January 2013

So very much has happened since my last post that I am not even sure where to start. The disease has progressed and slowed all at the same time. New meds are in place and the tremors and shuffles have ceased. Visits to the Geritrican are still happening and Dad has spent some time in hospital this allowed new drugs to be trialled and introduced. Mum is worse and her memory is getting progressively worse as well. In September 2012

we hosted the Dementia Awareness Day and it was successful but a great deal of hard work as well. Thanks to the generosity of so many people who gave so much time and effort it is something we will repeat this year. When Dad was in hospital and when he came home I spent 6 weeks with Mum and Dad this was not a good idea and I have had to pull back. It has proved I am unable to live with mum on a long term basis. I flipped out on a couple of occassion as and am not proud of my behaviour and now I have learnt to walk away. We have upped the level of care being provided by professional carers and have engaged additional people to help out. This in itself causes issues due to the cost factor. However Mum and Dad are determined to stay in their own home. I was able to find 2 very good placements for couples in high dependency assisted living but when this was raised with Mum and dad it was like setting off an atomic bomb. No going there again anytime soon. The FB page continues and the web site well I don't action that as often as I should. I have given Professional Development talks to two care facilities and these went extremely well.