Hi Bruce,
Tell you what, lets not blame anyone or anything eh, and lets forget about it, I totally understand where you are coming from, and I'm sorry if I misunderstood.
I am sorry to hear that you have a young wife with AD,our situations are vastly different as my mother is now 94. Reflecting on what our postings were initially regarding - final stages- Can I ask, simply out of curiosity how you know that your wife is in the final stages of the disease, no one has ever informed me of my mothers stage, although I do not feel I actually need to be told, at 94 years of age and having been diagnosed for l6 years, as much as it greives me to say it,I know mother is in the final stages of the disease, and of her life. Obviously it must be a doctor or consultant that gives this information, or perhaps psychiatric nurse? Our GP dosent appear to have any clue whatsoever about alzheimer's disease, and the mental hospital that mother takes a weeks respite occasionally do not seem to give any indication as to the stage mother is at. Perhaps this is because we never ask. I do also have a sister of 69 who was diagnosed with the disease two years ago, her illness simply escalated out of all proportion so very quickly, and she became almost cabbagelike, almost immediately. Incredibly sad, I cannot see her surviving anything like the l6 years mum has survived, but in her condition neither would I wish her to. Mums situation was so different having two daughters to care for her 24/7, her quality of life was much improved through having us care for her in her own home and almost carrying out a normal life, when we went visiting, she visited with us. When we went shopping she shopped with us, when we went on picnics, mum came along too. Her grandchildren treat her absolutely normal because they have been brought up with great grandma being great grandma, and they think every family has one of these funny sort of grans that they adore and love to bits, even though there are times when she becomes incredibly cross, they have no fear. It has only been these past three or four months that mothers mobility has become such that it is not now quite so easy to enjoy the normality she has enjoyed for such a long time. My sister and I have to come to terms with it being wind down time now, and with great difficulty we are trying to prepare ourslves for the inevitable.
Regards,Edith.