Hi Norman, up to recently I was working full time, and it was sometimes hard to concentrate when I knew Jen was having a bad day at home on her own. We were referred by our local Alzheimers society branch to the Early Onset Dementia team in the Herts area & had a couple of visits from their people at home, with a view to arranging a once a week visit, when the EOD person takes Jen out for 4 hours on a Friday. They also have a weekly meeting with EOD patients, but Jen didn't like that, so we only did it the once. However, the weekly outings are good & Jen does not mind taking part in this. Maybe there is something similiar available to you? Then you could go out while your wife is out with the EOD person?
Jen also takes Seroxat 30mg for depression, in fact this was 3 years ago when she started this. Maybe your wife would benefit from this type of treatment also? Jen knows enough about Alzheimers to get depressed from time to time, but I suppose its a benefit she does understand enough about what's going on.
I've just taken a redundancy package from work (we're both 56) & I'm now filling in all the forms - Disability Allowance, Carers Allowance, Mortgage Protection policy & so on & on. Hopefully, I'll be able to get enough income to not worry about working for at least 2 years, but I have to see if this is going to work out.
While I was working I did set up a webcam at home so I could log in to it at work to see if Jen was OK in the kitchen - that's where the cooker is! Jen always had my mobile number & I always left it turned on at work, irrespective of what meeting I was in, or who I was with. Question of priorities I guess.
We do the weekly shopping together & now of course I'm at home so I'm probably getting under her feet, although Jen still does the washing, ironing & cleaning, but we take turns to cook the evening meal, we keep it fairly simple when its Jen's turn, & I don't comment if she forgets to do any potatoes for example.
Jen has 1 good friend who comes round each week, & they go out together shopping or whatever. Again, I can combine these outings with stuff I have to do.
The one thing for sure is no-one can tell you how long any stage is going to last. Sounds like your wife is doing well if she is still OK for Aricept after 6 years.
Hope this helps, best wishes to you