I just wanted to let you know that my Mum, Audrey, slipped away peacefully on 1 April. While I am sad to have lost my Mum, I really lost her some time ago. Her death is a sweet release. We were fortunate that the really debilitating part of her illness was short. This time last year she was still my Mum, a bit forgetful and forever losing things, but still very much involved in our lives, looking after her grandchildren and living independently. It has taken just 10 months to progress from that condition to someone who was, in the words of her consultant a few weeks ago, severely demented.
I saw her a few days before her death and it broke my heart when she raised her head and gave me a look that said "look at the state I'm in". I'm sure she then said (it was very hard to make out what she was saying for the last few months) "I'm going soon - I won't be here tomorrow".
The care home that she was in was good, and I'm grateful to them for calling me the day before she died to tell me that her condition had deteriorated. I therefore spent the evening and much of the night by her bedside. I went home to sleep, but she slipped away before I could return at 8.00am the next morning. When I saw her she looked so peaceful. All I could think was that she was free to be the person she was before this awful thing took hold.
There was no obvious cause of death, apart from the dementia and her will to stop living. The doctor who certified her death recorded the cause simply as Alzheimers.
Her funeral is to be held tomorrow, and I have suggested that people might like to make a donation to the Alzheimer's society in her memory.
I will keep visiting this site, and I wish you all the best in caring for your loved ones.
Kind regards
Jenny
I saw her a few days before her death and it broke my heart when she raised her head and gave me a look that said "look at the state I'm in". I'm sure she then said (it was very hard to make out what she was saying for the last few months) "I'm going soon - I won't be here tomorrow".
The care home that she was in was good, and I'm grateful to them for calling me the day before she died to tell me that her condition had deteriorated. I therefore spent the evening and much of the night by her bedside. I went home to sleep, but she slipped away before I could return at 8.00am the next morning. When I saw her she looked so peaceful. All I could think was that she was free to be the person she was before this awful thing took hold.
There was no obvious cause of death, apart from the dementia and her will to stop living. The doctor who certified her death recorded the cause simply as Alzheimers.
Her funeral is to be held tomorrow, and I have suggested that people might like to make a donation to the Alzheimer's society in her memory.
I will keep visiting this site, and I wish you all the best in caring for your loved ones.
Kind regards
Jenny
