Extreme Knitting Redhead: The Lab

Friday, June 21, 2013

The Lab

Yesterday I headed off into London for an exciting day. In the afternoon I had a meeting with representatives from ARUK and fellow Champions to discuss ways of encouraging people to engage with the research community.

I'd taken these cute little owls, crocheted using the pattern from Bunny Mummy, for Dione and her daughters Beth and Ellie. It is such a quick and easy pattern that I only took just over an hour to crochet all three of them.

Cute crocheted owls

Sadly though, Dione was poorly and unable to make it so I shall have to post them to her. I'd asked her what their favourite colours were so they each have their own unique colour combos.

In the end there were only 2 Champions there; myself and Mick, who I last saw at the Badminton horse trials. Mick's wife Elaine sadly passed away on March 6th having developed early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 52. It was good having the 2 different perspectives and we bounced ideas off each other well.

In the evening we headed off to a reception at the Royal College of Physicians.

The modernist building looks a bit out of place alongside the beautiful buildings overlooking Regent's Park

Here's Mick looking as if he's doing a routine from Saturday Night Fever! He's talking to Dr Marie Janson, Director of Development for ARUK

This was a launch party for The Lab, a virtual tour of a laboratory to help people understand what researchers do to try to understand the disease. There is lots of information to explore and there are interviews with lots of different people, including me.

I'd already looked at and commented upon it during the development stage and I think it's a fantastic thing and I really hope people will explore it.

This is Laura who helped develop the project

Here's Tim, head of Communications & Public Affairs, looking as if he's doing a karaoke song!

It was exceedingly hot in the room and I was glad to get out into the fresh air to head home. It was a long walk from the venue to Charing Cross station and I had to walk really fast in order to catch my train.

I had a bit of an accident en-route when I was trying avoid a drunken man and I tripped on an uneven paving slab, fell flat on my face, grazing my elbows and hurting both knees in the process. Ironically it was the drunken man who rushed over to check I was OK!

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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.