Alzheimers and You

The very year that we began to plan our Golden Wedding celebrations we were devastated by the news that Gerald had been diagnosed with Prostrate cancer, Alzheimer Disease and Macular Degeneration which eventually lead to his blindness. We had both retired and planned to walk the South Coast Path. We looked forward to exploring the West Country, enjoying Devonshire Cream teas, and the sea view from our retirement flat - but the evening before we moved into our apartment an alarming amount of blood appeared in the hotel toilet!

Surgery was successful thanks to Seamus, a skilful surgeon with a great sense of humour. Thanks to him there was no recurrence; however Alzheimers Disease and increasing blindness began to take over our lives. This was compounded by a lack of understanding on the part of friends, relatives and even some administrative staff who had little experience and training to deal with a developing and distressing situation.