Amber Petty can be heard on 5AA 1-4pm every weekday over summer, and is a columnist for The Advertiser. This story was written by her and published in The Advertiser December 2011, and she has given me permission to publish it on my blog. Wake up Sunday morning “1. My name is Australia, and I’m … Continue reading »
Posted in December 2011 …
Locked in prison… another view
I would like to say loudly that even though my father in law and some other friends of mine who are now living in residential aged care settings have said things like they felt like they were locked in prison, or they would rather be home, or even that they wish they were dead, rather … Continue reading »
Awesome idea?
Yesterday I received a Daily Digest from WordPress about Kick Off 2012 with Project 365 (which should be Project 366 as that is how many days are in 2012!) which obviously means to blog something every day. I decided to see if I had been keeping up with the goal I made on 2nd September 2011 to blog … Continue reading »
Locked in prison
The human cattle yards for aged care and dementia are playing on my mind again. As many of you know, my father in law has moved into another residential care facility because he now needs high care, one with a brand new private room (rare in high care in SA), in a brand new wing. … Continue reading »
Time for some cheer
No, no more sadness today! Even I can’t take it! It is time for a laugh and some belated Christmas cheer. Today, the third loved one in my life (my father in law) was safely deposited into a high care bed in an aged care facility, a very difficult transition for him as he had … Continue reading »
The anonymous voice
Since I’ve joined the wider global community through online networking and blogging, and since speaking at the Alzheimer’s Australia National Fight Dementia campaign rally and appearing on the ABC TV 7.30 Report, I am gathering many new friends, people who have seen my story and want to share this journey on my dementia train. I am … Continue reading »
More on Person Centred Care (PCC)
One of the oddest things about service providers and doctors in the life of those of us with dementia is their surprise when we forget something! Forgetting an appointment or an appointment IS our world, even with all the reminders in the world, even a phone call 30 minutes prior to it, sometimes even 30 seconds! … Continue reading »
Open your mind
It’s like a trap. If it is closed, it will trap you into judgemental thinking, stop you from accepting change (which comes to you whether you want it to or not). In fact, if you open this trap, it will insure all sorts of incredible opportunities come your way, and you will find your intuitive … Continue reading »
Planning my funeral… what a laugh!
Early in 2010, after being told in 2009 I had between 6 months and 2 years to live, I decided to partially pre-plan my funeral, hoping to remove some of the burden that would come immediately after my death. Not everything, but the basic information, which I have found when planning a loved one’s funeral … Continue reading »
A happy death
Someone I have worked with and grown to love this year through my new role as advocate and activist for dementia wrote today… you’ve motivated me to keep trying to make a positive difference in the lives of people living with dementia, especially to be treated as full citizens and human beings throughout their lives. I … Continue reading »
Christmas and petrol
Last week, if I had been a car, I wouldn’t have made it to the petrol station to fill my tank. The last few weeks and months have been quite the battle, between sharing my love around to friends, offering some of them tangible support, and dealing with the changes in my dementia, it has … Continue reading »
Body heat and ironing
It is almost Christmas, the shopping is done, the presents are wrapped, and all I have left to do is two weeks of ironing. This morning my husband grabbed a shirt from the pile, and wore it without being ironed. My upbringing was quite old-fashioned, and I spent a significant amount of time with older aunts … Continue reading »
I’m Tired
Replies to a previous blog have made me think more deeply, and reflect further on a number of things. I thought I’d start with the comment made that the dumber things are, the more people respond, relating to replies (or lack of) to comments made on Facebook. Is it because the world is dumbing down? We … Continue reading »
Travelling the road of grief
My blog today was meant to be a more light-hearted and happy one, but there has been a new development on my road of grief. This morning at 6.50am I received a text message to say another friend had died, a nursing friend from the 1980’s. She had only been diagnosed a few weeks ago, … Continue reading »
The burden of disbelief
With not being believed or with being doubted, comes an enormous burden, and I call it the burden of disbelief. For a younger person to have been told they have dementia, they must have passed (!) all sorts of medical markers. There are many tests, and they are invasive, time-consuming, expensive, humiliating, and tedious and more … Continue reading »
