Just watched the item on Newsnight. It’s all very well for the government to say that testing will be available. Testing was carried out at my husband’s care home but due to his advanced Alzheimer’s he wouldn’t cooperate so the test couldn’t be carried out, it’s as plain as the nose on your face, well my face anyway, that there is no understanding of the illness and consequences mentally for the sufferers. It was heartbreaking when the gentleman whose wife is a sufferer said about being able to make his wife laugh as that’s how I feel, we often laugh together about silly things and for a short while my husband is back with me and that means the world to me.
I am fortunate that I saw my husband for five hours this week because they had to ring an ambulance because he was having a possible angina attack and I had go with him to the hospital. The first thing he said to me when I arrived at the home was, I haven’t seen you for such a long time so even though his Alzheimer’s is advanced he is obviously still aware of not seeing me as he usually would two to three times a week.
As it turned out we had a really lovely time in A&E even having a dance and sharing laughs, he was able to go back as they couldn’t find anything wrong. Tonight the home phoned, my weekly phone call and said he wouldn’t come out of his room for the two days after this and that’s not him as he usually spends most of the day wandering and pottering about, it does make me concerned about the affect this is having on him.
Someone needs to sit up and smell the coffee immediately, I’m sure that won’t happen though as they are forgotten people?