My story is also not a nice one. I called my mother and asked her for some more definate answers as she was the one who cared for G most of the time. G passed away just under 3years from first been diagnosed. He was originally prescribed a drug called Aricept which is suppose to help slow down the disease progression. There are also other drugs out there that are suppose to help do the same thing.

G lived on his own for alot longer then he should have. In the end he had to be forced out of his home into care as he became very violent and was dangerous. My took him meals everyday but he would forget to eat or she would find the food in the laundry instead of the fridge for example. My mother tried to care for him at her own home but it wasn't really possible as she was worried G would get lost as he wasn't familiar with the farm, he would hurt himself or my younger brother. G was a trademan and remembered his building skills but not how to use them. He would try and climb up anything to get on the roof, use a hammer to knock holes in places that shouldn't be etc so he needed to go to a place where he was safe. What happened when eventually he did go into a facility catering for his needs was he was very aggressive. He would pull other residents out of their beds, throw things and get very violent. He was on an anti-phychotic drug to help with this but they couldn't get his dose right. As G was dangerous he was transfered to a mental health hospital but what happened here was he was sedated which ultimately led to him passing away. The sedation meant he couldn't eat and he was not able to be mobile so he got pneumonia (from aspirating on fluid) and then been immobile wasn't able to cough anything up) and he passed away fairly quickly (about 2weeks later) so unfortunatelty trying to find the best dose of G's medication to manage his agression is what led to G's death sort of in the middle of the disease progression. When G was diagnosed mum was told to expect about 10years.

G was abit of a hermit before been diagnosed. Mum visited him everyday for as long as I remembered so mum and his others children were G's only real life outside his home. When G was first diagnosed which was probably a few years after mum started noticing the little forgetful things. G refused to talk about the future. Mum says she really regrets this. The only answer mum would get was G was not leaving his home and he was not going to a nursing home. In the end when G had to leave his home as he was hospitilised and was not safe to go back home mum had to apply through the Guardianship Tribunal to get a Power of Attorney. These were things mum wanted to get in place before G got to the stage where he couldn't make decisions for himself. G was very difficult and would just refuse to talk about it. Mum believes things wouldn't of got so bad had G moved into the nursing home along time before he did. The family were not in the position to care for G themselves. It really was a 24hour job and all his children had young families themselves. Mum's sister refused for G to go to a nursing home and came down to get him to care for him herself. She really didn't know what to expect and within days G ended up in hospital over 1000kms from where he was living. Then Mum's sister blamed it all on my mother and they have not spoken in the 4years its been since G died.

As a nurse I've nursed many people with Alzheimer's. I think that when they have come to us (I worked in a high care facility) then the stage they were at was already passed the worst of it to the point where they didn't recognise their loved ones. When they got to this stage they do seem more content and happier. G never got to this stage. He was still in the stage where he remembered Mum and knew she had left him in the one place he always refused to go.

The other girls have given some really good advice especially on supporting each other. I would also encourage someone in your family that is closest to your loved one been diagnosed with Alzheimer's to try and find out things that this person would want to happen if and when they get to the stage where they are unable to make important decisions for themselves and also to get a power of Attorney if one is not already in place. As G lived alone it took months to get this in place and mum did not have the ability to have the electricity, phone, insurances etc cut of so G was getting billed included late fee's for months after he had moved out. G was on a pension so mum had to pay these bills herself.