Extreme Knitting Redhead: October 2024

Friday, October 4, 2024

Moving on

Well that's that and SVN running events are no more. The end of an era and it will seem very strange without Rachel and Tills. It was a sad day when we all said our goodbyes to them but I know Rachel will come back to share some miles with us in Long distance walking events (LDWA). As I started typing this update I realised that I hadn't shown my lovely medals from the 10 marathons in 10 days event I took part in last year, so here they are:

I also agained a new 'milestone' tee shirt which I love:

It was somewhat eventful in that on day 7 of the 10 days I was tripped up by a dog on one of those long leads. Unfortunately, the owner was not responsible or in conmtrol of the dog and he failed to stop the dog from chasing me and it pushed me to the ground, flat on my face - OUCH! As I picked myself up he was just wandering off in a different direction, completely unaware of the trouble he'd caused. 2 of my friends chased after him and remonstrated with him but he didn't seem fully 'with-it'. As I picked myself up I knew my jaw hurt and sadly I lost 4 teeth which cost a lot of time, money and effort to be corrected - oh my goodness that was an expensive experience and involved many, many visits to a Specialist each month!

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.