Extreme Knitting Redhead: Time for a bit of an update!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Time for a bit of an update!

There has been so much going on recently and so little time to write about it that I'm taking time out to cover it! It isn't all about knitting, although some is, and there's also some news about the Alzheimer's Research Trust and a Ministerial Summit I attended. Plus, I've been mulling over some ideas for my fund-raising stunts for 2010 - all exciting stuff of course!

First of all I must again thank Sue from Kangaroo who so kindly donated this wonderful purple (colour of the Alzheimer's Research Trust and my favourite colour to boot!) yarn for me to knit with on WWKIP day.

I shall be knitting up a lovely stripey scarf from this which I will use as part of my fund-raising activities later in the year.

Also, not only did Sue hold a collection for the Alzheimer's Research Trust at the Lewes Carnival, she has also offered to do some more collections for them in the future. Thank you so much Sue, your generosity is much appreciated.

What else? Well, a few weeks ago I was invited to attend a Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research at the Royal Society London. The Summit brought together a wide range of experts to help shape the future direction of dementia research in the UK. It aimed to identify gaps in existing knowledge and prioritise new areas for research investment.

I was afraid that it would all go right over my head but I found most of it very accessible - well except for when they started using jargon and talking in TLAs - that's three letter acronyms!!!!!

I had never been inside The Royal Society before and it is a glorious building, steeped in history.

There were numerous paintings of the famous scientists who had connections there and I found an exhibition of Darwin's studies on the lower level.

I picked up these postcards from there. The first one shows an illustration from John Lindley's book 'Ladies' Botany' (1865)

The next one is a photomicrograph of plant sections by William Fox Talbot (circa 1839).

The final one shows 2 illustrations form Charles Darwin's 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals' (1873). I love those 2 poses!

I just started this earlier today. It's the beginnings of a heart sachet and I'm whipping it up for a lovely friend from work whose birthday is next week. I shall fill it with home made pot pourri.

I've got to get poor old Oregon finished soon as I want to display it at the Autumn Show of our local Horticultural Society. Having a deadline is just the kick up the backside I need!

On the fund-raising front there's something exciting bubbling away in the background but I don't want to reveal it just yet. My training for the Abingdon marathon is still going strong despite a recent knee injury. Fingers crossed it holds up to my 15 miler tomorrow.

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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.