Losing the logic - Alzheimer's

The irony of my Dad's Alzheimer diagnosis is that I don't really remember how I learned about it. There was not a sit down session where I was briefed about it. There were no tell tale signs that dad had this hideous disease plaquing over his mind. By the time I had realised the enormity of what might come with this co-incidental diagnosis, I was grateful that it had been picked up early. Hopeful that there might be a cure before my dad reached the stage of no return. That was 2016 and whilst there is still no cure yet for it, I can assure you that the preventative drugs do work at slowing it down. I witnessed first hand what happened when you miss a few doses.

What I do remember with absolute clarity is the first time we laughed about his diagnosis. That day was was in 2018. There was a local protest about access for all the train station and I had been tasked with getting a load of mummy friends to turn up with buggies. As they started sending their apologies I asked my dad to come and make up numbers and bring his walking stick along. Dad felt as out of his comfort zone as I did, not least because it was our first protest together, but I don't think my dad has ever used the station. Anyway he showed up for me, as always, and between the pub and the photoshoot he joked that when he did eventually lose his my mind I'd have him doing daft stuff like this all the time. We laughed.

The brain is the most incredible organ and throughout my dad's assessments I spent some time in the mental health clinic reading all about the brain. Talking to his doctor - who like us had questioned the validity of my his diagnosis since his brain was still so remarkably high-functioning and bloody intelligent. The way my dad described the disease was that he was losing his logical thread and could not always finish his thoughts. I was a good at deciphering some gargled message, sometimes I really did feel I had a sense of where his mind was going. Logically through the patterns of thought interrupted by a bad connection.

At the mental health assessments the doctor was keen to promote the importance of deep conversation for brain health. Deep conversation is a critical ingredient for a healthy mind. And where ever possible laugh.

Jen x