advice on moving house please

[NicPam]

My wife has just been diagnosed with AD 2 months ago. We had been thinking about moving house before this happened & now I'm not sure if it is wise to continue in case the new surroundings would be too much for her to cope with. We were going to move to a new location. However, we will need to move house sometime ( the garden is just too much to cope with) but maybe we should stay in the same location.
Any body have any views or experiences of this situation.

[Butter]

I remember a thread about this not long ago. The general view seemed to be that moving creates more problems than it solves unless there is, for some reason, no alternative.
My first thought, given what you say, is that even the most expensive gardener in the uk would probably cost less than moving.
My husband and I went to look at somewhere local recently that could be easier to manage physically. My husband just wanted to come home as fast as possible.

[hollycat]

Lovely point that Butter makes regarding paying a gardener and in these hard times am sure someone would really appreciate a few hours.

My hubby and I sold up and moved in with my mum to care for her. We could have moved mum in with us but chose not to do it that way to maintain as much normality for mum, thereby hopefully minimising her confusion.

[PollyP.]

almost 4 years ago we brought my Mum down from Manchester to live with us. This was just after Dad died. She had lived in Manchester all of her life (92yrs) and they had been together almost 70 years.

I didn't have an option about the move for Mum, she couldn't look after herself, and I didn't want her to go into a home. It was another year after the move that she was diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Most days she is very homesick for Manchester and the familiar things, and of course cannot reason that it wouldn't be the same back in manchester without Dad and her best friend (who died shortly after Dad). It is so sad to see her in this state and I often wish that we could have stayed in her own territory, but that would have been impossible for us.

I do think that familiar surroundings are beneficial if at all possible.

Pauline

[cragmaid]

Hi. I don't know how far your wife has progressed in her illness, but if you really intend moving, my instinct would be to set it in motion now, because you may have a good while before the harder stages set in and you can get settled in as best you can. By staying in the same area, however, if your wife is at the sundowning stage or wandering, you might have difficulties with her returning to her old home instead of the new one.
Either way, I wish you good luck. Maureen.

[NicPam]

Hi. I don't know how far your wife has progressed in her illness, but if you really intend moving, my instinct would be to set it in motion now, because you may have a good while before the harder stages set in and you can get settled in as best you can. By staying in the same area, however, if your wife is at the sundowning stage or wandering, you might have difficulties with her returning to her old home instead of the new one.
Either way, I wish you good luck. Maureen.

Sorry I'm new to all this. What does Sundowning mean ?

[Butter]

Somebody may know an better fact sheet than this.

Sundowning (dementia)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


In medicine, sundowning, also known as sundown syndrome, is a syndrome involving the occurrence or increase of one or more abnormal behaviors in a circadian rhythm.[1] Sundowning typically occurs during the late afternoon, evening, and night, hence the name. It occurs in persons with certain forms of dementia and psychosis, such as seen in Alzheimer's disease. Although not widely surveyed, sundowning has been estimated to occur in 45% of persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[2]

A person who is sundowning may exhibit mood swings, become abnormally demanding, suspicious, upset or disoriented, and see or hear things that are not there in the late afternoon and evening. After wandering, sundowning is the second most common type of disruptive behavior in institutionalized persons with dementia.[3] Sundowning often co-occurs with wandering, and the combination of these two syndromes is an important contributing factor to an emergency situation: elopement at night.

The cause of sundowning is unknown, but may be related to disturbed circadian rhythm.[1] Contributing factors may include medications that can cause agitation or confusion,[4] and sleep disorders.[citation needed]
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[Jenijill]

We moved house 6 months ago, John has VD + AD diagnosed 2 years ago. We were lucky in that I inherited my Dad's bungalow 8 miles away. We were originally going to let it out, but thought it would be much more convenient for us (me!) to managed our lives there - bungalow for a start, much smaller garden, and all on the flat (our old house was on a side of a hill, so steps/slope to front door, steps up the back garden). I asked the District Nurse and she said sooner rather than later.

Although John knew the bungalow he still needed signs on the doors, but all in all it's been a really successful move. He loves it here, much quieter with lovely views of fields and although he's been in the other house for many years, walked away from it without looking back.

So I would say, if the disease hasn't progressed too far, do it, especially if the new place would be easier to manage.

[NicPam]

Jenijill
Thanks for that. As my wife is in the early stages of AD I may well take your advice on this.