I attended two meetings this week with different support groups and found them very helpful. The stories were all different. Of course there were some similarities, but the bottom line seems to be that there is no predicting the course of this disease. Some people have been dealing with a loved one for 20 years, some for a short time, and some are still dealing with it after the person has died. Some have placed the person in a nursing home, some use day care facilities, some use occasional respite workers, and some have full-time responsibility. Some have helpful children, and some have received a lot of blame and grief from children. The comfort is that somehow these caregivers are surviving and I will too. The story has yet to be written.

When you have met one person with AD, you have met one person with AD. Because everyone's background and brain are different, everyone's illness experience is different. The best we can do is look for common symptoms to give us a connection to others who are dealing with this disease.
Hugs,
Mariellen