Hi Elliott
SOrry to hear about your wife and I wish you all the best
There is certainly lots of history to look at on this site!
My partner also suffers from Korsakoff's - she was diagnosed a
couple of years ago and the doctors wanted to put her in a geriatric
Nursing Home at age 55!!
Instead, Jen came home with me and is now making very good progress
towards independance. I have continued to work full time and Jen's
care has resolved around that. I managed to obtain a 'care package'
whereby Jen can 'employ' Personal Assistants to be there for her
when needed (much cheaper for Social Services that having to pay the
cost of a Nursing Home place)
We live in the UK - no help from medics. I found the Australians
very helpful - particularly www.arbias.org.au. They have lots of
information on their website that I have not found anywhere else -
and they are very keen to share it.
The info that I found was that the lack of Thiamine caused by the
alcohol caused brain damage. Her Hippocampus is damaged, that has
resulted in her losing her DECLARATIVE Memory completely. Her
WORKING
mmemory (the memory used for conversation) is ok and has showed some
signs of improvement. Her PROCEDURAL memory (ability to learn) is
there and she can 'learn' new things/habits/routines.
I have decided to 'rehabilitate' my partner Jenny by:
A. Helping her tackle her alcoholism and hopefully beat it herself
B. Look into the Cognitive Rehabilitation treatment of people with
Acquired Brain Injury.
We continue to make progress - it is not an overnight thing. Persons
who have an Acquired Brain Injury (road accident, sport, stroke,
etc) can take 5/7 years of rehab to achieve full 'awareness and
acceptance' of their injury and gain maximum independance - Jenny
continues to make progress, it would seem that alcohol related brain
injury (Korsakoffs) is little different from other acquired brain
injury, but that they have two illness to contend with - Brain
Injury and Alcoholism.
Two years ago I all information pointed to a 'fact' that persons
with Korsakoff's would show signs of improvement over a period of
one year and that they would 'plateau'. There is evidence, however,
that with the right rehab,improvement continues for a longer period
(evidence of up to 5 years).
Jen was given the wrong treatment at the outset because of lack of
medical awareness of this illness. Many others are just put in a
nursing home and 'forgotten about' by the medical professionals
instead of receiving proper rehab (would be just like putting a
stroke victim in a geriatric nursing home without any rehab!)
Cannot do much about the past - cannot 'cry over spilt milk'. My
mission now is:
1. Continue to help Jen's rehab re alcoholism and Brain Injury
(Korsakoff's), exploring all opportunities
2. Increase awareness of Korsakoff's amongst the medical profession -
they should have picked up that Jen had Werneckes and needed IV
Thiamine (she went to the same doctor four times over a period of
five weeks and all she was given was pills for nerves! She does not
suffer from nerves!!
3. Get proper recognition of the treatment possibilities so that it
positive rehab is made available (instead of just incarcerating
suffers in a nursing home without any rehab opportunities) and there
is some proper consideration to proper independant living - with
necessary support - subsequently. The level of support should be the
same as for anyone else with any other type of brain injury
4. Help to change attitudes! Many medics and others seem to take the
view that 'illness is self inflicted = no help should be given. THIS
NEEDS TO BE CHANGED - by awareness.

Anyway, Elliott, enough on my 'soapbox' - I don't know what level of
support that you have received/get. I have had to fight all the way
and be better informed that the 'professionals' that I have had to
deal with. I am pleased to share that knowledge and have made many
posts re what has happened in the past. As far as I am aware, Jen is
still the only person in the UK that receives Social Services money
to assist in the employment of PAs and live an independant life. At
a recent conference in North Wales re Korsakoff's (which I will post
comments about), of the 50 people who attended, 5 (10%) were from
the District Council that we live in (awareness is increasing!) One
of my missions is to use my experience to ensure that others have
similar opportunities.
If there are any specific questions that you have, please do not
hesitate to ask.
Keep positive - I still find it distressing that I have 'lost'
someone to share memories with. But, hey, Jen may have a 'hidden'
physical disability (her hippocampus) but she is still an individual
person.
A'different person' - but still a joy to be with!
There are many advantages - for example, she does not hold a grudge!
If we have a disagreement, she soon forgets about it! No sulks!
Also, you can take her along to choose her Birthday/Christmas
presents - it will still be a surprise to her when she opens them!
In fact, even though she buys presents for others, they also are a
surprise for her when she opens them (eg. last Xmas she had bought
and wrapped a couple of presents for me but was looking forward to
them being opened so that she could see what she had bought!)
And new clothes - there is the excitement of finding 'new clothes'
every morning for approx a week after they have been bought(although
one morning I was questioned regarding the new clothes and
asked "has there been another woman in the house because there are
some clothes in my wardrobe that I don't recognise!?"
Anyway, please let me know if there is any info that you would like.
& be sure to look up the info on www.arbias.org.au
Very best wishes - & also to the other members on site
Regards
Trevor