World Alzheimer’s Day is in September and many know this is now a issue close to my heart. My grandad has alzheimers and as a family we have watched him lose more and more of himself to this cruel illness. My grandad is a very intelligent man who made smart decisions all his life. He would entertain us with stories of his childhood from getting the cane at school to running home to Birmingham from Derby when he was a evacuee. Far from the tales we often heard in school history lessons my grandad was placed on a farm with people that took his treats that were sent to him from his mum. He worked long hours and one day he had enough and made his way home. He was discovered sitting on his doorstep when his mum came home from work!
He was also the man that told me off for holding my knife and fork wrong! He is grandad to six of us and great granddad to six (soon to be seven more). We call him Popa as I am the eldest and could not say Grandpa when I was little.
Popa developed Alzheimers a few years back and in many ways we are lucky as the decline has been quite slow but the last few months have seen him forgetting to get dressed, to cook or go out of the house much. The caring falls largely to mum who thankfully does live a short car journey from him, but mum works full time and it is not easy being a carer.
If you know a someone who is a carer – say thank you to them. They do it out of love but the they are holding up society with their caring and it often goes unnoticed. There are also articles, information and aids available to support those with this diagnosis.
If you are on Twitter please help spread the word and raise more much needed awareness this September by following NRS Healthcare.
For more posts do check out:
