Dementia Category

Absence

Ninety percent of what I say at the moment are simple commands; “eat your food”“drink your water”“come on”“sit down”“stand up” On a good day it is peppered with “please”, “thank you”, and “you’re such a good girl”, on a bad day they are short and sharp, they hold any manner of things, anger, rage, frustration, […]

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What will we lose?

I’ve become somewhat accustomed to loss, as humans I think we often tend to push our losses to the side and not deal with them, but as a caregiver I am constantly dealing with loss. It started with the loss of my Dad in 2013, and since then it has ranged between a drop of […]

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Hine

One day you will become the embodiment of atua wāhine.It will be in the surrender that she makes her home in you.One day she will arrive and settle in your soul,early on you will go to war with her;How dare she come into your house!Most days you will not even know she calls you home.She […]

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Grief, loss and alzheimers

In 2013 I had my first experience of grief, true, moving, heart-wrenching grief. It was a time in my life where I wasn’t sure if I could carry on. Simultaneously I became a carer to Martha, I supported her through her grief, I remember on the 2nd morning of Dad passing, his body laid out […]

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An update…

I wanted to share some updates with you on Martha’s progress. While I may going through my own depression, Martha continues to thrive in her happiness.

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Blessings in everything

Six months ago the thought of calling alzheimers a blessing would of filled me with rage. How dare those words tumble from someones mouth so ostensibly! Alzheimers is not, in any way a blessing.. and yet I uttered those exact words a few weeks ago to someone I didn’t know, she looked at me with […]

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2017 won’t be great..

I do have a choice, and that choice is to walk with her till the end regardless of how hard it will be.

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Letters to my Mama… part 5

“what must it be like to have nothing? not even memories to visit in the night”

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Friday nights

Disclaimer: This is an honest real account of what my life is like caring for a person with Alzheimer’s, and whilst I appreciate your concern please avoid giving me advice on what you think I ‘should‘ be doing. I have regular respite, I have regular counselling and have a great support network.  Also, I swear […]

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Alone

I’ve been going through some stuff, some psychological challenges, physical challenges, realisations and realities and have allowed life to get on top.  It isn’t all bad, I have recently launched a new charity, a new business with a friend, and a new business importing crystals to NZ.  I am at uni studying counseling and feeling […]

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