Malcome and Barbara, Loves Farewell.
Tonight
I watched such a sad documentary on TV. This was a film taken over many
years charting the diagnosis, deterioration and the final illness of a
man suffering with Alzheimer's Disease. Throughout his illness he was
cared for at home by his wife. She received little or no help from the
health service and was seen weeping through loss, grief, exhaustion and
utter frustration with the system. He was a classically trained, Oxford
graduate, pianist who deteriorated to the point where he was a wasted
shell of a man without hope or dignity, being hoisted around a bed,
incontinent, dependent and completely unable to do anything other than
breath. Even his breathing was labored and difficult. This is the
cruelest illness known to man, it robs a person of everything, it steals
the person and leaves behind an empty body. For many years I worked as a
carer and a nurse to people with Alzheimer's and other types of
dementia. I loved my job but I couldn't do it any more. For a while I
was part of the nursing staff on an assessment ward. It was demanding,
difficult, rewarding, funny and tragic. It was one of the best and one
of the saddest jobs I have ever had, there was humour, pathos, tragedy
all on a daily basis and this little film brought so much of it back. I
think carers 'burn out', this disease takes its toll on carers as well
as victims. I just can't imagine how one woman could manage to care for a
man with this disease on her own, for so long and with so little
support. The lack of support for victims and carers of Alzheimer's is a
national disgrace. We should all be aware of how neglected this area of
medicine is and how much more we as a nation could do. During this
documentary Barbara herself said, 'they manage to find money for wars
and things, for Iraq, they could find money for this if they wanted
too'. Oh how right she is.POLITICIANS TAKE NOTE
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