Hello All,
It's hard to believe that it's been just over three years since I last posted. Looking back at my first post I'd say the only thing that hasn't changed about my husband is his drinking. Although he can still lead a fairly independent life I have now taken over all bill paying and decision making. Where he used to read at least two books a week he now only reads the newspaper. He rarely knows what day of the week it is let alone the month and does not seem to have any concept of time. He has become very much a loner and on the rare occasion that we are in company I can see a glazed expression appear on his face as he struggles to follow the conversation. I would also describe him as emotionless.
After a disastrous overseas holiday Christmas 2014 i went to see our GP about him. She was very understanding and initiated some blood tests for an excuse to get him into the surgery to see her. The blood test showed he had a massive overload of iron (nothing to do with his memory problems) and so everything was put on hold until they got his iron levels under control. In December he caught an infection or virus and spent a week unwashed, in the same clothes and seated in a chair with his head under a blanket. At my wits end I dragged him to the doctor's. She gave him a small memory test which, low and behold, he just scrapped through but because of all the symptoms I had told her about and the amount he smokes and drinks she suspects he has vascular dementia. He now has an appointment at the Memory Clinic on February 18th. You can not imagine the sense of relief I feel that something is finally being done. I will keep this forum up to date on the outcome of this in the hope that it helps someone else going through this.
It's hard to believe that it's been just over three years since I last posted. Looking back at my first post I'd say the only thing that hasn't changed about my husband is his drinking. Although he can still lead a fairly independent life I have now taken over all bill paying and decision making. Where he used to read at least two books a week he now only reads the newspaper. He rarely knows what day of the week it is let alone the month and does not seem to have any concept of time. He has become very much a loner and on the rare occasion that we are in company I can see a glazed expression appear on his face as he struggles to follow the conversation. I would also describe him as emotionless.
After a disastrous overseas holiday Christmas 2014 i went to see our GP about him. She was very understanding and initiated some blood tests for an excuse to get him into the surgery to see her. The blood test showed he had a massive overload of iron (nothing to do with his memory problems) and so everything was put on hold until they got his iron levels under control. In December he caught an infection or virus and spent a week unwashed, in the same clothes and seated in a chair with his head under a blanket. At my wits end I dragged him to the doctor's. She gave him a small memory test which, low and behold, he just scrapped through but because of all the symptoms I had told her about and the amount he smokes and drinks she suspects he has vascular dementia. He now has an appointment at the Memory Clinic on February 18th. You can not imagine the sense of relief I feel that something is finally being done. I will keep this forum up to date on the outcome of this in the hope that it helps someone else going through this.
