Anyone Else Have Mild Dementia?

Your crying at the trees brought back a sad memory for me. I took care of my mom and thoroughly enjoyed her company, more so than most of my friends. When she died at 96 I really missed her. She was tiny, I'm not, so I would shop the petite section. (Felt like I was shopping for a doll.) Anyway it took me a good amount of time not to tear up when I passed Macy's petite dept. So I do understand your tears. Now this is going to perhaps sound silly but I think it is worth a shot. Have you ever considered getting a pet? It could be something easy like a cat, bird or tiny dog. My sister had a Papillon and trained it to use a pee pad. She was in the final stages of cancer, died at 54, but that little dog brightened up her days. I say this because I think we humans are herd animals and need companionship. Sometimes animals can be better company than some people. I wish you all the best !

It all sounds very familiar to me, heidiruth, and I empathize. It's all true for me, too. I was diagnosed with MCI a couple of years ago at age 69. Fortunately my husband is very supportive and patient... I have a great therapist and neurocognitive evaluator.... and not much is expected of me.
On the positive side, I just finished a year-long volunteer project to green up the kitchen at church, creating a volunteer group to wash dishes and napkins in lieu of using paper and plastic ones. The team now "owns" making itself continue to function... yay! That wore me out a lot, as I also have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, so I'm taking a long breather from further volunteering.

I’m so sorry. I’ll pray for you.

Wow, Freckled! You have a lot on your plate with not just MCI but fibromyalgia ( my sister suffers from that, so I know what you’re dealing with) and chronic fatigue. I can’t image taking on such major volunteer projects with those particularly debilitating conditions. I live alone, and I seem to Mister Magoo it every day, not a well organized life. I will soon be in touch with MCI support and will write about anything I learn that might help you and other “MCI’s”. I send kudos, and I wish you continued success in dealing so amazingly well with your serious issues.

Thank you for your prayers!

Thanks for the virtual hug. Hugs do much to set aside frustration;.

What prescription do you have for MCI? …
I take 14 mg of memantine every morning, prescribed by the Memory Clinic in geriatrics that tested me for memory when I suspected I had early Alzheimers. Fortunately, I do not. An MRI revealed a lesion in a memory part of my brain from an old stroke(which I wasn’t aware I had had) and tests once a year for 5 years at the Memory Clinic confirmed the doc’s belief that I do not have Alzheimers. I have strike damage plus he thinks that many years of untreated sleep apnea contributed to my memory trouble. I now use a Cpap machine. This doc, the head of the Memory Clinic in Madison and the head of at least one research focus on Alzheimers explained to me that with Alzheimer’s Disease, memories don’t stick because they CAN’T stick. My memories are “in there somewhere,” retrievable, but often need a trigger to fetch them . A term he used was delayed memory. Vascular. The memantine may not do a thing for MCI or perhaps even for Alzheimer's which my older sister suffered for 14 years until she passed this April. She too was given daily memantine. It’s certainly not the silver bullet! … the Memory Clinic sent me to a psychiatrist because of the high anxiety I displayed because of my memory trouble. The psychiatrist’s prescriptions for anxiety and mild depression don’t seem to make any difference either, so I conclude “It (MCI) is what it is.” My jumping into this Mayo sponsored support group may be more helpful emotionally than meds.

Hello again heidiruth,

Thank you so much for your oh-so-kind words! They have made a particularly troublesome "headache day" much easier to bear.

As my husband observes, it speaks volumes that you do, and can, still live alone. Do be gentle with you as you muddle through, day by day.

Freckled1 aka Annie

@Freckled1 Annie, I applaud your decisions to do what you can each day. I'll wager it makes you feel better that if you didn't at least try to do things. And i cannot help but wonder if getting out and doing the things you do, are actually helping you maintain your daily status quo? What do you think?
Ginger