Seems unusual...

Oh yes. My Dad (91)has been fully aware that he has Alz or as he also refers to it "my brain is dying." We always encourage and praise him about how well he is doing and that he has so many fine qualities of life. We also acknowledge that there is this dementia issue and that he handles it very well.We tell him we admire his courage. If he is spiritual and faith is important( as is my Dad) we always tell him that God has a plan for him and he is doing a great job. We just keep making sure that Dad knows he is not alone and that he is safe and secure. Quick compliments and move on.

"It will be worth it all - when we see Jesus comes to mind`. May these words be an encouragement to you who are carrying a heavy load.

Faith in the Lord is what gets me through the day
" I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me"
Philippians 4:13

My husband is 67. He was diagnosed at the age of 57 at a leading memory center in California. He is now in the late middle stages. He has known the whole way through his Alz journey he has Alzheimer's. In the last few months he has been telling me he is dyeing. It may not be common, but it does happen. I have read on other sites of people saying their loved ones do it also. As they say, if you know one person has Alzheimer's, you know one person that has Alzheimer's. Everyone's journey is sad, yet unique. I am praying for you both today.

My wife is near 80 and she talks about having vascular dementia. She knows she forgets a lot. My approach is that of saying only encouraging and positive things to her. She then seems to forget that the "day" is bad. Today she told me she hadn't slept all night and was nauseated, and wanted to sleep all day. She will forget that and when I arrive she will greet me with a kiss or a angry face. I really don't know how she will be when I see her. She is happy in the assisted living area and I live alone and that is almost too hard to do but if I didn't live it would be the early death of me so to speak. I've seen it happen in others and of course, God has our days numbered so I really may not die but just to make it easier for me it is the best arrangement for us. She has many health issues and I don't have to be the nurse looking after her every need and be up and about even some nights almost all night. God has a plan and it is best for us. We don't know the weaver's side of the wearing but see the worst side since the knots and strings are not so important, but when we see the side God sees it is a beautiful weaving. May my life be a beautiful picture of what God has in store for others to see. The song

My mother has Alzheimer's and says very often that something is wrong. It's not uncommon. She also says, in her own way, that she wants to die.

Anne, that was a perfect answer! The love you have for your dad is clearly evident. 🙏😊

Whoever told you a person with dementia does not know themselves something is terribly wrong with their thinking????? My husband tells me all the time he is, "not thinking right" mostly because he can't think of more words to describe what he means, but "going downhill" is merely the emotional side of dementia where their body just doesn't respond like it used to. It must be terribly frightening to know there is something wrong with you and your thinking and you just want it to be like it once was. Our loved ones with dementia need time to grieve because they seem to "know" their time is short. I am also saddened to know what my husband could once do, and now I have to remind him what to do...

My husband is 76 and is in the final stages of vascular dementia. This morning when I got up with him he told me something is very wrong and said he was dead. He said that several times. So that tells me that at some level he knows. He also was clutching my hand as though trying to keep himself here in this life.

Some patient, although rarely, become very aware that some things are changing and they are losing their full mental capacity. When that awareness settles in, the best thing we can do is to encourage them to do their best and continue to remind them that we love them.
They may be feeling guilt or concern about overwhelming their loved one. The best thing you can do is to help ease their stress and make sure they feel loved.
It also helps maintaining a similar schedule day-to-day, it helps with memory consolidation.