My mum never knew she had dementia,but from the start she knew something was wrong with her.
Before she went into a care home she took herself to hospital on a weekly basis,she sat in A&E for hours on end crying,begging for help.She was seen and sent home..until the next time.Not one doctor or nurse recognised mum had dementia.
One of the things mum said that still upsets me when i think of it,was the continual repeating,"i'm scared,whats happening to me?"
Kassy, that is so sad, made me fill up, your poor Mum.
My Mum often taps her head and says there is nothing wrong with her other than her memory.......but then asks "who doesn't forget things??" But she is acknowledging now that she forgets our physical presence with her 10 minutes or so after we have left. I spray my perfume in her room every day before I go in the hope it will enable her to remember a little longer that I was with her.
MIL has no awareness of her having dementia. She thinks there is nothing wrong with her, perfect health and no idea why she living with us even though i have tried to explain
I could understand 30 years ago people didn’t know much about dementias , but now today with all the Television & media coverage Memory Cafes various organizations such as Alzheimer’s Society , DEEP, Picks FTD singing for the brain every G.P surgery waiting rooms have information dementia is a daily household word and talked about much more freely now
I am sure there is no answer to this..... How aware is the person with dementia that they have dementia? If some is ill with a cold, had a stroke, heart attack or has cancer the words are used, both by the medical teams and in every day conversation. With all the publicity in recent months about dementia it is becoming more known and discussed in everyday situations. The dementia friends campaign will help no doubt. But the elephant in the room isn't discussed.
In the future will generations be less afraid and have more understanding. Will the words be used and possibly the person with the illness recall in those moments when they are living or reliving moments from the past, that it is an illness and that there is support available. There were years in the past when illness such as cancer wasn't talked about so freely bit that has changed I think.
Trying to become less uncomfortable .... And embrace dementia.