CrankyYankee; thank you for your comments that reflect exactly how I feel. I've taken my 81 year old husband to a neurologist for a baseline assessment which took 4 visits to utter the ALZ diagnosis and take away his driver's license. Whew. Thank you for that. His subsequent looking for others to show up at the dinner table and his need to go "home" suggests Lewey Body Dementia. The doctor's comments were along the line that my husband's behavior bothered the family more than himself. Hmm. What to do with that tidbit? We moved to a more rural area where there are zero neurologists other than zoom with his original doctor. Fine with me. His country GP is a straight shooter, has prescribed mirtazapine which seems to be keeping my husband more even keeled. There is no fixing this awful disease, so the best you can do is to keep him content. I agree, if the spouse wasn't a joiner and yahoo person before, no way will they be that way now. It would be anxiety producing. I am getting pressure from friends who feel I should be subjecting him to a battery of tests, try new RX, drag him around to doctors 2 hours away. Why? He enjoys a good meal, a good nap, and safe walks around the neighborhood where everyone keeps an eye out for him. The family put friend finder on his phone; gave him a special house key when we moved that has a tracer on it, and he takes it when he has the yen to take a walk. We can trace him and pick him up when he has been gone long enough..45 min. He has a taste of freedom, and we feel it is worth
it. Funny, now that he gets the OK to go, he'll come back in 5 minutes or find something else to do often times. I've had calls from neighbors..I've lived here a month...is it OK for your husband to be out? Just checking. It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village to be a caretaker.