Guest guest Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 My husband is the same age as yours and was diagnosed late in the fall of '02. He has been on Aricept for most of this time. Yes, I am also taking care of him at home but have just reached the decision that it would be good for both of us if I can locate a good day care facility and had someone come in for 4 hours one time a week. I am losing my perspective and ability to cope properly at times. The other reason to have someone come in now is that if they see him as he is on better days they may gain more of an idea of who they are working with as things go downhill. They will, perhaps, understand us better. I also have some physical problems that I tend to ignore as much as possible to care for him. There are days like today that I found it easier to allow him to sleep all day rather than to deal with the daily problems. This is definitely not as good as I would like for someone to whom I have been married for 50 plus years. My children, three at least live quite far away and yet they are very supportive. They have had him at their houses for a few days to a week so I can do some of the things that keep me sane.-Our daughter lives in the area so I can talk with her when the going gets rough. He was a a practicing physician until about five years ago so he understands a great deal about the disease-...and the prognosis. He has the added problem of Diabetes and very poor eyesight so he can no longer read. There is really nothing to make him desire to get up in the morning. I would love to offer hope for an easy time but it does seem to get worse with occasional glimpses of who he was. I have found that a change of scenery used to help. Also exposure to different people seems to be a stimulus. It does get less and less of a help I have found. Sorry you will be going through this with us but this group has been very helpful. Even if you do not write your problems out listening to others makes one feel far less lonely. Simmel Original Message ----- From: majorebony3000 To: LBDcaregivers Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 6:45 PM Subject: husband My husband is 74 and was diagnosed last spring of LB. I have been reading your letters for some time but haven`t written before. My husband is on Seroquel 100mg every night. We have been putting our legal things together as they should be while he is able to help. A question I have is will I probably have to put him in a nursing home or will I be able to care for him at home as I wish to do? I have many physical problems also which will prevent me from doing very much physical care. I have 4 grown children who help a lot. He is on the Seroquel for the hallucinations. Welcome to LBDcaregivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 My husband is the same age as yours and was diagnosed late in the fall of '02. He has been on Aricept for most of this time. Yes, I am also taking care of him at home but have just reached the decision that it would be good for both of us if I can locate a good day care facility and had someone come in for 4 hours one time a week. I am losing my perspective and ability to cope properly at times. The other reason to have someone come in now is that if they see him as he is on better days they may gain more of an idea of who they are working with as things go downhill. They will, perhaps, understand us better. I also have some physical problems that I tend to ignore as much as possible to care for him. There are days like today that I found it easier to allow him to sleep all day rather than to deal with the daily problems. This is definitely not as good as I would like for someone to whom I have been married for 50 plus years. My children, three at least live quite far away and yet they are very supportive. They have had him at their houses for a few days to a week so I can do some of the things that keep me sane.-Our daughter lives in the area so I can talk with her when the going gets rough. He was a a practicing physician until about five years ago so he understands a great deal about the disease-...and the prognosis. He has the added problem of Diabetes and very poor eyesight so he can no longer read. There is really nothing to make him desire to get up in the morning. I would love to offer hope for an easy time but it does seem to get worse with occasional glimpses of who he was. I have found that a change of scenery used to help. Also exposure to different people seems to be a stimulus. It does get less and less of a help I have found. Sorry you will be going through this with us but this group has been very helpful. Even if you do not write your problems out listening to others makes one feel far less lonely. Simmel Original Message ----- From: majorebony3000 To: LBDcaregivers Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 6:45 PM Subject: husband My husband is 74 and was diagnosed last spring of LB. I have been reading your letters for some time but haven`t written before. My husband is on Seroquel 100mg every night. We have been putting our legal things together as they should be while he is able to help. A question I have is will I probably have to put him in a nursing home or will I be able to care for him at home as I wish to do? I have many physical problems also which will prevent me from doing very much physical care. I have 4 grown children who help a lot. He is on the Seroquel for the hallucinations. Welcome to LBDcaregivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 Hi, and welcome to our group. I am glad you found us, but so sorry about the circumstances that led you here. My father is 75 so he and your husband are about the same age. My dad was diagnosed with LBD almost 4 years ago. We still care for him at home. It is a tremendous amount of work, but it can be done. He needs assistance with everything. I am his primary caregiver, but my mom is also there to help out alot. The choice to keep a LO at home or place in a nursing home is certainly a personal decision. If your children are willing to help, it would be very possible to keep him at home. I know my mother could not care for my father by herself. She works part time to keep her sanity somewhat and I own a business so we adjust our schedules depending on each other. I am fortunate that I have flexibility with my work schedule. My father has been resistant to outside caregivers, but I have found one person he likes that comes one afternoon a week. I guess the key to keeping them at home is having enough help and being able to cope with the stresses and physical demands, and not drive yourself crazy. So much of that is dependent on the specific patient and their physical needs. I am so glad you decided to post. Please let us know how things are going when you have time. It already sounds like you have wonderful children! Hugs, Piper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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