I found this site the day my husband was diagnosed in November and have lurked here almost daily since. Just felt like it was time to introduce myself and say thank you for all I've learned so far - practical, inspiring, and terrifying by turns. While I'd give anything not to be here, I can't imagine a finer group of folks to be associated with.
Welcome Button....you will learn more then you can ever know at this minute. What age are you and your husband?? We are getting so many new members and that is good. And, as you have probably noticed we are getting more and more posters with the * behind their name and tha means that their spouse as died. My husband died August 28, 2012. There are also wonderful posts on here that help the widows and widowers to cope. We all cannot thank Joan enough for giving us this wonderful place to learn and teach.
Welcome, Button. So sorry you need to be here, but it's the best place to be for us! This is a rocky road we travel and we all need all the help we can get - and we get it here!
Welcome to you,Buttom- Sorry you are dealing with this terrible disease-just know that you can come here and say anything or ask anything. There is always someone to help you or to just LISTEN!
Hi Button I'm pretty new too. DH dx September. Found this website and have been on daily. It is such a source of information and support. It is so helpful when more of us choose to post. I am so happy when I find a new post to read.
Welcome Button and Lorrie. I was a lurker too for over a year before I signed in. Besides reading the current posts, I went back and read posts for prior years. I found all the information shared invaluable. Keep coming back, and just take things one day at a time. Good Luck!
Welcome to our mad little world....yep some days we are mad as hatters but there is always someone here who is grounded at that moment and can help with sage wise suggestions..best place to be when in the midst of this horror show that only gets worse over time.
Welcome Button and Lorrie. This site is better than any neurologist you will ever take your spouse to. Mimi exaggerates when she says some days we are mad as hatters. We are mad a hatters every day which is why we are still coping. I know personally if it wasn't for Joan's, stubborness, and a sense of humor - I would be hanging by my neck at the end of a rope somewhere. My Lloyd was dxd in January 2009 after about 5 years of thinking something was wrong. He is now 62 and I am 60. He is "end stages" according to the doctor.
I really do appreciate the welcome I've received from y'all - and I recognize so many of the names already. I agree with Linda Mc than Joan is a rock - not sure what I would've done 12 weeks ago without her blog - I went back and read it from the beginning. I'm 63, and Gus is 65. I've been retired for over a year, and he retired in September when it became clear that he just couldn't cope with the tech aspects of his job. I'd known something was wrong for at least two years - my first clue was that I started consistently beating him at gin, something that hadn't happened in over 40 years of marriage. In October, he had a neuropsych eval then a PET scan. We went from denial to diagnosis in 6 weeks - and I know from y'all that I should be grateful for that. He's on 10mg Aricept and tolerating it well. He has a good attitude, goes to willingly to his memory class, and agreed to take a driving assessment next month. I don't think he understands exactly how AD progresses, and I'm not going to tell him. Someone, and I'm sorry I don't know who, said on here, "I wish I'd been more patient in the early days" or something to that effect. I'm so grateful for that advice. Every day I work on patience with the questions, the repetitions, the need for direction. I know it'll get so much worse and so much harder and I need a lot of practice with patience and tolerance. This seems long, and I hope it's not TMI. To me it seems like a big and essential step to write this all down. Thanks for the opportunity.
Hi Button, & welcome. No your post isn't too long. Sometimes one of us has so much to say that we have to break it down into two posts. That is the beauty of being here, we can just tell it like it is. You will also learn here that there isn't much that is TMI. We talk about many subjects that would be TMI to anyone who isn't going through what we are. Pretty much anytime you have a question someone will have an answer or they will find previous discussions on the matter & as we say “bring it to the top” so you can read what was previously discussed.
Lorrie, welcome to you too. I hope both of you post often.
welcome Button. indeed patience and tolerance are at the top of list for all of us. its needed for every stage we find ourselves, whether newbies or veterans. hope to see you posting here again soon. divvi
Button - my only request for long post is break it up into paragraphs. I have a hard time reading long paragraphs as I am sure others do to. Doesn't matter if it seems the right place to make a new one or not (forget grammar lessons).