My husband is 64 and I am 56. My husband has been in a facility for 3 years. On one hand I feel very blessed he is still him in general and had out lived expectancy by 3 years. On the other hand I work full time, take care of our home and my daily care as best as possible and try to spend as much time with him as I can. I suffer from lupus so I don't always feel the best and worry about wearing myself down and letting him down. I miss us and the future together we were planning. I suffer from depression, guilt, loneliness.....
He retired 10 years ago & absolutely none of our retirement plans have ever come to fruition. I now have health issues which are direct results of stress as a long term caregiver.
Long story short: yes there are younger couples who are dealing with this frustrating, saddening, exhaustingly hopeless situation.
Some days I barely cope, other times things go well. I have friends dealing with this in their parents so they can empathize. I go to counseling weekly which is an absolute necessity. And I read posts on this site for all the great advice & information.
Sending you hugs & healing prayers! Take care of yourself!
You need to take care of yourself first so you don't end up in the hospital and not able to visit for several days or weeks. You have to be honest with yourself about where your limits really are, particularly when you have a chronic illness.
Online support is great, but, there may be some local groups in your area. I might check that. Also, is he in Memory Care facility? They may have a support group there as well.
I know that I have met a wonderful lady who is the adult daughter of another resident at my LO's Memory Care facility. She doesn't work an outside job and is free to go to the facility more frequently than I am, so, she spends time with all the residents, including my LO and chatting with her is really inspirational. We give each other support, though, I think she helps me much more than I do her. Her father visits her mom sometimes, but, as she progresses, it's just becoming too difficult for him to go visit her, which is understandable.
Do you know what your husband's diagnosis is?
(I'm sorry life hasn't turned out the way you'd planned, it sucks for both of you)