nervous new member

daizee

Registered User
Mar 31, 2006
51
0
Broken Hill, Australia
Hello there,I'm a new member and also new to the computer and internet, so am a bit nervous about this whole thing. I keep thinking I'm going to push the wrong button and wreck everything but as I have been trying for about 6 hours to find and access a Alzheimers' carers chatline I'm not about to give up now, but if I disapear never to be seen again ..then I actually have pushed the wrong button and wrecked everything. My husband has severe Alzheimers' and I do'nt think that unless you have been in or seen what it's like, you might mean well , but can't really understand. So I have joined this group as I feel others here will identify with how I feel. Well I'll quit now while I'm ahead and just say thanks, already I don't feel so alone. Bye Daizee.
 
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Blue_Gremlin

Registered User
Mar 15, 2006
89
0
45
Morecambe, UK
Welcome

Hey daizee,

Welcome to our little community :) I was new here not so long ago so I know how you feel. If you ever need anything - advice, chat, or just a general moan, post it here and at least one person is bound to respond :)

Hope you find what you are looking for here.

Hugs

Blue_Gremlin
 

daughter

Registered User
Mar 16, 2005
824
0
Hi Daizee,
daizee said:
I have been trying for about 6 hours to find and access a Alzheimers' carers chatline
- and you have just joined probably the best Alzheimers' carers chatline in the world! Welcome, you will find many here in the same situation as yourself, so there will be lots who understand. Keep posting! Best wishes, H.
 

jakky

Registered User
Jan 30, 2006
147
0
Staffs
Hi Daizee,

just to say hello and welcome to TP

Ditto Daughter Quote:

"and you have just joined probably the best Alzheimers' carers chatline in the world!"

Absolutely....

TP has, and still is, helping dad, sis and me tremendously through mums severe times

keep posting as many of us do understand

jakky
 

Linda Mc

Registered User
Jul 3, 2005
1,879
0
Nr Mold
WELCOME!:)

I remember the feeling well computer novice and apprehension. Lots of new friends to be made here and more importantly good advice.

There are some other members in Australia too. Visit often and you will "meet" them.

Linda
 

Lynne

Registered User
Jun 3, 2005
3,433
0
Suffolk,England
Hi Daizee & welcome

Hope you find your way back to us (well, if you're reading this you obviously did! Stupid me)

Although the technology is scarey at first (it still scares me anyway) it has made the world a much smaller place, enabling people to access information, help & friendship from all over. I hope you find TP helpful (there are many brilliant i-Factsheets you can access by clicking the icon in the top left hand corner) and, more importantly, a cure for that isolated feeling. You may not realize it yet, but this just may be the biggest extended 'family' on earth.
 

dmc

Registered User
Mar 13, 2006
1,157
0
hi daizee:)
from one beginner to another -hello
im starting to get the hang of it now, ive even managed to upload a photo which in itself was amazing:confused:
i dont feel so alone with my problems now, and TP has really helped, knowing there's so much advice out there, given by people going through the same thing.
there's always somebody there with a kind word and encouragement to help you through.
ive put TP on my favourites list on my computer so i know i wont lose it!!
good luck
 

daizee

Registered User
Mar 31, 2006
51
0
Broken Hill, Australia
I'm 51 my husband's 53, and has severe A D

Now you know the reasons I joined this group, Iwould firstly like to say thanks to those who left messages and made me feel so welcome.For those of you who have never heard of Broken Hill, which is where I live, it's in the Australian outback. It's a small country town, and the only other A D suffers here are quite elderly which means that as my husband has early onset A D, I feel there is no one who can really relate to what I'm experiencing.Iknow the saddness of this terrible illness is great at any age but my husband and I have had too many years stolen from us and when I see other couples our age living full and happy lives,planning for retirement trips that are still so far off and I look at my poor husband who was once so strong and so handsome totally dependant in the severe stages of A D it rips my heart out. He was 47 when diognosed and 7 years later is as I mentioned totally dependant, incontinent, can shuffle a few steps but needs a wheelchair, can just barely talk ,but makes no real sense, can't clean or feed himself and drools, but I love him to death and though I know I can deal with it I just wish someone could tell me how to make sense of it all because it all seems such a terrible and cruel way to go.
 
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dmc

Registered User
Mar 13, 2006
1,157
0
hi again daizee
my mum is the one with the dementia and she's 65 and like you her and my dad were looking forward to their future now us kids have flown the nest, her dearest wish was to go back to australia were my dads sister lives in yunderup perth, WA she's been there once but it dosent look like she'll see it again,
it really is a terrible illness and its so heartbreaking to see your loved ones going through it.
my thoughts and wishes are with you.
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Hiya Daizee,
I just wish someone could tell me how to make sense of it all because it all seems such a terrible and cruel way to go.
There is no sense to be made of it , all we can do is love and support.
Pleased that you have found us; it does help being able to share the highs and lows on here,
Amy
 

Margarita

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

I just wish someone could tell me how to make sense of it all because it all seems such a terrible and cruel way to go.

I wonder that also & did not know what to say Thanks Amy when you said
There is no sense to be made of it , all we can do is love and support
 

nikita

Registered User
Jul 31, 2004
92
0
welcome to tp its so nice to hear from people all over the world with similar problems, i am in north east england. use tp whenever you need a chat or to let off steam.
 

barker

Registered User
Jan 22, 2006
26
0
77
Barker

Hi Daizee

Glad you found TP, especially as it must be physically impossible for you to attend any carers group.

I think it is the lost future that hurts so much when your loved one has dementia. We were looking forward to a wonderful life together after we had downsized our property, so that he could take early retirement, and enjoy a comfortable life. We only started living together in 1995 (we are both widowed) but for the last three years, since he was 59, he has been suffering dementia symptoms, which have been steadily been getting worse.

We are off to London this weekend for 5 days of tests by the 'creme-de-la-creme' of neurologists in the UK. Fingers crossed that this will throw up a definite diagnosis with the possibility of some respite medication, at last.

Your geography must exacerbate all the trials and tribulations that we all feel. I hope you keep with us and that it helps.

Do you have any family nearby to lighten the load? But of course as much as family and friends can try and help and understand, they can't possibly appreciate the magnitude of the situation 24/7.
 

maria29al

Registered User
Mar 15, 2006
426
0
63
Warwickshire
Welcome

Hi there,
I joined very recently too and am still finding my way around the site. However, I have received many messages of support from everyone here and it makes the load a little lighter when you know there is someone you can off load to from time to time. Its a wonderful site full of people experiencing the same stuff and we all need each other on a daily basis. Glad you managed to find us. There is always someone to listen if you need a chat.

Lots of hugs

Marion
 

DickG

Registered User
Feb 26, 2006
558
0
88
Stow-on-the-Wold
Hi Daizee

Welcome.

Mary was diagnosed at the age of 63, six years ago, which put paid to all our retirement plans. The hardest part as you say is "the stolen years", luckily I have adapted to the situation and am just thankful that we have had at least another six years together.

I am a natural optimist and believe that something positive is born out of every negative situation - with AD I'm still looking, can anyone help?

Keep in touch Daizee.

Hugs

Dick
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Positives to come from Alzheimers. or things I think I have learned.
  • Watching my father care for my mum at home, I learnt what it meant to love and the meaning of sacrifice.
  • My dad, brother and I have drawn together as we have made decisions together; we don't live in each others pockets but when the chips are down we are there for one another.
  • Learnt that it is no good to store up all the things that you want to do for the future, because that future may never happen.
  • Any opportunity that you have to celebrate, birthdays, anniversaries, the day of the week has a "y" in it, take it.
  • Tell people that you love that you love them, that you are proud of them, so that if you become ill they will never doubt what you felt for
    them.
  • Appreciate the small things in life; an unbroken night, a smile, using the toilet, the satisfaction of a successful bath or shower
[
  • A sensitivity in my children towards people with disabilities.
    Amy
 

Norman

Registered User
Oct 9, 2003
4,348
0
Birmingham Hades
Amy
these are things I wish I could do,apart from getting our lives back.

Read a newspaper without interuption.
Read a book ditto
Watch TV Ditto
Go to the loo ditto
Have meals cooked for me (I do get one a week)
Have a cup of tea/coffee made for me.
Norman
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Oh Norman,
How I wish that I could come and make you a cup of tea, cook you a meal, and take Peg out for a walk so that you could sit and read the paper. (If you're like the males in my household sitting on the loo and reading the paper/ a book go together!)
With love,
Amy
 

Amy

Registered User
Jan 4, 2006
3,454
0
Norman, I posted the positives in response to Dick's comments; I'm not trying to be a smart **** - I would much rather have had my mother well, and learnt the positives in some other way.
Amy
 

daughter

Registered User
Mar 16, 2005
824
0
Amy -
Amy said:
I would much rather have had my mother well, and learnt the positives in some other way.
- of course you would, the lessons certainly came at a high price.

Norman, ditto Amy's message #18, I suppose I could always make a fresh virtual brew, do you take sugar?