Memory

Sandy

Registered User
Mar 23, 2005
6,847
0
Hi Alan,

It is amazing how animals can be "tuned-into" our moods and behaviour.

My husband is also a diabetic. He was diagnosed with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes at the age of 33 which is rather late for what used to be known as juvenile diabetes.

Like your dog, I can also tell if my husband is drifting towards a hypo. I get him to check his blood sugar and I can usually guess fairly accurately what it will be (like 3.0 for example). This can make him rather fed-up as he feels that he has no secrets from me - not even his blood sugar. But afterall, wives have to keep up the appearance that we have supernatural powers :)

Take care,

Sandy
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Smell

Hi Sandy,
I too am an insulin dependant diabetic and have to inject 5 times a day, I am told that when diabetics get low they give off a certain smell. The reason such a lot of diabetics get Alzheimers earlier in life is that diabeties ages the body,so we get old before our time.
hope all is well with you and yours.

Allan
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Where is Jeanette

Hi Jeanette,
How are things with you, Have you learnt anymore about the results of your tests.
Still very warm over here, is life much different with you in NZ.
Look forward to your reply.
Allan
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
1 of the bonuses

Hi All,

Just watched a good film on the telly, think it was called Dave, I didn't remember a single bit of it, but my wife Chis assures me we have seen before, so I guess there must be some bonuses to memory loss.

Hope you all have a good night.

Allan

It gave me a smile
 

angela.robinson

Registered User
Dec 27, 2004
520
0
82
HI ALLAN , your post gave me a smile ,you have a great sense of humour ,is there any other bonus to your illness ,i would love to hear ,TAKE CARE ,ANGELA
 

mailife49

Registered User
Oct 21, 2004
34
0
uk
average intelligence quotient

Dear Allan,

you have to remember that people such as Iris Murdoch the successful author, have been plagued with this unkind disease. Have you seen the film Iris?

I recommend you do...........I think it's very sensitively done.

My mother thinks she is stupid, this is a woman who has studied art in Edinburgh, able to recite lots of Robert Burns' poetry, performed Shakespeare in an albeit amateur level.
Played golf (18 holes) when she was 80 (in a foursome) and won!!

made people laugh with her wit and way with words.....Yes, I find that often people who have had a way with words, I don't know, maybe they've got this worry inside them or fear of getting old - and somehow they bury their heads in the sand, so to speak, or if somebody they love dies, they just don't want to know and begin to lose interest in everything......... Oh, I'm not sure but what I AM
sure of is that an intelligent , interesting, loving person like my mother was one of the unfortunate people that this disease took as its victim.
Sometimes drink (alcohol) in large quantities over a long period of time, I believe , can affect your memory, it's like when you've drunk too much one night and the next day you don't remember what you said or did ........... . So I reckon too much drink can't help your memory but whether it can cause it is another thing. Rita Hayworth was the person who triggered the gun regarding this disease, as she would dance around her garden in drunken stupors and in the end she became ill with Alzheimers........... .

I certainly don't think it's to do with a lack of intelligence, my mother is living proof of that, though she has Vascular Dementia only.

The sad thing is when somebody artistic like her no longer wishes to smell a rose never mind draw one or paint one. I tried to get her interested in painting again, maybe I didn't persist too much, but we used to do watercolour paintings together in our family kitchen........but when I suggested in she was already having serious problems with her memory and said , NO, No, I don't want to do that. And that was that....

My mother said to me when she was in the Nursing Home, These poor men (two of the inmates who are there and quite ill) "What can I do to help them?" still wanting to help, incredible, where there's a will there's a way, eh??

she used to say the words of the song, If I can help somebody going down the road, then my living shall not be in vain..

Sorry if I've rambled on a bit, Alan, but I just want you to think positively and keep jotting down notes, and putting up reminder stickers (I do that , just in case!!)

All the best,
mailife49
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Live life again

Dear Mailife49,

I have tried to get the most out of life, a book once enjoyed can be enjoyed again, even if you have to read the pages more than once, films are best mainly comedy as you don't have to strain to understand the drift, I have to relearn how to do something like set the video, but I get the book out and sort it out, I say to my wife Christine "dam good job I was a genius" then we both laugh. and of course I try to make her laugh because she suffers due to this illness more than me. Normal relations are nearly at an end, and dispite pills and other means, the spark seems to have gone out of married life.
Live is full of ups and downs, lets make the most of the ups.

Allan
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Dear Mailife49

It seems that your mother is a wonderful woman that loves to help others, thank the Lord my mother was the same. She had heart trouble having had rheumatic fever three times from the age of two, but she always thought of others and doing what she could gave her so much pleasure. She had an easy passing and didn't know she was dying just went into a peaceful sleep and died before she reached the hospital. I always think that she's up there doing her best for me, I think my father most likely went to the other place, so I have a foot in both camps.
My I wish you a good night.
Allan
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Anyone from Brisbane

Hi

One of the funny things about memory is that certain periods in the past seem to become very clear, I emigrated to Australia in 1973, we lived in Brisbane, I still have relatives there as my brother came with us, he met and married an Australian and they had a little girl. He died 15 years ago since then I have lost contact with his family, they are Carol Harris, Sussana Harris and Neil Harris his son from a previous marrage. That part of my memory is so clear seems like yesterday.

Allan Stratton
 

Jeanette nz

Registered User
Jun 8, 2005
17
0
Dunedin New Zealand
Hi Everyone

Hello to everyone. It seems there must have been a glich as I have not been receiving notification of new messages posted except today when I received an email to say there was a private message. I logged in and found two so thank you Angela and Allan for thinking of me, I really appreciate it.

I got the results back from the SPECT scan that showed damage to the frontal lobes. After doing research I have realised there is a good chance that I have frontotemporal dementia and not Alzheimers. I remember when Alzheimers was first mentioned to me as a possibility and I thought "please God let it be a brain tumour instead". And now after reading about frontotemporal dementia I am now saying "please God let it be Alzheimers". Frontaltemporal dementia seems to advance quicker and because of the area of the brain that it attacks behaviour is more bizarre. I have not seen my neurologist yet and I am unlikely to get an appointment until Feb next year, however this does not concern me as I think he is an "ass" anyway. So I have let my fingers do the walking, as they say, and found a Prof. Christopher Rowe in Australia who is the director of the largest Nuclear Medicine and Pet facility in Australia (Austin Health). He has offered me a PET scan which is not available in New Zealand and this will not only conclusively diagnose dementia but will also differentiate between the two types. He has also offered to do a range of other tests as part of a research protocol.

I am very excited to be closer to a definite diagnosis and I am now searching for flights etc and hope to travel to Melbourne in the next four weeks. I have stopped taking the Ebixa medication as I do not want it to intefere with the tests done in Australia.

I send my kind thoughts to everyone who posts here and am interested to hear what you al think. Jeanette
 

angela.robinson

Registered User
Dec 27, 2004
520
0
82
HI JEANETTE.its lovely to see you posting again on TP ,i am sorry that the results of your scans seem even more worrying to you ,I think you are a very brave lady and you have done so well getting help from PROF ROWE ,I hope he can clear things up ,so you can know what you are dealing with ,it upsets me to think you are dealing with things alone ,even though you seem well capable of doing at this place in time ,please keep us updated ,my love goes out to you .ANGELA
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
All the very best to you and your family

Hi Jeanette
I do wish all the best, as was said previously, it must be so hard to cope as you do.It makes me feel I am so lucky to have a wife standing by me. If I could be of any help to you please ask. Please keep in touch.
Allan
 

Dearth

Registered User
May 27, 2005
468
0
52
Wigan
www.freewebs.com
Jeanette... I can only add to what others have said here by wishing you the best of luck.

Can I also say thank you (and many others) for kindly sharing your experiences with everyone here... as I've said many times before, I can go to the library and read up on stuff, but I much prefer to hear what a person has to say about their own experiences...

I'm not being flippant when I say this believe me - I would rather come to this forum and read comments than pick a book up any day... the experiences of people such as yourself is INVALUABLE and I reckon will enable me to practice in my chosen career more effectively.

Again thank you for sharing and my sincerest and best wishes.

:)

N.
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
This is a message to Trev

I understand Trev is nearly the same age as myself, and is struggling with his diagnosis, It was a bit different with me as I had my father experiences to give me some clues, keep notes to remind you of things to do, don't get upset if you forget anything very few things are that important. I remember my father did everything to numbers, everyday up at 6.10am turn the radio on, then bathroom routine same every day exactly the same time, Monday down to town he still drove until the late stages, I should have stopped him but he was always very careful, His only way was to do the same things every day. It was only when he had to give up the car he went quickly down hill.
However I couldn't live like that, I like to pop out when I feel like, never liked shopping but now I enjoy it and spend a few bob, my wife insists on driving even though she's a worse driver than me, but I'v learnt to :) let her take over a bit, I keep saying I'm going to buy her a cap and then I can sit in the back and of course she could open the door for me, but but for some reason she has refused. Have a laugh with each other, I have been married for 37 years which cost then 7shilling & 6 pence and I now feel I am getting my money's worth. Don't know if you are on any drugs yet, can't remember what I take by I am sure it helps as I sometimes feel normal and remember, but this is an illness with ups and down. My best advice is to go with the flow and make the best of what you have.
Look for to hearing from you.
Allan
 

tiadesai

Registered User
Oct 14, 2005
6
0
mum
well
i was suffering from a memory problem myself
took a lot of psychiatric treatment and also trained my brain to remember things
i will give you a simple solution
whatever you do just say it 3 times to yourself i have done this thing
it will work
for example if i have put something in my cupboard i say to myself 3 times that i have put it there
and really i dont forget the thing
 

Allan Stratton

Registered User
May 20, 2005
26
0
I live in Cheltenham
Little tricks

Hi tiadesai

I know what you mean, I can now remember my car registration. The 1st letter is N and I always think of a chap I knew called Norman, the next 3 numbers are 180 the top score in darts, last 3 letters are MFH I always remember Harry Green and say to my self my friend Harry. If I try to remember someone I look for something I can remember like a big nose or funny ears, there is always something which helps you to remember.

Best wishes to all

Allan
 

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