Dementia Support Group

Hello, welcome & hang in there. It is wonderful to read everyone's posts. So good to know that we are not alone even when we feel most alone.
I hope to make it to a support group soon. I found some locally on the alz.org site when I did a search on there site for support groups.
On Daily strength, we can get support any time of the day or night!

my mom was that way for about 5 to 6 years then she had a illness that required her to be in the hospital for 17 days she was never the same after that her dementia progressed quickly and we lost her on the 23 of Nov 07 thankfully she was only really bad from Oct 17 till her passing. my thoughts and prayers are with you. i'm here if you would like to vent.

My husband is actually at an earlier stage than your mother is. He still drives, but except for very local trips usually needs help navigating to places that are outside our local neighborhood. Sometimes, as happened yesterday, we get about half way someplace and he remembers the rest of the way. And he seems to be able to get home from just about any place we go with no help from me.

But he does have word finding problems, and has begun to pace around more than normal, and has a lot of short term memory loss problems including repeatedly needing to have the same question answered even though I've just answered it.

Do feel free to vent. We all need to vent. My description of my husband's condition was mainly so you would know that there are some of us here working through the early stages of the disease. And we understand just how scary this whole journey we are sharing is.

You said everything that i wanted to type. My MIL is also in the early stages of dementia. WE are hanging in there but it is so dang hard.

My husband is in the early stages of dementia. I am trying to enjoy everyday and every minute with him. I will be starting a support group at my church since there are two new couples who the husband has dementia. I want a support group that encourages each other on what we have, not what we do not have. I am not saying we will not acknowledge the difficulites but we will look at what we have. I do not want a cry in your beer type of support group but instead a we will celebrate that we made it through this day support group. I think that when we think the postitve we will come out better than jsut looking at the negative. I am very new in dealing with this disease yet I keep hearing God say enjoy the moments and cherish the time and your responsibilities will be lighter. I know that when I practice postive thinking my work seems so much lighter and I feel happier and my husband responds instead of reacts. Just my two cents. I will be praying.

Angel, I found myself nodding yes, yes when I read your post. I also am trying to enjoy the good things that we still have while I can. It isn't easy to do, but I think that when I look back to this time, I'll be glad for every good memory that I will have.

You are right. The only memories I want to remember are the good ones. My approach will be to find the good memeories everyday since there are so many negative thigns that happen. I read in an ALZ brochure to look at your spouse in the eyes when you communicate. I have found that when I look into his eyes I remember him with good thoughts. Just my observation. I think that we need a Celebration post everyday here so that we can celebrate with each other what has happened in our day. then we will begin to look more for the postives things and began to enjoy our spouses and our time with them. I am excited that we have hit upon a great idea. HUgs & blessings

Thank you for your replies. It is good to know there is understanding and support and that I am not alone.

I pray for peace in all your lives.

RanK

I very much understand what you're saying here. My Dad recently lost his license for medical reasons, and unfortunately I don't drive. Still, I commute back and forth to his place by bus, trying to take him home-cooked food and whatever else he may need. The doctor would like to see him give up him home and go to a retirement home, but he's just not ready for that. It's just so difficult to watch a man who was vibrant up until about a year ago decline as rapidly as he has. As ImAStar pointed out, I also find myself repeating the same things over and over.

My 79yr old father-in-law has dementia. He is still able to live on his own at this time, but we all take turns each day checking on him, making him dinner, making sure he takes his meds, etc. A saving grace for us has been the senior center in our town. He goes there in the morning until mid-afternoon. He gets some socialization and it keeps him active. Perhaps there are some programs in your area.