DEMENTIA AND CAREGIVER BURNOUT

This week I did a ver silly thing, evidence of more slight memory loss or perhaps even crazynuss. I woke up one morning and after letting out the dogs made our morning cocoa and after drinking hers Julian went back to sleep.Thinking that it was Sunday, I got ready for church and as it was still early and a nice morning went to read a book in my wendy house.About an hour later I heard Julian calling frantically and asking why I hadn't taken our son to catch his school bus. I replied that she was being silly as it was Sunday. " No it's you who are being silly, it's Wednesday."She said Whilst it was true thay I was being silly, I blame her as well as she had fallen back to sleep and of course Charlie han't got up because I hadn't called him. So, memory loss and confusion are ceeping up on me after all! There are perhaps now fifty million people in the world with dementia or Alzheimer's. The numbers are growing almost everywhere because people are generally living longer. Fifty million patients with these ailments means at least fifty million caregivers.Although the number of caregivers per patient will vary from several for each financially independent person to one shared by several patients in the free hospitals to which a lot of the worlds Alzheimer's victims will be condemmed. However, everywhere there is evidence of wonderful caring caregivers whose task is enormous and where the patient is a beloved partner or family member the strain will be greater, because of emotional involvement. Because Alzheimer's patients can linger on for many years, the road that lays ahead after the diagnosis of the illness may be a very long one. Research has sadly shown that caregivers have a much greater chance of becoming Alzheimer victims themselves. The reasons are many, but the most is perhaps the long hours of attention that many caregivers have to put in. Sadly, other family members often shirk their share of the resonsibilities and one caregiver ends up with the whole burden. The results can be a high percentage of illness, above the average and exhaustion or burnout and possibly dementia and Alzheimer's. There is no easy answer to this problem, as it is almost impossible for outseiders to even be aware of the huge burden that the caregiver is carrying and often other members of the family don't chose to know. The only practical solution is to encourage in strong terms the caregiver to insist on a family conference to discuss the situation. The ideal time is of course at the very beginning of the nursing. At the family meeting the caregiver must explain the difficulties that lie ahead and ask for help and involvement. Insist on a two hour break per day if possible and regular contributions of time to enable the caregiver to have time away, even if it is only for a day and night. If the family are reluctant to help the answer is to appeal to the goodness of outsiders that lays inside many people and arrange for regular help. Most areas have Alzheimer's groups, so this will probably not be as difficult as it sounds. The difficulty in all of this is that many patients are lkie myself and only in the early stages of dementia. At this stage our short term memory is fading and we have a few difficulties with our cognitive abilities. However, at this stage we can still live a fairly normal life without much specific care. My own dementia has already been with me for ten years and only advances by a tap drip a day and so life goes on quite comfortably. In fact my wife Julian who is my caregiver works long hours at her dressmaking business. If full blown Alzheimer's lays distantly ahead, at least for the moment I do not require much attention. However, as time goes on Julian will need to keep a watchful eye for deterioration and be ready to call that family conference and perhaps seek some volunteers as well. As I write these lines I am still curious as to why I am not worried at all about the future. I think that perhaps even becaause of dementia I have found an inner peace and joy. Every day must be lived to the full and God thanked for all the blessings. This week we attended a one day workshop about dementia and Alzheimer's. It was presented by Livewell Suites, a beautiful complex in Somerset West near Cape Town. The conference was of course a marketing exercise, but the advice and information provided by several speakers was excellent. If one can afford to end one's days at Livewell, one could not be in better hands. We have had a good week and are all well. The weather has been mostly good and sunny, but still mercifuly cool at night. My new book of poetry is marching forward well and I am confident of publishing on Amazon in October. My rading continues and I am currently reading 'The Children of the Mist, by Nigel Tranter. The story of the McGegor clan and their difficulties with King James and also the Campbells. Dogs are fine and Bobby busy chirping away on the stoep as I speak. One never know if he is swearing at other birds or saying 'sweet nothings.' David Narnato. Paarl. South Africa.