Hi Pam, May I introduce myself . I am 51 and my husband is 53 and has early onset AD. He was diognosed at around 1999----2000 and is now very advanced. We live in a small town in Australia and he is the only early onset AD sufferer here, which made it very difficult ,or should I say impossible for me to talk to someone with first hand experience of caring for a partner with this illness.I had truck loads of written material given to me about AD but it seemed mainly to relate to older people with a small section on early onset which seemed basically to say that ' it was possible!'. I found the first few years really difficult. It seemed as if I was never given a straight answer to any of my questions, always the same reply,' We can't really tell you exactly what is going to happen as every case is different' and I know this is true, but it just made me feel lost and confused. If I remained positive , I was in denial, if I fell to pieces everyone around me fell too. We have 5 children who at the time were 30,28,20,18 and 16 all at important stages of their lives so I had them to think about, this was their Dad and he was a strong role model in their lives, he was there for help, advice and the odd hand out, as well as love, and explaining to them was awful. I did most of my crying in the shower or somewhere out of sight, and learnt that a bottle of eye drops and make up for my red nose helped heaps. Because of the uncertainty of the diognoses, and my husbands level of confusion at that time, explaining to him what was happening was a real problem so I eventually told him that he just had a few brian problems that were caused by the chemicals he had worked with as a spray painter, and that he would just have to take an early retirement. If I mentioned the word 'Alzheimers', he would just get angry and confused as if I didn't know what I was talking about. This meant that I had to keep fairly cheery around him. But as things got worse he hit some really low spots and so did I, but I won't go into these now.To cut a long story short, Pam these last few years have been difficult physically, emotionally, and financially. The strain on the family has also caused it's problems. But for me as a woman and a wife it has been a lonely personal journey , scared of today and scared of the future, this AD support group has been the only place I have been able to talk to anyone who I thought would really understand, even if it is on the other side of the world .People I know here in town would listen to me sympathetically and mean well, they couldn't truely understand what I was feeling I know it sounds harsh but it's as if they just felt sorry for me and were so grateful it wasn't them. Anyway I've survived and I want you to know that if there is anything you ever want to ask or talk about please feel free , and I will answer as openly and honestly as I can about what I have felt or experience in my situation as this is what I truley missed and desperately needed...............................Cheers Daizee