Letting siblings on both side of the family know about his moderate al

Posted by jsaved74 @jsaved74, 22 hours ago

My husband has moderate Alzheimer's he was on Donepezil but stop for a couple of months because he thought it was making him lose weight but after a couple of months, he started getting confused and asked me if I was his wife so I talked to the doctor and we put him back on and he seems to be doing OK but I was thinking when is the right time to let his siblings know and my siblings a few on both sides know a little bit but not the majority of them and if I were to ask him, I don't think he would want that for he's been wanting to keep it pretty low for a while. Just not accepting the disease but now that he's questioning me sometimes about if I'm his wife or not, I just think that maybe the other family members should know does anyone have any idea or they went through something like that?

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celia16 | @celia16 | 19 hours ago

It’s up to you and I understand wanting to respect his preferences, but not telling family members can be risky. We had a relative take my dad for a drive….but Daddy asked him to stop by a new bank to conduct some business. He did and he opened up a new checking and savings account in his sole name with his retirement going into it! And, no pay on death provision! My mom was not amused. Took us a while to get it sorted. He had no business doing that alone. This relative knew he had cognitive issues, but didn’t fully appreciate the extent.

laura1970 | @laura1970 | 19 hours ago

If you think the family will support you, I think you should tell them. Caretaking requires all the support you can muster

boppi | @boppi | 7 hours ago

My husband has one brother who lives in another town and they talk occasionally but never see each other. My husband does not want me to tell his brother anout his dementia although I would like to do so just so it is out in the open..hard decision, so no help here. I have told my siblings and at least I get some emotional support from them although nothing else. I find that when people learn of my husband’s illness they suddenly disappear from our lives.