My mom died of dementia 4 years ago so when my husband started forgetting the names of friends he’d known for years, I got worried. I noticed he’d use the wrong words in a sentence or would get stuck in a sentence because he couldn’t find a word at all. This started gradually about 5 years ago when my husband was 55. He had played football in high school and college and used to tell me stories about being knock unconscious on the field and being awakened with smelling salts and sent back out to finish the game. Even in high school, he said that sometimes after the game when he went home, he wouldn’t remember how the game ended. He has terrible headaches daily. When we went to see the neurologist, he was dismissive and insisted that because my husband was over 50, forgetting was normal. He refused to send him for testing. We changed neurologists twice over a two year period before the hospital sent us back to the original neurologist. My husband was worse and I let the doctor know that I wasn’t going to be dismissed this time. He grudgingly sent us to see another neurologist who did cognitive testing and a PET scan. The diagnosis was the onset of Alzheimer's. While I am so angry at his neurologist that it’s hard to look at him sometimes, I’m am glad we have the diagnosis now so I can move forward with his care. I would encourage people whose loved one is younger than the typical patient with Alzheimer's to be assertive and downright demanding if necessary if you know that something is wrong. I’m glad I found this website. Appreciate the personal stories.
