Extreme Knitting Redhead: Prima magazine

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Prima magazine

I did an interview for Prima magazine late last year and it's finally appeared in the April issue. I am really pleased with it as it's well written and gives links to both the Alzheimer's Research Trust and my current fund-raising page. I love the way they've put the titles in purple which is the ART's colour (and my favourite colour!).

I hope that if anyone who is caring for someone with dementia reads it then they will feel less alone and perhaps go and look at the website for more information. Being a carer is very isolating, especially caring for someone with mental health problems as there is such a stigma attached to it. I found that lots of so-called friends just deserted me as they were frightened of it. I think that's another side of the illness that I need to address - the effect on the carer, family and friends.

3 comments:

Tina - omme i London said...: Well done you. I look forward to hearing more about this year's knit/marathon... Will it be another scarf - or a pair of socks. :); March 12, 2008 at 4:51:00 PM PDT
TutleyMutley said...: Congratulations Susie!
did you see Terry Pratchett has just made a huge donation to the Alzheimer's research trust? It must be so scary to be aware of the deterioration of ones mental faculties. But I thought of you when i heard that snippet of news...; March 14, 2008 at 10:19:00 AM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Thanks ladies.

Teri, thanks for reminding me. I must do a post about Terry Pratchett - his speech at the Alzheimer's Research Trust conference was very moving and I heard him interviewed on BBC2 on Thursday.; March 16, 2008 at 9:56:00 AM PDT

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.