what should we expect my brother is 50 diagnosed with Alzheimer's stage 4?

Hi Jackie,

I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I am not a medical pro, but I will tell you what I know.....

Early onset Alzheimer's with folks in their 40's/50's often moves very fast. Also a traumatic event, whether it is physical or emotional, can reveal or accelerate Alzheimer's.

This may sound terrible and you may not be ready to hear it right now, but I feel obligated to tell you that in my opinion, fast is better when it comes to Alzheimer's.

Please bear in mind that I just buried my Mom a week ago. She had severe Alzheimers for around 6 years before she passed. The last two years she could not walk or eat solid food. I am an only child .....I feel like I have been through a war (no disrespect for those who have been). I have read a lot of books and have tried to learn as much as I could. No amount of knowledge can prepare you.

Alzheimer's has nothing to do with logic, fairness or the "normal" order of things. Do your best and go to a support group - and take your family with you. Talking with other folks in the same boat makes things a bit more tolerable.

may God bless you and your family,

Bob B.

Hi Jackie - We have infomation available on our site at the Stages of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.  You may also want to refer to our Caregiver Center - it has contact information for various organizations as well as tips to try and help coping a bit easier.

Hope this helps.  All the best, sue

Jackie,

Like I said in the first question of yours, I think your family should consider some respite service or nursing home and help him to live in a controlled environment for the rest of his life. No one knows how long he would live, but it may be short given his stage. Actually, my father-in-law is in stage 6 (as functional stage - there are 7 stages in total.) so your brother may have some more time sitll. An assisted live-in would be good for stage 4. When he gets sicker, they can transfer him to skilled nursing care.

We are still coping with my father-in-law. He is at home with 24 hours home care. Fortunately, as an emeritus professor, he has investments and pension. It is quite expenisve. In a year or 2, he would go to a skilled nursing home.

These health professionals are so good at talking and helping the patients that even the families cannot do that.

My blessings,

Nina

I have had 2 days to take in a little.  The neurologist ask me if my X (58 yrs old) had long term disability?  I said No, he has changed jobs every couple months for the last couple of yrs. He said you can go back on former employers to receive long term disability.  Please look into your brothers former employer benefit packages, they can go back and get benefits for his alzheimer's, so you will have assistance to help pay for his care.  Good luck, our heads are spinning trying to find out how to get help for this alway disease.

Hi Jackie

You have all my sympathies. My mother died from alzheimers at the age of 63 so I know what you are going through.

My advice is first take care of your self! If you're not in top form, you are not going to be of any help to anyone. Follow advice given by others here, and don't forget to take care of you too.

When you live with, or just visit, an AD patient you have to look at the world with different eyes. Talk about things they remember. Look through old photo albums etc.

My mother muddled her words so I put together a picture book for her. It helped me to understand that the word pillow sometimes meant coffee for instance. She just loved to flick the pages. Different days, different pictures would trigger different memories. She would tell me stories about the family and friends I didn't know! Some stories were the same time after time, but remembering made her happy so I didn't mind.

If you want to read the story about how ‘Lost Words' came about go to the books website www.lostwords.com.au

Bottom line, take care of your self now.  We all find our way to cope, you will find yours too.

Denton Cook