My DH has "textbook" AD in that he has no insight into his illness, what it has done to our lives, that it is terminal, etc. It occurred to me today, he will never realize that he is dying, never have fear, regrets, etc. that so many face at the end of their lives. He will just float off from lala land, where he is now, into eternity, hopefully with no pain. If there ever was an "upside" to dementia, perhaps this is it.
I do believe you are you right! Oh, how I wish my DH did not know about it - but he does and he also knows what it has done to our lives - he knows he will probably die from it and that there is nothing we can do about. How very, very sad. Be very thankful if your LO does not understand or grasp this terrible disease.
My dh thinks because the neuro- doc said the blood would go around the clot in his head that he is o.k. He says how glad he is to be here since he's had lymphoma for almost 30 years (with years of remission) he is lucky to be here that is very true. He has no idea of Vas-dementia that is taking him slowly. I suppose that is good but it would be also helpful if he would do some planning with me. He doesn't want to approach that subject now but I'll have to find a way. So I guess he has "text-book" AD also and I agree that is probably good since there is no treatment as with cancer when there was always "something else" they could try.
Yep, it is very sad for those like my wife, Clare, who are keenly aware of what is happening. Watching her forget what she wants to say in mid-sentence when she starts telling me something is very difficult for both of us. She was a language teacher, and I think 'losing her words' is the most difficult part of all of this for her. For her, the aphasia hits her where it really hurts the most. And when she starts crying while telling me she can't stand what's happening to her, it's not very long before I'm crying with her.
My dh also does not seem aware how serious his condition is and it doesn't really seem to bother him that much. In fact, he is contantly saying..."I'm really not that bad". I always tell him you could have something wrong with you where you would be in a lot of pain. And he says..."Yes". End of the statement, time and time again.
My DH is the same ...does not seem to be aware or want to know what's wrong with him. Jabbers on, I have no idea what he's saying most of the time. We look after son's house and feed his fish while son is overseas, everyday we drive over there to do this, but everyday DH asks where is son. I'm thankful that I did take Dh off his meds and he is much more calmer and easier to handle now..
My heart aches for you Vickie, and others whose LO's are aware of their fate. It has been some comfort to me that I am bearing the sadness of this for my DH.
Yes, I look back to even 1 year ago and there is a huge difference. Someone here posted that EOAD patients are hit earlier with aphasia; his ability to communicate has been severly impacted of late and of course, that, along with the other A's, take their toll. I am thankful, though, that at this point physically he is still fine and walking his feet off at the ALF. One of the nurses there (male) said he wants to lose weight and would try to follow Steve around for one day--but he couldn't do it!
My husband knows he has a "brain disease" but has no concept of what that means or how he will be affected. He's stil very physically healthy and takes great pride in that. He too has declined significantly since his hospitalization in late August.
Do you think it's best if they know or not know...Dh know there's something wrong with him, knows his memory is just so bad, yesterday he asked me if we had a toilet in this house, and where was it. Apart from this horrible AD thing he is physically healthy, but the brain is declining very rapidly...but still quite aware of his surroundings Today we have an appoinment with a day care centre to see if he could go there one day a week at least...oh, I am so hopeful that he will, it would lovely to have a day with out worrying about him, and would also take the pressure of my DD who drives down every week to be with him.
MarilynMD...I think your dh is the same age and same stage as my dh. I see you first started coming here in 2008 and that is when I first came here too. My dh was dx in 2007. I noticed you commented your dh is in a ALF...may I ask how long he has been there and what was the "turning" point that prompted you to place him?
Sorry my message to MarilynMD is OT, but don't know where to put it.
JudithKB--My DH was dx in 2005 with MCI. Placed him in an ALF in 08/11 because he had two geripsych unit stays this year for medication adjustment--one 2 weeks, one 5 weeks. After the 5-week stay, I realized that he needs to be under constant medical superivision. His neuro pushed me to do this, as it was too difficult to do medication adjustments at home. The neuro told me he considers him to be in the upper third of patients in terms of difficulty in controlling behaviors with meds. So I guess you would say the turning point was when the disease progressed to the stage where major med overhalls were required and it was too tricky to do at home.
Thanks for your reply...if just having the "normal" Alz isn't bad enough your dh has to have mediction problems. My dh has not had one problem with meds. and I am so glad. I think you made a very wise decision and have him some place where they know how to control his meds.
JudithKB--I want to make sure my explanation was clear. The problem is that his behaviors were no longer being controlled sufficiently with a "normal" regimen of, for example, just Seroquel, an anti-depressant and Namenda. We tried different dosages, different times of the day, etc. After his second geripsych stay, his neuro was able to put together a cocktail, which consists of 7--yes 7, meds for behaviors. The only other med he's on is for BP. So I think you're right, this isn't "normal" AD (strange to put those two words together)!