So I get a call from mum today. She said she was speaking to my sister and my sister suggested that for mum's birthday next year we go on a holiday. Meet in the middle (sister lives in the UK, we live in Australia). So, 2 years after mum has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, you expect that you can plan for the whole family to go on an overseas holiday for her birthday? Delusional me thinks.
From all I've read and research about early onset Alzheimer's, it often is fast moving, more fast moving than the older age Alzheimer's. So, who knows what position she'll be in, over a year from now. Very difficult to plan a large scale holiday like that for a family going through some very big, significant, stressful changes. I'd say, it won't be all beers and skittles. Surely dad will be verging on going crazy with the changes as they happen, as well as mum, and myself, and my sister, she may well get the shock of her life to see the massive changes in the past few years since we last saw her. Very stressful to say the least. And what of being way out of your comfort zone, and in a foreign country like asia? Way out of the comfort zone. Could be a disaster in the making.
I presume that when she speaks to mum on the phone, she must get the impression that mum doesn't have any symptoms, and she's just fine. And for 20 minutes on the phone, she may well put across a reasonably, ok appearance. She is somewhat fine, but that can all change in no time at all. And she is having symptoms. She doesn't live the life she lived 5 years ago that's for sure. Everything in her day to day life is different.
PS: After speaking to said "sister" have discovered that the conversation that took place was actually not quite the same as it was relayed to me.?!*
No comments:
Post a Comment