Helping my farther

jackiewatmore

Registered User
May 15, 2008
2
0
Farnham
Hi i am new to all this and i am helping to care for my farther who is only 61 and has a form of dementia and i am looking for people to talk to who are going through the same thing or have been through it their selfs.
 

Grannie G

Volunteer Moderator
Apr 3, 2006
81,452
0
Kent
Hello Jackie. :)

Your father is very young to have dementia. It must be very hard for you.

Please let us know a little bit more about yourself and your father, it will help us understand.

Love xx.
 

Squibbs

Registered User
May 13, 2008
70
0
Portsmouth, England
Hello! I'm new here too and although my father is older than yours - he's 86 - I'm still trying to find my way through this new situation. My father is waiting for a hospital referral at the moment and is telling everyone that he is going to have a hole drilled in his head and 'things' taken out to make room for other 'things' to be put back in - I'm guessing he means memories - be nice if it were that simple !! Hope we can be of help to each other - best wishes Sue
 

CraigC

Registered User
Mar 21, 2003
6,633
0
London
Hi Jackie and welcome,

there are a lot of us here in the same boat so hope you can find some support and comfort here. Please fire away with any questions or anything we may be able to help you with.

Make sure you look after yourself and again welcome
Kind Regards
Craig
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
Hi Jackie

I would also like to Welcome you to TP , also am sorry to read that your father has a dementia at a such a young age of 61. Must of been a shock to your father & your family to be told he has dementia at the age of 61 .

How are you all coping ?
 

jc141265

Registered User
Sep 16, 2005
836
0
49
Australia
A bit of an intro to ATP

Hi Jackie,

My father is almost 64 and he's had dementia for the past 11 yrs. When dementia happens at a young age it is called early onset dementia..but I'm guessing that you probably already know that.
The term "younger onset dementia" is usually used to describe any form of dementia diagnosed in people under the age of 65.
Anyways you haven't said how old you are is, but I'm guessing that if Dad is 61 then you are likely to be quite young yourself too, either way you may find the Younger people with Dementia section helpful too. http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint/discuss/forumdisplay.php?f=27
There is a very long thread there called 'Anyone in their 30s dealing with a parent who has been diagnosed with AD?' (http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint/discuss/showthread.php?t=8117 )and it might be a useful starting point to see the experiences of others. Some of these threads refer to AD (Alzheimers Disease) but most of us post no matter what time of dementia it is, as we seem to go through similar experiences nonetheless, although nearly everyone's experience is unique in its own way.
If you are looking for answers or help, then I advise asking a specific question, i.e. My father is angry all of the time, what can I do?, I need help how do I access government aid? Often we don't have all the answers for the behavioural questions as this is a very hard disease to deal with, but we can empathise and suggest how we got through similar situations.
Other times you may just want to vent, and that is perfectly normal on here. This disease causes a lot of conflicting feelings, of sadness, anger, guilt, loss, confusion, you might be frustrated with the lack of help available, worried about how your other family members are coping (especially your other parent if they are still in the picture), you might be upset about how other people react or don't understand, you might be feeling guilty about your own feelings and behaviours because sometimes its just so hard to do what you think is the right thing. Sometimes instead of bottling it up, it helps to put your feelings in a post and then often before you know it others post in reply and you realise you are not alone in this and that is a tremendous relief.
Anyways I hope this post helps you to be able to get more of the support you are looking for. I will post a copy of it on your other thread too, in case you are having troubles finding our responses.
Good luck and hopefully this site will hope marvellously, it did me.
Regards,