My 63-yr old DH started day care a few days a week, with someone in the house with him on other weekdays. Halloween is actually the 5th anniversary of our discovery of his illness. He is having another very severe drop in abilities. For ex., he was trying to help me with chores yesterday and took a wood saw out of the garage to cut grass. He stood there looking at the grass with the saw in his hands, knowing something was wrong. I still try to find jobs for him to keep him busy (pick up sticks in yard, empty a garbage can, water a plant, etc.) but his ability to perform even simple tasks is impaired.

DH made coffee every day for the last 25 years, but as of last month is no longer able to make coffee or use the microwave. I guess I'm lucky since he still appears to know that he has AD. Once he can't figure something out anymore, he stops trying to do it. He doesn't try to use any appliances or to make meals for himself. He is not argumentative or violent. If anything, he is timid and anxious not to "make any trouble" which is a lot different from the Type A professional he once was.

He is losing the ability to connect words with concepts. For ex., this morning I gave him a wet sponge and asked him to wipe a tablecloth, pointing to the table. He then very busily took the tablecloth off the table and put it on the floor. He calls me "Mom," but still refers to the kids by name. Our 15-yr old is really good with him, which is a big help. DH still takes care of his own personal care, although we help select his clothes and make sure that he brushes his teeth and shaves (with an electric razor). We remind him to use the bathroom. He still takes the little dog we got him when he was diagnosed out into the yard. The dog whines and he gets up and takes him out...they communicate better than we do!

His balance is starting to be affected. When he is in the car, he hangs onto the passenger strap for dear life! He has a huge sweet tooth although he was never crazy about sweets before. He can eat a gallon of ice cream and boxes of snack cakes a day, but still is slowly losing weight despite having good general health.

I don't know if this info might help anyone. When he was first diagnosed, I was desperate to know what the future might hold. It gets harder and harder (day care isn't in the budget, so I have anxiety attacks in the middle of the night). Just when you figure out how to handle a stage, there's another drop off. I know that I'll look back on my 50s as being the worst time of my life, that's for sure.

Hi Beginning ..

What a well said entry ...

I have noticed in the nursing home some of my more 'with it' residents have deteriorated too .. things they could do easily 18 months ago is now impossible. Sad too. We assume they 'can do' until they 'can't do'.

I heard too that the Mini Mental exam they are given is a score of 30. I noted that on 'average' AD/Dementia lost 3 points per year as they deteriorate until ... well, death occurs.

So, putting that theory to practice, I checked one of my residents. Her original mini mental exam result was 17/30 (thats moderately impaired I think), on that basis, she's got about 6 years left (just an example) so I checked another and her 'admission' score was 12/30, that meant she had another 4 years to go.

So in that vein, do you have your hubby's MMSE results? What was his score? That might help you anticipate his next 'step down's as well.

I take my hat off to you however, your a strong loving woman and I am so proud of you.

Hugs & Cheers

Thank you Angel Bear (sniff sniff). His score dropped dramatically last year, from a 16 to a 10 in one year. At that point, he was still home alone during the day. I honestly hadn't realized how much he had deteriorated until we got his test results. When I worked all day and then came home after 12 hours, not a lot appeared to have changed...He'd be sitting in front of the tv, I'd ask how his day went, he said fine and then we went to sleep... We got through Spring and Summer with the kids helping a lot more. Our 15-yr old spent the summer with him and the two older kids helped more too. We knew that his days alone were ended. We were told that his drop was greater than usual but not unheard of, especially in early onset cases. (They also said that it was a little unusual that he still knew he was ill and appeared to be functioning at a higher level with such poor test scores.)

I'm sure that we're going to see another drop this February when we go back for his annual testing. The NH/Death calculator suggested that we have another 3 to 4 years based on his last scores. This is consistent with the info in your posting. And at that rate, he'd be in a NH before the 15 yr old graduates from high school.