My husband was diagnosed with alzheimers just over a year ago and one of the first changes was that he didn't always recognise me as his wife of 42 years.
Over the last year this has got progressively more common until now he doesn't recognise me most of the time and gets anxious when shown photos of me with him, denying ever have known me.
At the beginning of the year we still shared our bedroom but as he started to become more aggitated and confused when we went to bed, I decided to sleep in the spare room which I have done for the last 6 months.
I have never told him I am his carer, and he seems to believe he lives in a house with other women, some young, some older, who come in from time to time, despite the fact that I am his sole carer.
It has been suggested that to me by a close relative of his that because I act like his carer, he thinks I am and even if he did think I was his wife, I reinforce that I'm not by "pretending" to be his carer.
This has really upset me and I'm now worried that I may be the reason why he doesn't recognise me any more when he recognises everyone else. Should I try to convince him that I am his wife, even though when I have tried in the past he has got very upset and defensive?
I have always "looked after" (we never had children) so am only doing what I have done all our married life. I don't think I'm pretending anything, I'm just trying to do what is best for him in difficult circumstances but is it the right thing to do?
Has anyone else been in a similar situation, where you are the only one that your wife/husband has erased from their memory?
Over the last year this has got progressively more common until now he doesn't recognise me most of the time and gets anxious when shown photos of me with him, denying ever have known me.
At the beginning of the year we still shared our bedroom but as he started to become more aggitated and confused when we went to bed, I decided to sleep in the spare room which I have done for the last 6 months.
I have never told him I am his carer, and he seems to believe he lives in a house with other women, some young, some older, who come in from time to time, despite the fact that I am his sole carer.
It has been suggested that to me by a close relative of his that because I act like his carer, he thinks I am and even if he did think I was his wife, I reinforce that I'm not by "pretending" to be his carer.
This has really upset me and I'm now worried that I may be the reason why he doesn't recognise me any more when he recognises everyone else. Should I try to convince him that I am his wife, even though when I have tried in the past he has got very upset and defensive?
I have always "looked after" (we never had children) so am only doing what I have done all our married life. I don't think I'm pretending anything, I'm just trying to do what is best for him in difficult circumstances but is it the right thing to do?
Has anyone else been in a similar situation, where you are the only one that your wife/husband has erased from their memory?