Hello All,

My name is Sandra. I found this site while searching for help for a dear friend. I feel so helpless in this situation: a very dear friend has been diagnosed with EOAD (age 47). His wife is facing an up hill battle and I want to steer her in any direction that will help. They are in S. FLA, Davie.... west of Fort Lauderdale. Does anyone here know of a specialized support group in the that area? We are trying to help them as best we can in getting their business/legal affairs in order, but they need more help than we can offer. We live a couple of hours away from them and are unable to help with the day-to-day needs. Where can the wife/CG turn for help with such things as social services? She is overwhelmed at this point.

Thank you, one and all, in advance for .... well, just for being here.

SandraG

Hi Sandra, first let me say I'm very sorry to hear about your friend's diagnosis. I pray that the research community finds a cause for this. EOAD is becoming more and more prevalent, and makes me wonder whether this disease has a viral origin. We have a wonderful member in our online family here who has EOAD, and is a major national advocate for this disease. Her name is Tracy (Younghope), and I'm sure you will find that her posts will give you insight into this disease process. As far as local resources for AD in South Florida, there are many. The Alzheimer's Association has chapters in Dade and Broward counties. There is one caregiver group that I can tell you provides a great deal of information for caregivers and patients. The group is called Leeza's Place, and is at 2261 North University Drive on the SE corner of Sheridan Street. You can contact Bonnie Bonomo at 954-967-7240. The website is http://www.leezasplace.org. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I live locally here in South Florida, so I am somewhat familiar with the resources to caregivers. Welcome to the site, and I look forward to seeing you on the forums. -Aitan

Welcome to the board, Sandra. Your friend is lucky
to have you, and I hope she has many more like you
nearby. When I was looking for a support group (my
Dad has Alzheimers and he lived with me for a short
period before moving into an Assisted Living Facility),
I ended up online. It was easier to access 24/7
(noneed to find someone to watch my Dad and son),
and full of generous souls with an incredible
variety of experience with all sorts of issues.
Good luck to your friend, and to you as you help
her navigate this path.
Carol

Aitan: I can't thank you enough for your invaluable information. You are such a blessing.... And a local one at that! Thank you so much for this great contact info. I will forward it to my friend and urge her to avail herself of these local resources.

And to Carol: Thank you for your very kind words. This is just what we all need.... you are an angel. God Bless you and everyone here for your tenderness and generosity of spirit.

SandraG

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Kat

Sandra,

Please give your friend our forum address. We will help her all we can. Our friends on here are all so very supportive and have so many wonderful suggestions and ideas. And Tracy (younghope) is really great as Aitan has said. Please contact her by PM, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving you her email address. She will help your friend tremendously.

Welcome and come back whenever you feel the need to ask questions for her also. We'll help you anyway we can.

Jackie

Jackie, Thank you so very much. I will be in contact with my friend today and give her all of this wonderful information. She'll be tremendously relieved to know that she's not alone in her journey.

God Bless you

Sandra

Welcome Sandra,

Sorry I missed your post in July. Thank you for being a good friend and helping find resources, that is invaluable. This is a great place with great people to learn from.

~Kelly~