I won’t go in to my history about our first Neurologist visit....last January 2018...I finally found a neurologist I think I can trust...
Our appointment was about a month ago, the neurologist confirmed the original diagnosis that my wife had Alzheimers Dementia. He classified it as Advanced, on a scale of 1-5 she is a 3, on a scale of 1-7 she is a 4.
I had kept her diagnosis very private (immediate family).
I promised myself that upon confirmation of the first diagnosis I would tell a few close friends.
I started the process early last week...
For myself, the confirming diagnosis and proceeding to inform a few close friends... saying it out loud to a non family member really sent it home to me.
Reprocessing this all over again has made for a difficult week. Emotionally I have been all over the place.
So far it has already been difficult, but the process of watching her decline is more than I want to think about. Sometimes it just is overwhelming...oh, how I wish it were me...
She is 72....How long does she have?
Research states that the younger a person is when diagnosed the longer they live....statistically.
I am not asking a question....just saying...
Next educate yourself about her disease so you can plan ahead, Dementia effect people differently, but some things are common like short term memory loss and repetition, incontinence, uncontrollable emotional outburst, fear and confusion. As far as how long she has.... My Grandma would say, "if you can't find a exportation date stamped any where on her body then only God knows when their time is up". My Grandma lived 13 years and my mother is going on 10.
I know how scared you are right now and sick to your stomach. You are not alone and even if you don't have family there are all kinds of places to get help from. ASK FOR HELP. You will feel over whelmed and angry that this is happing. And its OK to feel that way.
You really need to get a plan in place not just for her, but for you too. Pick up that phone and start dialing.