know how much this site helps those of us coping/caregiving for dementia spouses, its always good to see someone find the website. its indeed a good knowledgeable group of folks who walk the walk and talk the talk so to speak. ie- we know how you are feeling and have the same issues. there are lots of older topics to read too if you have time do a search for anything you need help with. divvi
Hi & Welcome Pwiebe, I am so sorry for your need for our family, however, I am so glad you found us. There is a wealth of information in older topics. We are non-judgmental here, so feel free to ask any question...someone has most certainly experienced it.
Welcome to my website. When you feel comfortable, please tell us more about you and your husband. You have come to a place of comfort for spouses/partners who are trying to cope with the Alzheimer's/dementia of their husband/wife/partner. The issues we face in dealing with a spouse/partner 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/partner.
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". If this applies to your spouse, there are 4 sections for EOAD members - two of which focus on the young teens whose parents have EOAD (now called YOUNG onset AD- diagnosed before age 65). There is a great section on informative videos, and another excellent resource - Early Onset Dementia - A Practical Guide. You can go to the top of this page, click on "search", and type in EOAD, making sure the "topic" circle is filled in. All of the EOAD discussions will come up - there are about a dozen of them.
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 "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.
Hi, pwiebe, and welcome to the site. It's a great place to find good info relative to our "problem", a place to vent if you feel like it, a place to find happy thoughts, too. Just an all round comfy place to be and find understanding friends.
Welcome to the group, pwiebe. We are here for you. There isn't anything we haven't heard. Don't hesitate to bare your soul to this fine gang of spouses. We will do our best to answer questions, encourage you and keep you sane.
Once again, Oh my gosh! You all are so kind. Thank you for the welcomes, I'm getting teary reading your messages. My husband is one of the "young" onset group, he was 61 when he was diagnosed by a neurologist who spent about 15 minutes with us, had him fold a kleenex and look at the hands on a clock. She left the room for a bit and came back and announced she was pretty sure he had Alzheimer's. From that point on she never looked at or talked to my husband again. That was in a pretty small town in Arizona and we have since moved back to California to be nearer family and he now has doctors at the University of California, Irvine. Wonderful, wonderful people there. So very fortunate to have gotten in. Thank you all again. I will be on here all the time, I can tell.
I think you will find this forum a very helpful place. My husband was diagnosed at 58 with FTD (frontotemporal dementia). I'm glad you have found good doctors for your husband and yourself.
As others have already noted, pwiebe, people on this site just 'get it' and there is no other site like this, period! Kudos from all of us to Joan for starting, maintaining, and expanding this place where we can always come, 24/7, to say what we need to say and read what others have to say. We all may not post that often, but I guarantee you that many of us visit several times a day because each time we come away learning something we didn't know before or have some feelings confirmed by others who paddle a similar boat. Welcome aboard!
You will find that we have many young onset diagnoses among the members here, so you'll get a lot of support. My husband was dx 6 years ago, at age 60, with AD.
Is is just my imagination, or have there been more young onset members joining recently?
Since the younger onset AD is much less common than those over 65, I think the reason we have so many on this site is that the younger spouses are more likely to be computer literate. I know several spouses who are afraid of a computer.
marsh.....as long as you're online right now, let me remind you of the Smithsonian Channel's series "Aerial America" which has shown your state of Maine all this past week. Today is probably the last day Maine will be shown, as they seem to hilite a different state each week and repeat it several times. Last week it was Rhode Island.