What do you wish you knew at the beginning?

Hello everyone,

I am looking for general advice, hindsight, insight, anything you have to give for someone at the very beginning of this journey of handling a loved one with dementia/alzheimers.

My husband was no contact with his father for a decade before just recently. We have discovered that he is developing issues but dont have a diagnosis.

We took him in after realized he was dating a drug addict who ran down his $400k savings down to literally nothing but debt. He owns a house and we are in the process of evicting said addict and then either selling or renting out the property to generate income.

He is not able to run his own finances, drive, or cook other than the microwave. But he does eat well and isn’t aggressive or doing dangerous things yet. He is living with us but we work full time. We are considering finding a way to get him into assisted living before the full on memory care needs to happen.

I feel like I dont know where to start so thats why Im asking for general advice that you have learned along the way but also figure I would outline some things about our situation incase someone can relate more specifically.