Right, this is a hard one to write as it is part of my life. As of last year my mum was diagnosed with Dementia. The lead up to this was hard for my family and me as there was not much we could do. Early signs were she was being a bit lazier and was forgetting about things. She would be cooking go sit down and forget about the food. So now I do all the cooking, it does help that I like to cook. We also have pets and she would come walking with us and the pets but later she would not come with us. Which left it to dad and myself.
There are more places then I will be talking about as I have done a bit of reading and will be doing more soon. But with what I have seen and read so far my mum is going through the steps slowly. At the moment she is not sleeping well, she eats when she likes, does not remember much, and she does not speak much, which makes talking to her quite hard. But a good thing is she will get on with tasks if you ask her to do something.
Also, now when she does something at home she has to check the letterbox and litter tray. Then there is when she comes out to the kitchen all the time – eg when I am downstairs in the kitchen cooking for them or myself at tea time. Which does not feel good to me as this is the way she is, and since I live at home cook and help them out with things I would like it if she does not do the things she does? There is a bit of OCD in her to make her do what she does. I do say to myself a lot that this is the way she is and she will only get worse.
I know this is nothing to do with photography but it is a big part of my family’s life now. I do hope to one day do more of these just this is something that has been on my mind for a year or so. This might be something I will keep doing over the next few years.
Cheers
Joe
P.S. The next few times I will be going into this deeper and try and help others that are in my position.
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