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mlface Asked July 2018

Is there anyone out there whose spouse has had Alzheimer's for at least 11 years or more? Wondering how long it can last?

  He sleeps a lot. He is awake 6 to 9 hrs & usually quite happy. He is not incontenent, eats everything, does 100 pc puzzles & dot to dot. Can't remember from 1 minute. Thanks me a lot. Asks me what my name is. Doesn't recognize our kids but they tell him or wear a name tag. He walks slower but gets tired. I keep getting info of affordable memory care places in case it gets to that. He has nothing else wrong that we know of. Just wondered how many with 11 yrs are out there & how they are doing. My spouse is 87.

wally003 Jul 2018
oh just wanted to add about my mom.
she started having memory issues around 2010. no ALZ dx til 2018

she is almost 89. her memory is about 1 minute, sometimes a few seconds.

she still feeds herself, dresses and bathes. but I noticed lately she doesn't wash her hair.
she needs help finding things like her glasses.  cant remember where she puts stuff. has problems with making up stories, and cant reason.
shes in assisted living since 2011 after breaking her hip.

she is on low dose anti depressant for anxiety(?) related to obsessing about multiply things.

she has other medical problems, osteoporosis, cholesterol,  skin cancer on nose

so, so far id say shes been declining for about 8 years. she could be like this for awhile, so no body knows.

wally003 Jul 2018
I don't know when my dad got diagnosed - I remember my mom telling me he started Namenda(?) but I don't think they knew what to expect as the years started going by. and neither did I.I think he gave up driving around 2009 because DMV knew about the dx. but I think he was dx'd sooner that 2009 -  but when it was time to re-new, he couldn't re-new.

he was born in 1922 and passed 2015 so he was 93. he was in BAD  shape for about a year. he probably started a real decline from 2005 - 2015.

this is just an approx. - but im thinking about 10 years. the 1st few years not so bad. but getting read bad about 2014.

he had other issues too. prostate cancer. thyroid issues. bad knees. took low dose aspirin and thyroid, plus high cholesterol meds(?)

towards the end he was on low dose anti psychotic.

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gladimhere Jul 2018
My mom was diagnosed about 12 years before she finally passed. Her last two years were in facilities, prior to that I was 24/7 caregiver in her home for four years. Before that last six years, her hubby cared for her.

Look into care homes. Much smaller and homier environment. In my mom's case she was moved to one after a year and a half in a large facility. It was a couple of thousand less than memory care.

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