Recovering from infection

Last week I wrote about the problems I had the previous week,   with very long memory tests which were done at home  over a one and a half hour period.

Then during last week, I felt ill and then my wife realised that I had another chest infection.

I am prone to repeated chest infections, due to the fact that I have Bronchiectasis. This was something that developed when I was a child, after a bout of whooping cough, measles  and mumps.

That I guess wrecked my lungs without anyone knowing, and that was made worse by a life working in industry.

Luckily for me I carry an emergency pack of antibiotics in case of emergencies, and these go with me when I go on holiday etc.

Along with this, I also have the added problem,  that I carry the Heamophilis influenza bug with me, something that is deep inside my lungs, and even two weeks of antibiotics does not kill it off completely

So I guess life can be interesting and certainly not boring.

I guess this is one thing that upsets me when doctors etc ask if I am stressed or depressed, yes I get stressed when I don't remember how to do things, or I feel rough and can't get out for a walk etc, but that's not depression and tgese people cannot accept this

Terrible week

This week started off quite well as far as I was concerned, then on Tuesday I had two researchers at home supposedly asking about Lewy Body Dementia, but by the time they left I was shattered and felt rubbish all week.

I spent so much time trying to concentrate on “Just another question” that I guess I tried to force myself to get through without making mistakes  

My wife told me yesterday that I had changed, because of the way it was handled, and the constant questions, which were far worse than the normal memory questions.  I don't think I have ever seen so many questions like that. 

In dementia we get used to the memory tests, but to me this went far beyond anything I have ever had to do, and it destroyed the rest of my week, and I was not pleasant to be around,  so I am told 

This hurt when I was told it, after which I said I would never do anything like that ever again.

It’s so sad, because without research we will not get the answers to these illnesses, but sadly it has finished me. 

Researchers need to be caring and understanding, when looking at this subject, but I felt that the person doing the research with me was out of her depth, because she knew nothing about the well known people with dementia, and don’t think she knew much about Lewy Body Dementia. 

I confess that by the time I had finished this project I felt like throwing my medication away, and saying to hell with it. 

But I guess looking back I may well be wrong and need to think again. 

I have done reaserch at Newcastle University, which was tiring, but handled sensitively and that makes a vast difference

In the future I will work with them but no one else.

I had said prior to the research, that I did not wish to take part in the usual question paper looking into depression, something that many of these researchers think we all have

Yet something seemed to stick in my memory, and I am convinced that I still did those questions when I was totally shattered 

Memory treatments

There has been a lot said recently about how to improve your memory, and a  lot has also been said about natural treatments being sold which claim to cure memory problems, but this has been largely rubbished by the science researchers

I do feel that before you can say that you, or anyone else can help your memory problems, you should have a good idea as to what caused it in the first place,  medical condition or simply old age.

A few charities believe that "all" memory problems are all associated with Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, when in fact there are a number of illnesses which can have an effect in your memory.

As I understand it, things like Bronchiectasis,COPD and MS etc, can cause cognitive issues, but so can other illnesses, so its wise to check up on the true cause of your problems first, and never assume something else, which could be wrong.

When I was originally diagnosed with early onset Lewy Body Dementia, I was told to “use it or lose it”, in other words,  keep your brain active or you lose it. This consultant was trained in Lewy Body Dementia under Professor Ian McKieth at Newcastle University, and explained everything to us at the hospital

These words have always been with me since that time, and have kept me going, because it would be far too easy to sit back and let this illness take its toll. 

However I do feel that before we take notice of television programmes on memory etc, we should try to work out exactly why we have memory problems and not automatically assume that it’s all down to dementia.

After this,  find a routine to get you through the day, and include time for brain training.

In my case, my memory went haywire after I had been ill with viral pneumonia, then after 6 months everything seemed to get worse, at which point I lost my job as an engineer.

I also had a scan done which showed evidence of TIA's and cerebral atrophy, and my family doctor said it was certainly not age related shrinkage

Looking back, I had rewired the college chaple, but now I am unable to fit a plug onto an appliance without my son checking it, to see if it’s wired up correctly.  To me this is upsetting, knowing that I no longer remember how to do my job. 

After my diagnosis I was told to remain active, and not to sit back waiting for the worst to happen.

I started writing my life story as suggested by my consultant, and then started writing a blog which happened really by accident, and then found out,  that it was being read all over the world, before I knew what was happening

But I also do brain training games, jig saw puzzles, even though they are small. While these may be small, they are manageable,  if I work in short spurts, and gradually build them up.

I also have lots of games on my iPad which I try to do every day if I can. Although each day is different, I still try to do whatever I can, when ever I 

can , in the hope of keeping my brain going.

However I do feel that consultants working in the memory field, are the best at giving correct advice on treatments.

Having said that, I am not sure how good memory tests  are, because things tend to get repeated and that sometimes defeats the object when you have memory problems.

I say this because in real life, you don't get prompts when you want to remember of try to do something. You are on your own to work it  out without help or support. 

Having said that, i feel it would be far too easy to be conned by adverts into trying to use something which could have misleading results. 

Always ask the professionals in the medical field for advice first 

Thanks to Speech Notes for allowing me to carry on with this blog.

Internet Abuse

I Remember when the internet first came out, while I was still working, this was in many ways was frightening, and a little  intimidating, trying to get used to something  alien, and like a foreign language

However I never expected it to get to this stage these days, where  people rely on it 24 hours a day, and in some cases don't seem to be able to do without it.

Everyday we see people crossing roads etc, glued to their phone instead of watching where they are going.

In some cases television presenters who are supposed to be reading  the news, are reading what is on their Twitter account, something I consider to be very rude.

However these days we're seeing a lot of racial hatred on the internet,  something that I never expected to see.

Yes there has always been racial problems of one kind or another in the world, yet these days, every time you go on the internet, you see someone racially abusing someone else, and to me it has to be stopped.

Within the UK, a lot of this was wipped up by politicians etc, during the brexit vote.

Since then it has escalated, and got a lot worse, so much so that I wonder where it will ever end.

Politicians these days seem to blame everyone else for these problems, but if they looked closer to home they would find out who was to blame.

However of the politicians, who caused the trouble during the brexit vote, are well known to be of foreign Origin, and in some cases have dual passports, something which makes you wonder what is going on.

Looking back at racial hatred within the UK and the world at large, many people who assume that they are from one country or another, may find that whether they like it or not, that their ancestors were in fact immigrants at one stage in time.

I myself found this out by accident, a series of blood tests found that I had a vitamin deficiency.

My family doctor then explained, that this could have been caused by the fact that my ancestors came from a Mediterranean Country, or North Africa,  somewhere in the distant past, and they are in fact could it be dark skinned.

As we don't get a lot of sun in the North East of England, it has a knock on effect on my skin etc.

This came as quite a shock to me, but after a while I started to understand it, and I actually laugh about it, because it was something that I never expected.

I have often loved to go abroad and travel, now I am beginning to wonder if this is from my genes and foreign ancestry.

I  guess no one will never know

After doing family tree research, my father is horrified to hear that he could have been Anglo-Saxon, so now I try to guess, at what you would say to this.

To me it does not matter where we came from, because at the end of the day people have moved around since the very early days, and in the case of the UK, we have been invaded from the time of the Romans onwards, so who knows in reality,  who the original people were or are these days.

I honestly hope that this government gets to grips with the Brexit rubbish, and get things sorted out, so that all if this racial hatred stops, once and for all

We are all human, and no matter what religion or area we are from, we should be able to get on without fighting and hatred.