Sorry..........tried to post in the Sticky for introductions (Alas Computers never do what I want...Unless I am turning it on or off) Happy to have found this forum I hope to participate as best I can with my limited knowledge. I am 68 yrs old and my wife of 44yrs has been taken by this dreadful disease. Peter. South Western Ontario Canada.
I'm sorry for the reason you have found this site. They are great. It's not a happy situation for you to have to join us but now maybe you you can get some help and support. My loved one was diagnosed with three dementia. He has been in LTC for 3 1/2 years and it is now 17 years on this walk with him. He can be a sweetheart or a demon depending on the hour or day. We live in Eastern Ontario. My suggestion to you is to get educated. Make sure you have a good relationship with her doctor and that they will support you as well as care for her. Go to your nearest Alzheimer's Society and get into a support group. We have some here were you go into a group for the partners while your dementia partner go into a group with others in the same situation. Contact South West lhin, it used to be CCAC. Find out as much as you can from them as to Day Care and home care. Find respite beds available at many LTC homes. As I said educate,educate. Try to read as much of the threads you can on here. Ask Wolf for her getting into these areas.
I had said good bye here but your posting hit me so there I am again.
Welcome Peter J. So very sorry you are having to find this site, but I am glad you did. This is a very supportive community. We are all at different stages of this dreadful disease. And you will find help here, as Jazzy says, by posting issues and questions as well as by searching the different threads that have been written through the years.
Hi Peter, Welcome. So sorry your wife has been stricken with this disease. I hope you find some practical help and moral support on this site. We are all here both for ourselves and each other.
Thanks to all for the welcome, I,m doing fine now and have accepted these life changes, but the first 6 months I was just a bit lost. My wife is 65 and has now been in a full time care home for 17 months. She had no problems settling into the daily routine there and from what I see she seems quite content. I get smiles and hugs when I visit her every 2-3 days. Conversation is a problem for her, but there are other ways of communicating. Like holding hands, brushing her hair or singing a song or two for her with my Uke. She also enjoys looking at our old pictures that I have stored on a tablet. She has become very tactile, spends her time with her various toy stuffed animals, hugging and whispering to them. She eats well and can also walk with assistance. Of course I know that this can change at anytime. As for me well I spend my time working on the honey do list that we made after downsizing and moving to a small house in a rural area in 2014. I also get out and about with an easy part time job delivering flowers. Music has come back into my life, I play guitar and my little Uke . (I Have joined a local meetup group that meets each week to sing and play our Ukeleles) and its a lot of fun and probably very therapeutic for me. I would like to try my hand a playing a violin some day. Of course I think about this unwanted situation every day, but I try not to dwell on it. My wife would not want that. Being alone has been a challenge for me in many areas of daily life, but I am managing ok. (the cats are not complaining....so that's a good thing right? LOL)
My strongest support has been from my wife's cousin who is the same age and has also lost her husband a few years ago. She lives in the Netherlands. We chat online weekly and by talking we have both become strong and proud of how we are handling our changed lives. Ok time for me to get out in the yard to cut the grass and tend my wife's flowers. Later...... Peter.
Welcome Peter, hope that you will be able to find support and information here, that will make your life easier. There are some good people on these boards.