In this heartfelt episode, I welcome back Jay Swerdlow, a longtime support group member. Jay shares the difficult journey of placing his wife Andy, who has Alzheimer's disease, into memory care. He discusses the challenges of caring for her at home as her disease progressed and delusions worsened. Though it broke his heart, Jay knew he had to make the difficult decision to move Andy to a care facility for both of their wellbeing. He talks about visiting her regularly, dealing with her not always recognizing him, and finding acceptance with where they are in this ongoing journey of a dreadful disease.

Jay Swerdlow is a member of the UCLA Mary S. Easton Alzheimer's Disease Research Center support group, which Barbara co-leads. Jay has been married to his wife Andy for 58 years before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019. Since 2021, Andy has been living at a memory care facility.

Timeline Summary:

[01:36] - Andy was a schoolteacher diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2019.

[03:47] - Andy's constant asking to go see her deceased parents was a daily struggle.

[05:30] - Jay's initial mistakes responding to Andy's questions before joining a support group.

[09:20] - Challenges during the difficult transition of moving Andy into memory care.

[14:04] - The ongoing difficulty of bringing Andy back to the care facility after taking her on outings.

[16:44] - Andy not understanding celebrating her 80th birthday.

[19:12] - Jay visits Andy three times a week at her care facility.

[23:02] - Andy still recognizes their sons when they visit.

If you enjoyed hearing Jay share his family’s dementia journey, be sure to follow Dementia Discussions to catch future episodes. Consider giving the show a 5-star rating and leaving a review to help more families impacted by dementia discover the podcast. Until next time!

Do you have a caregiving story to share? Barbara would love to hear from you! Please leave her a message at 310-362-8232 or send her an email through DementiaDiscussions.net. If you found value in today's episode, please don't forget to rate, follow, share, and leave a review. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue producing this content.