My wife, Shirley, showed first symptoms of dementia when she just turned 50 years old, and after only two years is rapidly progressing through the mid stages of the disease. She now requires 24 hour supervision and care, and I have quit my job to become her full-time caregiver. This requires that I take her with me any time I need to go shopping or run necessary errands and is becoming increasingly more difficult as she continues to decline. As I have looked out through the community for services that could help me deal with this, it has been discouraging. C aregivers of victims of any age can feel trapped and isolated at times while trying to deal with a disease that by its nature is imprecise, diagnosed only by the elimination of other causes, and then running its course without any ability to predict the path it will follow, or when or how it will end.
Support groups provide a level of confirmation that is needed to come to grips with the disease.
For families of younger victims in particular, there is the additional burden to satisfy friends and relatives who are in disbelief with the diagnosis, assuming that there is some factor being overlooked or a family problem. Also, there are fewer community services available for families of younger victims to draw upon. Assisted Living - Several times, the new assisted living facility Kensington Cottages was suggested to me as a possible solution as this disease progresses, as they specialize and are trained to deal with dementia forms of disease. When I investigated, I found that they are currently licensed only for age 60 and above, although there is some hope that this may be changed in the future. Although I am now on a limited fixed income since taking an early retirement option to become a full-time caregiver for Shirley, my recorded income for last year disqualifies me for the program right now.