Wife's MCI diagnosis accelerating: Feeling alone

Greetings, I am in a similar situation: husband diagnosed with MCI about a year ago and still (mostly) cares for himself but has stopped doing most anything around the house and property unless I specifically ask him (and there is pushback sometimes if he doesn't feel like doing the chore or task, or maybe it's too hard or confusing now).
Sometimes I do not handle the changes very well, becoming the household manager, handling finances, taxes, repairs, etc.
I had an anxiety attack the other day, worrying about what will become of my husband and what to expect; how bad will he get?
I mourn the loss of our marriage and the loss of a husband who is now more like a friendly roommate.
I have no family close by, but check in with my sibs when I feel I'm struggling to cope.
Our local dementia support group meets monthly, so I hope you find some form of support for the bad days. Hugs.

Exactly. Thank you for your reply. I created a very simple chore list on the fridge split between the 2 of us and our beagle. The beagle's chores are 1) licks my dinner tray clean; 2) stay cute. My wife is keeping upstairs clean (including dishes), outdoors poop patrol, and emptying the garbage. I do the rest. She is doing well with this chart to look at. But I, too, mourn the loss of our marriage (yep, she's more a roommate now) and wish she had a social circle to turn to but she doesn't have any close friends and wishes to just stay home. I plan all of our activities and she happily enjoys them unless there is a lot of exercise involved. It is a lonely journey.

Hi @jimdianne, it is great to hear that the posts and support here have been helpful for you and your wife. Sorry to hear that her cognitive abilities continue to decline.

When you go to the main page of the Careivers: Dementia support group (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers-dementia/), you can use the search function to look up past topics that might be helpful for you.

Your wife might appreciate joining this discussion group with people living with MCI:
- Support Group for Those of Us Living With Mild Dementia https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/can-we-have-a-support-group-for-those-of-us-with-mild-dementia/

Jim, how are you doing today?

Hello. I asked my wife if she'd be interested in joining this group but she declined. In my opinion, she is still in a bit of denial of her aMCI. I recently booked us an Iceland cruise and while purchasing travel insurance I mentioned to her that her MCI, being a pre-existing condition, would not qualify for coverage. She first asked what was MCI. After I reminded her she went a bit defensive. I guess it is to be expected. Overall, she is doing very well and her condition is presently just around memory. Our latest encounter was, while on an Amtrak trip from Minneapolis to Chicago, she went to find coffee at the Chicago Union Station. She got lost and called me and we tracked her down. She said that scared her. I have a tracking App on both our phones and forgot she could just follow her App "dots" back to me. Bottom line... she is still very functional (except for memory). I hope we found her disease early enough that helps to prolong her (and my) stability.

The directors of HABIT, a Mayo Clinic program for people living with MCI and their partners, write this blog on Connect:
- Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/

Amongst other common topics, they have written about denial. It's not uncommon:
- Is it Denial or Something Else? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed-post/is-it-denial-or-something-else/

I bet it was worrisome for you too when she got lost. Eventhough you had the app, you probably knew she would be scared and confused.

Hello. I asked my wife if she'd be interested in joining this group but she declined. In my opinion, she is still in a bit of denial of her aMCI. I recently booked us an Iceland cruise and while purchasing travel insurance I mentioned to her that her MCI, being a pre-existing condition, would not qualify for coverage. She first asked what was MCI. After I reminded her she went a bit defensive. I guess it is to be expected. Overall, she is doing very well and her condition is presently just around memory. Our latest encounter was, while on an Amtrak trip from Minneapolis to Chicago, she went to find coffee at the Chicago Union Station. She got lost and called me and we tracked her down. She said that scared her. I have a tracking App on both our phones and forgot she could just follow her App "dots" back to me. Bottom line... she is still very functional (except for memory). I hope we found her disease early enough that helps to prolong her (and my) stability.

Greetings, I am in a similar situation: husband diagnosed with MCI about a year ago and still (mostly) cares for himself but has stopped doing most anything around the house and property unless I specifically ask him (and there is pushback sometimes if he doesn't feel like doing the chore or task, or maybe it's too hard or confusing now).
Sometimes I do not handle the changes very well, becoming the household manager, handling finances, taxes, repairs, etc.
I had an anxiety attack the other day, worrying about what will become of my husband and what to expect; how bad will he get?
I mourn the loss of our marriage and the loss of a husband who is now more like a friendly roommate.
I have no family close by, but check in with my sibs when I feel I'm struggling to cope.
Our local dementia support group meets monthly, so I hope you find some form of support for the bad days. Hugs.

Hello. I asked my wife if she'd be interested in joining this group but she declined. In my opinion, she is still in a bit of denial of her aMCI. I recently booked us an Iceland cruise and while purchasing travel insurance I mentioned to her that her MCI, being a pre-existing condition, would not qualify for coverage. She first asked what was MCI. After I reminded her she went a bit defensive. I guess it is to be expected. Overall, she is doing very well and her condition is presently just around memory. Our latest encounter was, while on an Amtrak trip from Minneapolis to Chicago, she went to find coffee at the Chicago Union Station. She got lost and called me and we tracked her down. She said that scared her. I have a tracking App on both our phones and forgot she could just follow her App "dots" back to me. Bottom line... she is still very functional (except for memory). I hope we found her disease early enough that helps to prolong her (and my) stability.