Recognition for Mild Cognitive Impairment / final blog

I These days we are hearing of a lot of people being diagnosed as having Mild Cognitive Impairment.

We are also hearing of a lot of people formally diagnosed as having one form of dementia or another,  then being re diagnosed as having Mild Cognitive Impairment, because they did not deteriorate fast enough.

Some people these days get a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Imoairment, until the doctors can work out whether you have dementia.

With this in mind many people are saying,  that more needs to be done to give this form of illness more recognition than it has at present. Fine it may not be dementia, but it does involve memory and day to day living, and coordination problems.

In some circles there seems to be something odd when it comes to MCI, you are neither one thing or another, but in fact you could be one of those people who may well go on to get Alzheimer's or Dementia.   You may also go on to live without getting either of these illnesses. 

To label someone with this illness and not to look any further seems to me to be very odd, when we consider that there are many neurological illnesses where these symptoms appear.

I do think many doctors treat people with contempt when it comes to this illness. They just say, You have Mild Cognitive Impairment, but never look any further to explore the causes of it.

It has been stated that many professionals are simply splitting hairs, like gardeners deciding whether a rose is a true hybrid or not. 

The problem is that it's the patients who are coming off the worst because they are hung out to dry, because some of the doctors simply do not understand this illness in the first place.

I have heard many people being diagnosed as just being depressed, when in fact they had dementia, or some other neurological illness, but the doctors had no intention of looking to see why you were "depressed". 

This could in many cases be due to the fact that you are losing control over your lives, or maybe your job, but these doctors simply cannot see the obvious.

I have lost my job as an Engineer, simply because I totally forgot how to do it, and was then classed as unsafe to do it. 

I was employed to oversee all contractors and maintenance staff, but my main role was Electrical Maintenance and estimating. I used to run two large budgets, yet I ended up counting on my fingers, something I found to be very frightening, fine these days it's gone, and my wife deals with money and paying the bills etc. 

My wife talks of the time when I retired the College Chapel,  yet this has all gone, so what on earth happened. These days I cannot fit a 13amp plug without getting my son to check that its been done properly, all my experience has gone down the plug hole. 

So this makes mild cognitive impairment, something to be highlighted, because when things go wrong like this, it's a major problem and something which should not be taken lightly.

So let us hope that someone picks up the mantle in the future, and raises the profile of those diagnosed as having this illness, otherwise they risk being forgotten about in the future.

 

Final blog

I have decide to stop writing on this blog because it is about Living with Lewy Body Dementia. 

I will leave this running, but may well Start a new blog about Mild Cognitive Impairment and memory problems. Thank you all  for your kindness and support. 

What started out as an online diary has now been read in 112 countries by over 114-000 people, truly amazing 

 

Setting up routines

When I was diagnosed as having Lewy  body dementia in Durham, my consultant told me to set up a routine.

This would get me through the day without the permanent support of others like my wife, because she like other carers, have enough problems to deal with on a daily basis, without watching over our every move

It was also recognised that I did struggle at times, with short term memory problems. 

Since my diagnosis has been changed to mild cognitive impairment, I am still the same person with the same problems including memory.

It's not easy getting used to this re-diagnosis, partly because, I am still under a consultant to see if it's all Parkinson related. But I have to be positive, while this is going on, because as I said before, my problems are still the same, and my family are relying on me to keep fighting this illness.

 I still use my routines as I did before, although these days I am starting to forget to take my medication  more than I did earlier, but that's life. 

I know that when this diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment is finalised, I will be taken off my Exelon medication as it's not recommended for this  illness

However It's all well and good telling people to set up routines, but when you have memory problems, it only takes a little thing to distract you and your routine goes out of the window.

It's not the first time that I have got started on my daily routine, when the telephone or door bell rang, or someone spoke, and everything went out of the window.

Some days you can pick up where you were, but in other days, it's all gone.

I was once stopped when I was shaving, and only realised later in the day, that I had shaved one side of my face, while the other side was left unshaved. 

This was very embarrassing,  because my wife and I only realised when we were shopping, by which time I could not wait to get home again. 

On other days I have forgotten to take my mediation, which is usually on a table beside me. 

This medication is always sorted out by my wife on a weekly basis, but it only takes a slight distraction and it's all gone hay wire.

I had to stop cooking when I burnt two pans, by putting something on the cooker, only to forget that I had done it in the first place. 

When you smell something burning, or the smoke detector goes off,  you realise that something is wrong, but by this stage it's too late.

So now my cooking is done in the microwave.

So no matter whether you have dementia or mild cognitive impairment, it still effects the memory, and once that plays up, you really do have problems. 

It's not the first time I have got out of my chair, to walk to the computer, only to forget what I was going to do. 

I use voice activated software on my computer and iPad these days, so that I do not forget what I am trying to write. 

At least with this,  I just speak and let the computer write it all down. I no longer have to look down at the keyboard and back up to the screen, until it's all finished and ready for corrections to be done. 

So it's a case of using any assistive technology available, as and when you can, as it will help you get through the day.

I no longer give people directions these days, because I always say turn left when I mean right. This is because my co ordination has gone. 

On top of this I still have a letter telling me that I have brain shrinkage, which according to our family doctor is not linked to normal ageing. 

But life has to go on, and now  I need to decide what to do with things this blog in the future. 

I guess I will put the blog on the back burner until this is all sorted out.